Pokemon Go Photo Project - Capturing the Phenomenon

Capturing the phenomenon – Photo Project

Ingrid Ihász, September 7 2016

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Unless you’ve been living under a

rock, you’ve probably heard of the

game. Pokémon Go is the first real

success story of the use of

augmented reality technology, which

blends the digital and real world

together.

In just a few days since its July 6 2016

launch, it has become a worldwide

sensation, overtaking established

applications in daily active users.

The combined effect is part bird-

watching, part geocaching, part

trophy-hunting, with a heavy dose of

mid-1990s nostalgia.

Source: The Washington Post

NIKON D5500, Tamron 24-70 mm (70 mm), ISO 200, f/3.2, 1/125s

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More time spent daily

than on Facebook or

Snapchat

Millions of people

are talking

about the

game

Tops Twitter’s

active daily users

Source: ClickZ

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When I started thinking about how to

capture the phenomenon, I quickly

realized that crowds wandering

around staring at their phones is

obviously not a spectacular thing to

shoot. So I decided to take photos of

cosplayers instead that also blends

fiction and reality.

I asked my friend Andor, who’s been

an active member of this scene for

years, to help me find models.

I created an inspirational board on

Pinterest to collect mood pictures

and ideas for the photoshoot.

NIKON D5500, Tamron 24-70 mm (70 mm), ISO 200, f/3.2, 1/125 s

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Shooting date: 20 August 2016

Camera: Nikon D5500

Lens: Tamron 24-70 f/2.8, Nikon 14-24 f/2.8, Sigma 10-24 f/4-5.6

Reflector: 100 cm gold/silver, 102x168 cm 5 in 1

Tripod: Vanguard Espod Plus 204AP

Light painting: Fiber Optic Light Painting Brush (White), Translucent Light Painting Brush (Yellow)

Post processing: Adobe Lightroom & Photoshop

Plugins: Portrait Pro, Google NIK Collection, Topaz Collection

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I chose Aquincum Military

Amphitheatre as a location, which is

just the perfect ’Pokéstop’ for a

photo shoot with its ancient

structures and huge spaces. It is the

greater of two amphitheatres in

Budapest. It is located in the Obuda

district, just north near the Danube

river. It was built around 145, during

the reign of emperor Antoninus Pius.

In summer afternoons, it has decent

shades ideal for outdoor portrait

photography. As you can see in the

werk images it was a sunny day that

created high contrast between light

and dark areas, one of the worst

enemies of the photographer.

NIKON D5500, Sigma 10-20 mm (10 mm), ISO 200, f/11, 1/200s

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Cana Aries and Cornu Asleehr are a

cosplayer couple dressed up as

Pokémon trainers, namely Team

Magma Grunts for this photo shoot.

In general, cosplayers are not

professional models but they are

used to being photographed at

Anime Cons.

They create their outfits themselves

with matching makeup and wigs, and

they are proud to be captured in

their costumes.

Aries and Cornu, of course, also play

Pokémon Go.

NIKON D5500, Tamron 24-70 mm (70 mm), ISO 200, f/4.5, 1/80s NIKON D5500, Tamron 24-70 mm (50 mm), ISO 200, f/4.5, 1/200s

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FUN FACT: Team Magma is one of

the villainous Pokémon trainer

teams.

A Team Magma Grunt is a peon of

Team Magma. They all dress in the

recognizable red outfits associated

with Team Magma.

Generally, Team Magma Grunts have

weaker Pokémon.

Source: Bulbapedia


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I always start the post processing of my raw images in Lightroom. I have a look at the histogram and correct exposure as well as blacks and whites if necessary. After that I use the crop toolif needed and find a nice balance between shadows and highlights while adding contrast to my images. I use clarity, vibrance and saturation with caution to achieve the desired result. I always use lens corrections at least by removing chromatic aberration. Sometimes I also play with the HSL sliders to enhance particular colors. The next step is sharpening and noise reduction. I also use graduated filters and the adjustment brush if necessary.

After that I turn to Photoshop where I often choose the clone stamp and the spot healing brush tool for retouching and removing unwanted objects. I use several plugins, e.g. Portrait Pro, NIK Collection and Topaz Collection.


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FUN FACT: Poké Balls are critical to

a trainer's quest, required for

catching and storing Pokémon.

Up to six Pokémon can be attached

to the user's belt for carrying them

around.

Source: Bulbapedia


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Panning is a great technique to

demonstrate the dynamics of

running.

Shutter speed of 1/60 sec creates the

illusion of fast motion.

Thanks to the small aperture size

structures of the Amphitheatre

remained visible in the background

and serves as a gym for a Pokémon

battle.

NIKON D5500, Tamron 24-70 mm (35 mm), ISO 400, f/22, 1/60s

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Shot at a high shutter speed my

subject became ’frozen’.


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Shot in bulb mode I used light

painting to create Pikachu’s electric

attack.

The angry face, motion blur and

thunder effect were added in

Photoshop.

FUN FACT: Pikachu is an Electric-

type Pokémon who is popularly

known as the mascot of the Pokémon

franchise.

Source: Bulbapedia

NIKON D5500, Nikon 14-24 (14 mm), ISO 200, f/8, 46s

14NIKON D5500, Tamron 24-70 mm (70 mm), ISO 200, f/4.5, 1/250s

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Shot with backlight, I used a circular

reflector to light her face that also

created nice reflections in her eyes.

The lightning effect was added to

the Poké ball in Photoshop by using

lens flare and special brushes.


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I used bulb mode and a light

painting brush to create this image.

The „smoke” was slightly edited and

recolored in Photoshop.

NIKON D5500, Nikon 14-24 mm (14 mm), ISO 200, f/16, 13s

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I shot her with aperture wide open

for maximal background blur.

FUN FACT: Did you know that some

Pokémon do not like to be carried

around in Poké Balls, such as the

famous Pikachu?

NIKON D5500, Tamron 24-70 mm (50 mm), ISO 400, f/2.8, 1/1600sNIKON D5500, Tamron 24-70 mm (70 mm), ISO 400, f/4.5, 1/800s

18NIKON D5500, Tamron 24-70 mm (50 mm), ISO 400, f/14, 1/160sNIKON D5500, Tamron 24-70 mm (44 mm), ISO 400, f/4.5, 1/640s

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The previous pictures blend digital

and real life together. We were lucky

enough to have a „real” Magicarp as

well as a digital one in Pokemon Go.

I played with the depth of field to

create the effect I wanted.


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The bars helped framing the picture

and also gave her hands something

to do.




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I created this image to demonstrate

how much someone has to walk to

”catch them all” and also to create a

player crowd out of two people. I

used a tripod to shoot the images

from the same angle and merged

them in Photoshop. Small aperture

size was set for deep depth of field.

FUN FACT: Gotta catch 'em all! is

the English slogan of the Pokémon

franchise. The most noticeable

reference to the catchphrase in the

anime was introduced in the first

episode by the main character Ash

Ketchum.

Source: Bulbapedia

NIKON D5500, Tamron 24-70 mm (24 mm), ISO 400, f/11, 1/400s, multiple expositions

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Art & Photos

Pokemon Go Photo Project - Capturing the Phenomenon