I’ve said this before, but fantastic cosplay photography can enhance and complement the work of cosplayers. A great setting, dramatic lighting, the right depth of focus—all of it contributes to making a costume pop off the screen, and Nate Buchman does that. He’s been doing cosplay photography on and off since 2009, and took a camera with him to Anime Boston that year to take pictures of his friends, more or less changing his life and career focus.

Inspired by cosplay photographer Judy Stephens, Nate continued to take photos. He said, “The chance to take these characters we know, seeing them come to life, finding the right location to go with the costume bringing that world they’re creating come alive, that deeply inspires me as I find that location is just as important as the cosplay.” Nate’s work with cosplay has led to getting photography gigs including fashion and fine art.

It’s no wonder, look:

Joker

Sailor Moon, Zombie Slayer

Nate shoots both at conventions and on location, first scouting the convention center floor and the areas around it prior to so he knows what the options are. He points out it’s easiest to shoot at conventions because it makes the coordination simple, but at the same time, the backgrounds are often distracting. As you can see from his photos, he makes both options work.

After you’ve browsed the photos in the below gallery, get thee to the interwebs to view more of Nate’s images. You can visit his website, like his page on Facebook, and follow him on Flickr. And he’s also the brother of our own social media manager, Michelle, geeking it in the family.

Do you cosplay or are you a cosplay photographer? Then I would like to showcase your work in an upcoming edition of Cosplay Friday. It’s easy to submit your work to me. You can get photos to me by leaving links to your portfolio in the comments, by sending images to me on Twitter, by tagging or mentioning me on Instagram, or emailing me at alratcliffe at yahoo dot com. And if you’re not the photographer, remember to tell me his other name so I can spread the credit love around–likewise, if you’re a photographer, share the cosplayer’s ID with me if you know it.