I just got the most awesome cosplay idea for next year’s Blizzcon. And since there is no way in hell that I am going to dress up as anything, I hope someone else grabs it: Get your Hogger (the truly epic boss from Elwynn Forest outside Stormwind) costume just right and convince 40 friends into dressing up as a full level 1 raid – and have them chase you around for two days. Win guaranteed!

On a more serious note, I feel compelled to write up this slightly lengthy post about my experience at Blizzcon 2009. For those of you not in the know, Blizzcon is an annual fanfest hosted by Blizzard Entertainment, celebrating the incredible fan culture that has been built up around games like Starcraft, Diablo and Warcraft/World of Warcraft over the years. The convention takes place in Anaheim, California, and it keeps growing every year. This year 20,000 people attended the show, and it will no doubt be even bigger next year, as Blizzard – hopefully – manage to release one or two of their upcoming games.

After months of persistence, as well as hard work done for my magazine last year, I managed to secure myself the position as Blizzard’s official photographer at the event this year – which is just about my greatest gig yet. Trying to cover the entire event is a mindboggling and obviously impossible goal so I owe great thanks to Tristan Pope from the Diablo 3 team for covering my back with awesome shots all the way through. Standing with him just a few metres from Ozzy Osbourne, getting hosed all over with that foam gun of his and feeling a horde of screaming fans behind us during the closing concert was … Let’s just call it a moment!

Covering events can be tricky, and even with years of experience with this kind of photography you are still at the mercy of stage lights, crowd unpredictability, random events and a lot of other stuff you cannot control whatsoever. I have covered the E3 convention for several years in the past but Blizzcon has the extra challenges of being more tightly packed as well as having much, much more interesting photographic material.

First and foremost, the cosplayers typically take center stage on the first day, parading around inside and outside of the ‘con with both incredible and … Less incredible (I must remain diplomatic here) costumes. Taking the grand prize in the contest, a powerful gaming laptop, Lorraine Torres beat everyone hands down with her unbelievably detailed and scary costume, a Mistress of Pain from Diablo 3 (basically a goth seductress with a spider’s lower body). Christina Estrada’s Mother Shazrah, complete with six arms and a headpiece of epic proportions, definitely deserves an honourable mention too, and I am as ever amazed at the amount of work people put into these costume projects. The only thing I regret is not having the time to shoot more pictures of everyone - something that I shall have to remedy next year. 100+ cosplay shots can be found here.

On a side note: When I visited the Tokyo Game Show a few years ago and spent a Sunday hanging out in the Harajuku district in Tokyo, I was under the impression that no one knows how to cosplay like the Japanese, and that Americans generally fail miserably at it. Blizzcon has forced me to forget I ever thought that – the creations from this and last year’s shows are far superior to everything I have seen in the cosplay homeland.

Apart from costume play and general geekiness, covering an event like this for such a big customer obviously entails a whole lot of other work – and a lot of photography you would normally do. I spent around half a day before the show shooting pictures of people setting up booths, stages, unwrapping stuff, testing lighting – basically, all the unknown heroes making the entire thing happen. Looking at the halls around noon on Thursday, I caught myself thinking ‘This is never going to happen’ but everything was in complete order and ready for the onslaught of fans the next morning. Impressive work – which everyone tends to forget about when the show kicks off, and the halls are filled with noise, atmosphere and celebrities.

On the evening of the first day, I was called upon to do shots of the empty halls for an hour and a half late in the evening. I got to direct a scissor lift as well a lot of staff around – which was kind of weird and very much a first for me, but everyone was incredibly nice – so I could get a lot of photos documenting the sheer size of the show.

On the second day, I was attached to the group of Starcraft 2 voice actors doing a stage panel and later signing autographs. That bunch was absolutely hilarious – especially Fred Tatasciore who does the voice of Zeratul kept cracking me up completely. Their stage panel about doing voice work was very inspiring indeed and for me personally, their immense energy, chemistry and constant laughs was the best PR for Starcraft 2 (which, by the way and without a shadow of doubt will be absolutely amazing) that Blizzard could hope for. Oh, and I got to meet and chat with Tricia Helfer who is voicing Kerrigan/The Zerg Queen; apart from being one of the most beautiful TV show actresses around (Number Six from Battlestar Galactica, Carla from Burn Notice), I was very happy to find that she is also an extremely pleasant, nice and very down-to-earth person – which is always a positive surprise when you are dealing with celebrities. Additionally, her two big security guys were great laughs too. I asked them if I could take their picture, but accepting and then concluding that they would have to kill me made me think the better of it.

