Disclaimer #1: I apologize that all the pictures are of me; I’d love to add some kindly donated pics of other cosplayers in the future. But I can’t just go stealing other people’s photos willy-nilly. :P
Disclaimer #2: I’m being candid here, and I feel like a moron, but I’m going to make an example of myself and maybe my lameness will help someone out. I’m not an expert or professional. I’m just a normal girl who wishes I had something like this when I started cosplaying.

I break photos down into 2 categories. The first is the controlled photoshoot, where you are one-on-one with your photographer in an ideal setting. Photos in a controlled invironment are a collaboration between you and your (hopefully) experienced photographer. They are more invested in finding a flattering angle of you, so you can take more risks with posing and concentrate on the mood of the photo.
The second type is posing in an uncontrolled invironment, i.e. the convention floor. I wrote this page for this second, more chaotic type. The average people taking your photo at cons aren’t photographers. They’re fans. They point and shoot (sometimes they’re even still walking!), and don’t give a crap about lighting, whether or not you blinked, or what angle they’re coming at you at. So you have to work for them to give them a good photo. (And indirectly give yourself a good photo, when you find it later on the internet!) When someone asks for a photo, you know what looks okay and at what best angle, and you just brainlessly smile your guts out (if applicable) and STRIKE THAT POSE.

Presentation is Important.

• Iron your costume. I don’t need to expound on this. You know you should do it!
• Wear makeup. You have a crazy outfit, neon spiky hair, and… where’s that face? It gets washed out if you don’t balance it with at least a little something to make your expressions pop. I’m not talking hoochie makeup. I am talking minimal: face powder, foundation (or foundation just on blemishes/red areas to even out skintone). If you’re a guy, you might just think makeup’s whack. Well, check that ego at the door, because at a convention, in costume, it’s more theatrical than anything. No one is going to bully you for wearing a little cover up and maybe a smidge of eyeliner. And if they are, they’re the same jerks who are going to make fun of you for wearing that stupid costume you already have on. Besides, I hear some emo rock stars wear makeup these days, I don’t know, I’m old. King Leonidas wore makeup in that one movie. And he’s a man’s man. Dang. I digress.
• Consider a wig even if your hair is similar to the characters. Unless you spent 2 hours blowdrying it to perfection, chances are a wig is still going to be fuller and require less fussing throughout the day. Also, if you ever want to change your hairstyle, you won’t be able to wear that costume accurately again. So a wig is a good costume investment. If your hair is nothing like the characters, the best way to improve your overall costume immediately is with a wig! Think about it – in the anime world, every character has pretty much the same face as the next. They have those crazy hairstyles and eye colors just so you can tell them apart. It’s just as important as the outfit they are wearing, and since your head is going to be in every picture, pay MORE attention to it, not LESS! Hair can make or break an outfit.
• Pin your badge under your shirt or on your back so that it’s invisible to the camera. Slip it in your boot. Put it in your mouth, if your mouth big enough. No, don’t do that! Of course, have it accessable for when you need to show it to the convention staff.
• Try to sew a hidden pocket into your costume for money, credit cards, keys, makeup, etc. so that your bag won’t distract from your costume. Try to keep your bookbag/purse/con purchases in your car or hotel room. (Or make your non-cosplaying friends carry them for you!) If you must carry a bag, set it between you and the photographer before having them take your picture (where you can see it), or have a friend hold it. NEVER SET YOUR BAG BEHIND YOU! You risk somebody stealing it while you are facing the camera! ;_;
• If you have glasses, and your character doesn’t wear them, remove them for photos if possible.
• Don’t chew gum while in costume. Have a mint if you need it, but absent-minded gum chomping makes for some strange face shots.

Posing Pointers!

You just spent all that time making what you are wearing, or spent a lot of money paying for it. And honestly, if you paid for your costume, your ONLY duty should be to be the best model you can be!

