Dec. 28, 2013, Otakus and Cosplayers gather for the final anime event of 2013, The Ozine Fest held at SM Megamall Megatrade Hall 3. Much to the delight of the photographers, the cosplayers did their characters signature poses even going as far as imitating the characters fighting moves and doing some creative poses.

              
 Photographing in the hallways of Megamall during conventions has always been a nightmare, with all the photobombing passerby and fans wanting to have their pictures taken with the cosplayers. Isolating the subject was really a challenge, but this time it was different. A lot of photographers went out to the open air parking lot and practically just set-up an open cosplay photo shoot. Anyway, I had a nice time shooting & directing the cosplayer, some of whom I've shot in past events. **NOW I KNOW!!**          

  MORE PHOTOS HERE

THE WINNERS


1st Place - Optimus Prime


2nd Place - Scar Predator


3rd Place - Iron Monger

It's been a while since I last attended a cosplay competition due to my busy schedule. It's nice to be able to shoot again.



You really have to admire the passion of the cosplayers / contestants in coming up with bigger and better costumes, they have raised the standards of cosplaying, from the simple "coat & tie with make-up" and fancy colored hairs that still don't make them look like the characters they're supposed to imitate. Cosplayers now pay very close attention to details. They do what they do so well, that some of them even get featured on TV shows & magazine.






Personally, I think the prizes are second priority to them. (seeing at how small they are) To them it's about having fun, being with their peers and showing off their artistic talents. Seriously, why would you spend time, money and effort in doing something you're not passionate about.

One of the fan favorites was the cute Scar Predator cosplayer. It was actually a little girl inside that suit. I asked how long it took to make the costume and the father told me that he did it every midnight for 3 months. Now that's passion!

Here are the other contestants that day:

Before the start of the contest, some of the cosplayers paraded around the mall.


































Cleopatra's "Binibining Pilipinas Q & A" skit brought down the house.