Helfer’s diametrical opposite at Blizzcon would then be Ozzy Osbourne who appeared to close the show with a concert. I was present at his rehearsal session the day before (where I think that he was actually way better than at the actual concert), shooting photos of him – that is, until Sharon got paranoid and had me somewhat forcibly removed so I would not … Well, I am not sure what exactly she thought that I might do with my camera other than try and get great shots of her husband, but never mind.

Before the actual concert, we got to experience all the funny backstage hubbub that always surrounds big names – and arguably, Ozzy is as big as they come (well, at least he used to be – being an old Black Sabbath fan, this was obviously ridiculously big for me). Being just a lowly photographer, I was asked to wait for what seemed like ages while his impossibly big security guard kept eyeing me, as if daring me to go for it. I am pretty sure I saw a dust devil tumble through the area between us at some point!

And then we are back at the beginning – and one of my greatest photographic experiences yet: Shooting the Ozzy concert from a really narrow enclosure between the stage and a sea of rabid fans with all kinds of stuff flying through the air, and all the Black Sabbath classics lovingly beating and bruising every part of my body. Best moment? My aforementioned photo buddy, Mr. Pope, leaning over and screaming into my ear: ‘DUDE! You DO realize that normal people DON’T get to do this, RIGHT’?

I am already looking forward to going back again next year.

Please feel free to check out my full Blizzcon archive and let me know what you think about them.

Oh yeah, acknowledgements:

A GREAT thank you to the following people for contributing to making this event one of my greatest experiences in 2009:

Elisha (and not least Guy!) from Blizzard for hiring me for the event

Tristan for great laughs thoughout – and his lovely nurse(!) girlfriend Kirsten for those awesome painkillers after I was decked by that big Nazi in the Ozzy moshpit

Cait, Meg, Jeremy, Dylan, Rowan, Adam and Travis for a great day at Disneyland – and for being a really funny bunch!

Samwise and Chris for an excellent drunken discussion about death metal at fuck o’clock in the morning in that Hilton suite (and yeah, I also think it is weird that your warm-up act played after TAFKAL80ETC during the closing ceremony)

Jennifer for quite possibly saving my life by bringing me food just before the Ozzy concert (I lost around five pounds in two days from working too much and not eating at all)

… And to lots of other fantastic people. Hope to see you all again next year!

Apart from covering all the antics during such an event, we got the idea to do a dedicated photoshoot of just the groom at one such party recently: Showing him from a lot of different ‘angles’ with the purpose of creating a really nice photo book for his bride-to-be (or a calendar if you think that the couple would dig that). Obviously, the groom needs to consent to it, and it is important to not overstep any personal boundaries, either by making things too silly or cheesy or … You know ….

Keep it sober and always keep in mind what your friends would love to see from such a shoot (and just ignore all the jeers, tempting you to do gratuitous butt shots with roses sticking out an similar obscene requests … Unless he really wants to do that. In this case we are suddenly talking about YOUR boundaries as a photographer!). Set aside some 45 minutes to get some good, relaxed shots – and preferably park the rest of the party somewhere with a crate of beer so they do not disturb with their no doubt well-meaning comments and suggestions. Oh, and consider getting a reflector kit if you do not already have one (and someone to hold it for you); it gives that extra special ‘record cover’ sharpness and lighting which is perfect for these kinds of shots.

Feel free to check out my photo shoot of my friend Bjarke at http://www.flickr.com/photos/mortenskovgaard/sets/72157619414835073/ if you are looking for inspiration.

One last important note: Things tend to run a bit wild at stag parties. If you are the ‘official’ photographer, do keep in mind that you might want to not cover certain things (particularly lap dances or similar stuff …). While they might be innocent enough in the context of the party and the general atmosphere, they will not look very good if they start to circulate in emails later on, and people – not least the bride! – gets the wrong idea about what actually happened.

You do not get opportunities like this every day so I am obviously very stoked about landing the gig. This year will be a lot more demanding and very different in terms of style since there is quite the difference between shooting random shots of funny cosplayers and actually covering the entire event according to a big customer’s wishes. At least I have almost ten years of convention photography experience to back me up so I remain confident that they will be happy about their choice.

