I came along to help Lumina on this shoot, it was a relaxed affair using familiar gear in a location I’ve shot at on dozens of occasions before. The sun sets pretty early so I busted out the big lights because… why not? I had everything loaded in the boot of the car so it’s practically free to use.

I don’t play Arknights myself (I spend all my focus on Girls Frontline instead) but I appreciate its techwear aesthetic and roster of interesting characters. And Platinum just looks cool!

Part of the kit I brought was the Nikon F5 because I’ve been itching to shoot some more film. People say that Velvia isn’t good for portraits and it makes people look like oompa-loompas, but bugger that – cosplay loves poppy colours. I’m actually really pleased with the hit ratio on this outing. I find that my film shooting can be really hit and miss, but this time there were a lot of well exposed and in-focus shots on the roll. Autofocus certainly helps, and having the lighting dialed in with flashes pretty much removes any bad surprises. I went for the 50mm f/1.4 and Velvia 50 (expired in early 2019).

Shooting notes: Nikon D800 w/ 105mm DC f/2, ISO 100 outside and ISO 50 inside to match film settings. Nikon F5 with 50mm f/1.4 and Velvia 50. Mostly shot at 1/60sec at f/2.8 for convenience with strobes, key light is an E640 though 4-foot gridded octabox, colour accent from a gelled speedlight.