• Practice your facial expression. I have seen countless photos of sweet costumes where the wearer just looks bored, or tired, or deadpan. I know, it’s all about the costume, right? Who cares what the model looks like? Well then, I am shaking you and telling you it matters. I look at cosplay as being both the costume (cos), and also playing the character (play). Having a simple pose, but just the facial expressions of your character can take a “nice costume” photo to “wow, you really capture the character! Just like him/her!”. And it only takes a second to do before a photograph, basically zero effort especially if you are fully enjoying wearing that costume. Getting in character requires a bit of forced ego, sometimes. Once you cosplay a couple times you become less self-conscious, and might even gain some confidence. ^o^
• For flash photography, don’t have direct eye contact with the camera lens. Look slightly above the lens, as this reduces red eye. Red eye is actually a reflection of the blood vessels in your eye that occurs when the flash is located close to the camera lens, as in most cameras with a built-in flash. GROSS. Looking above the camera changes the angle the flash bounces from your eye back to the lens, so you have a good chance at reducing red-eye. (Unless your character has red eyes, then stare away.)
• Tilt your hip towards the camera, so that your body is at an angle rather than straight on. This adds some interesting angles, and also helps you look thinner like those impossibly tiny-waisted anime characters. Your legs should be slightly crossing over one another like in this picture, with most of the weight on the back leg giving the illusion of thin, long legs (instead of two identical stumps). This works for dudes, too. (Or crossplaying gals.) For guys, it’s best if the feet aren’t quite as turned out. This pose is universally flattering and is historically called contrapposto, and while the Greeks don’t have a patent on standing, they sure used it in a lot of fancy statues. Greeks and architecture and beauty all seem to go hand in hand throughout history, so I guess general consensus dictates that this is a good pose! :P
• What to do with hands? I generally build all my arm placements off of whatever prop I have, or whatever actions my character does. Do they cross their arms? Brandish a sword? Do you have pretty sleeves to show off? Whatever arm poses I decide on, I often keep this basic tilted hip/legs/waist pose as my base for my 3 or 4 other ‘practiced’ poses. You’d be surprised at the variety you can come up with, and you can be confident you look good!
• Don’t hold your prop extended far from your body. This can be dangerous in a crowded area, first of all. Second, it makes the photographer have to stand back to get everything in the picture, reducing you to a stick figure in the distance. Of course, sometimes epic poses are needed, so use your discretion. (And for private photoshoots away from bystanders, by all means, brandish away!) Tilting your entire body at an angle, as well as having weapons be at an angle, makes for a tighter shot and gives an interesting viewpoint as well.

Of course, this is a general guideline, not a law, and can be broken, and should. But it’s a place to start gaining control over the chaos of convention photos.

Practice and POSTURE.

Practice posing in front of a full length mirror. Regular clothes is fine, but something tight, like your undies, allows you to see as much as your body as possible, even if it’s going to be covered up in costume. Might as well glean as much visual information as you can. Don’t forget to practice your facial expressions as well. Try holding it your head at different angles, or look at old photos of you and decide to make that face/never make that face again. Until I cosplayed, I never had a reason to practice posing, and I never did. When I started cosplay, I invested some time with the mirror; not because I think I’m a “model”, but because I was proud of my creations and wanted to show them off in the best light. I owed my costumes at least that much respect, even though it was mortifying. Scrutinizing myself in a mirror was awkward and sort of depressing at first. It feels silly, but you might as well go for it because you only stand to gain from it. Then, if you get really brave (or drunk), put on some awesome music related to your characters and make music-video model love to that mirror, babay! And send me a video, so I can laugh at you. Having a sense of humor with yourself and being a goofball JUST MIGHT translate into tapping into your latent acting and model skills. Actually, I’m pretty sure it will.

I don’t consider myself the epitome of the human figure and grace by any means. Posture goes a lot of places natural beauty can’t. I’ve seen unbelievably gorgeous boys and girls; every-day people, not just costumers – their natural beauty utterly ruined by their hideous posture and lack of self awareness. (Sometimes that makes me feel good in an evil way.) Likewise, I’m sure you’ve seen average looking people but there’s still ‘something about them’ that makes them cool in your eyes, despite what they’re wearing or their hairstyle or looks or how much they weigh. What they have is money. No. Kidding! Money doesn’t matter – they are rich in confidence and good posture. Oh my god, someone give me my CHEESE award right now. That was amazingly lame. The most awesome part about good posture is that this is a gift you can give yourself if God chose to jip you in the looks department, or so you think. :P And you can use good posture everyday!

Once you get confident in a mirror, try having a friend take a couple dozen pictures of you trying out your poses. This is where you can refine your techniques you’ve practiced; heck, make an exercise out of it with your cosplay buddies. Have a posing mini-workshop, grab someone’s digital camera, and snap pictures of each other, and then delete them all before anyone else sees. This will teach you how to orient yourself in front of a lens without a mirror.

Finally, always practice your poses with your costume on! Before you leave your hotel room, or first thing when you get to a con, go to the bathroom and find a full-length mirror. Posing in different shoes, wigs, corsets, long flowy robes etc. is always different than doing it at home in sweats. But by this point, you have the basics, so this should be the fun part instead of the agonizing part! On a final note, don’t feel bad if most of your pictures look bad. Professional photographers and models take hundreds of pictures for that one special shot. If it takes the professionals a few hundred tries for that ONE image, feel blessed to have a handful of decent pictures of yourself!