In related news, I was just booked for the same company’s Regional Finals ‘esport’ event in Cologne, Germany, this weekend: Three days of photographing Warcraft 3 players and WoW Arena teams competing for a spot in the Global Finals

Next step? Hmm. Who is in charge of E3 …?

Unfortunately, the concert itself was being recording on DVD so I had to do my shots before – which, on the other hand, allowed me much more freedom of movement among and around the musicians. When will Nikon figure out how to produce a silencer for cameras so you can shoot classical concerts without the shutter sound making everyone turn around and stare accusingly at you …?

Anyway, feel free to check out the pictures (http://www.flickr.com/photos/mortenskovgaard/sets/72157617943276884/) and contact me if you like them and need a photographer for similar events.
Lessons learned from having done a decent amount of classical music photography:

1. Always use the long lens and never flash. Musicians and particularly singers will find it hard to concentrate if you are too much in their face, and the flash both ruins the natural light of the scene and annoys everyone, especially the director (whom you must always take great care to not disturb)

2. Spend some 10-20 minutes observing the musicians and getting to know the music they are working with. It is not terribly different from being on a wildlife safarai: Patience is king. Most often, you will start to notice their individual mannerisms and quirks – everyone has a ‘little something’ they tend to do with regular intervals, especially when focusing hard, and that will very likely be the best shot you can get (let us face it: People who concentrate very hard are usually not optimal photographic subjects). Pay particular attention to singers and take great care to find their optimal ‘face’ among all of the contorted expressions you will always capture.

3. If you must shoot a concert, do yourself a favour and get to know the musical piece. Having the shutter click loudly during silent passages is a definite no-no – and even if you think it does not sound that loud, remember that the musicians and people who listen to musical probably have keener hearing than you do. I shot one concert last year, completely confident that I was being amazingly discreet – nevertheless, one of the cello players commented afterwards that he really disapproved of photography during live performances because of the noise (I was commissioned to do the job by the ensemble, though, so no dice). Bottom line: Try to shoot very quickly during crescendo and forte passages – and obviously, let it rip during applauses.

4. Make sure you get a very varied selection of shots. It is very tempting to go in really close to capture a beautiful singer, hands on an instrument or other interesting details – but ensembles and orchestras will typically be more interested in getting more inclusive shots. It is often quite difficult getting everyone in one shot but try to  focus on groups or pairs of people and always focus on creating the feel that the ensemble/orchestra is much bigger than it actually is (no, that does not mean you should wide angle lenses …), possibly by shooting from strange and dynamic angles.

All pretty basic stuff, really. But nevertheless stuff you easily forget in the heat of battle. Sally forth!

We found one of Denmark’s best skaters, Magnus Kreiberg, brought a bunch of bottles and settled on a suitable location. The concrete square right next to the Jarmer tower ruin in Copenhagen seemed like an optimal spot due to its very ‘raw’ background and good spots for making very high jumps. Not that Magnus needed anything other than his board in order to jump high - after two minutes I was utterly amazed by the height he was able to achieve with almost every jump.

Initially, we tried having him jump over a high concrete wall next to the heavily trafficked street. The shots turned out alright but light and background were not optimal, and due to a difficult landing on cobblestones Magnus kept crashing when he touched down (although he never complained one bit).

We moved to another spot where I was able to achieve better lighting as well as some coordination between the background and the foreground of the shot - i.e. the bottles in the front looking like an extension of the buildings in the back. I went in close with a 14-24 2.8 FF lens, and the bent curves added some drama to the shot as well.

I learned quite some about skateboarding photography aesthetics from this little gig. Getting the right shot took us some 45 minutes and around 270 shots. I was going on about the lighting and the scene, Magnus was focused on his board being completely level in the air and him looking ‘right’ while Kristian, our guy from Creative Labs, wanted the bottles to be in focus as well (while I had him holding a big reflector to block lens flare due to the shot’s angle toward the sun. I actually got some 10-15 shots I really liked but Magnus was very specific about what makes good skateboarding photos and I had to agree to use only this particular shot.

I ended up choosing www.photographersdirect.com since their concept seems sound for both  customers and photographers. The idea is that you upload your images to the library where potential buyers can browse them. If you happen to sell one of your photos at a price agreed upon between you and the buyer, Photographers Direct charge a 20 percent fee of the sales sum – without interfering in your negotiation with the customer. Customers might either contact you with regard to one of your photos, or you can reply to general requests for various kinds of photos and hope that they choose your work. Nice and simple.

The obvious site for most people to use would probably be something like www.istockphoto.com which seems pretty popular these days. However, Photographers Direct is a kind of reaction to this kind of microtransaction-based sites that allow everyone to buy excellent photos at a ridiculously low price, with the photographer earning practically nothing per sold picture (they even forbid their photographers to use iStockPhoto or similar sites). The philosophy of these sites seems to be that if you eventually get a good rating and sell the same photo enough times – like, 500+ - you would end up actually seeing a difference on your bank account. In my opinion, this approach is quite detrimental to the photographers’ business: Not only are good photos sold for way too little money – the buyers are also getting accustomed to not having to pay for good shots. And while this may be all fine and dandy for the happy enthusiast who will just be making a bit on the side, I can see why the pros might feel that their livelihood is being threatened.

Anyway – my first ten shots are up on www.photographersdirect.com, and I have even had the chance to respond to a general customer request already so my fingers are crossed now! Next step will probably be trying to get an account at Getty Images.

It is a very long and complex debate, and I am very pleased that certain photo magazines actually took a cue from disgruntled readers and started shedding light on this (people started complaining to one mag because contest winners were typically extremely photoshopped pictures rather than just … ‘good’ photos).

Very recently, the Danish association of press photographers posted a very interesting article about the Danish press photo of the year contest. Apparently, for the first time in the 35 years that the contest has been running, the judges have asked no less than three of the participating photographers for their RAW files in order to assess whether their photo entries have been photoshopped too heavily or not.

One photographer, Klavs Bo Christensen, submitted the RAW files for his Haiti shots not only to the judges but to the readers of the association of press photographers’ site - a very brave move deserving of a lot of respect, seeing as he is not afraid of putting his professional reputation on the line and stand up for his methods.

Take a look at the article and not least the ensuing debate (which is mostly in Danish, I am afraid) - there are some very interesting observations and opinions there, and it is a very good discussion: When is it too much?

My personal and very naturalist standpoint is that in all three cases, the photos are photoshopped way too much. While a RAW image cannot be said to accurately represent the light, colours and other factors of the scene when it was photographed, I think it is fairly evident when a photo crosses over from being ‘improved’ to not representing its scene faithfully.

Particularly the processed second shot (the woman in the messy street) annoys me since my initial reaction is that the light and colours of the scene would never look like that, not even with dark thunderclouds hanging low and a setting sun shining in underneath them. I use the word ‘annoy’ since I think the basic shot is quite good but that the heavy manipulation disturbs the ‘authenticity’ (difficult word to operate with, I know) and gives it more surreal atmosphere rather than the documentary approach that appears to be the purpose.

Each to his own, I guess. In the end, all that really matters to me is that photos - and photographers - are aware about what they are actually doing: Art photography or representing reality? That is one big grey zone inbetween those two approaches, and every photographer has his or her own idea about when one ends and the other one begins. I am only happy to see this being discussed by relevant people - the good photographers. Perhaps a lot of debate about Photoshop and photos will lead to a better general sense of moderation.

Especially where wildlife is concerned, Galapagos is the perfect place for both experienced and budding wildlife photographers. The islands have no natural predators, and most of the animals are very calm and not disturbed by human presence. Guides and regulations dictate that you should keep a minimum distance of at least two metres from the animals, but in some cases - e.g. if you are walking along a path - you are brought even closer to them.

It is a very strange and fascinating experience practically standing above a fregate bird nest, looking down at the birds while they do not even give you the respect of even a little sideways glance. Needless to say, long lenses are not required for great wildlife shots here.

Please feel free to contact me for advice concerning Galapagos if you are considering going there. I managed to collect a good amount of valuable contacts throughout the trip, and I have got plenty of agency, hotel and tour operator recommendations.

This time around, I have put a bit more thought into the project. Rather than only just rambling about this and that (which I will no doubt do as well), this blog is tied into my photo site <url>www.mortenskovgaard.dk</url> and will primarly revolve around photography.

Photography started out as a hobby for me, and now it is slowly growing into a more professionalized approach. I am normally quite hesitant with talking about being ‘enthusiast’ vs. ‘professional’ since those terms do not really say a whole lot about a photographer’s work - just whether he does it for fun or actually earns money doing it. By that distinction, I have crossed into the latter realm.

Those are the opening words for now. Thank you for coming by - I hope that you will pop in your head regularly to see what is going on here.