Interview with Jay Tablante

I interviewed professional Photographer Jay Tablante when he was in Singapore for the International Cosplay Day 2014! Jay Tablante is a Professional Photographer from Philippines and he is best known in our community as the “pro guy” who shot Cosplays. He is the person behind the famous Morrigan cosplay by Alodia Gosiengfiao and has shot numerous Superhero characters.

Web: http://www.jaytablantephotography.com

 

 

In this interview he shared about going professional in photography, shooting gravure models and Cosplay Dramas.

 

 

Morrigan Aensland by jaytablante

 

Wrath of the Dark Phoenix 2 by jaytablante

 

This interview took place after the exclusive studio photography masterclass by Jay Tablante, featuring Kamui. SO before the interview, let’s see the workshop!

 

 

Jay Tablante started the workshop with a presentation of what Cosplay is, how he conceptualises he’s shoots and create the many special effects seen in his photographs.

 

 

He also shared the many books he read to arm himself for the job. Weirdly enough, his biggest advice was that “the last book you should read is Photography books”.  Because according to him, a good picture requires more than just photography techniques. You must understand the how light works on different texture and surface so as to better adjust your subject and lightings. You must understand how makeup can enhance your model and what are the technical terms to explain your requests to the makeup artists. You should know enough about Fashion to tell a pair of skinny jeans apart from a bell bottom so you can give your stylist the exact description of your concept.

And his biggest advice for shooting Cosplay, was to research as much as you can about the character and series before shooting. Only when you know enough about the character, can your photograph fully present the character in it’s most recognised form.

 

 

After the presentation, everyone had a go at shooting Kamui (with a camera of course. relax~)! To spice up the routine, Jay set everyone on a 1 minute leash and he also gave everyone some ‘homework’ to do before shooting. He asked everyone to Google about the character Kamui was cosplaying as and know more about the character before shooting.

 

 

Kamui was cosplaying as a Barbarian from Diablo iii. 

 

My shot of Kamui. Could have done a better Photoshop job but… that will have to wait hahaa.

 

 

Since it was a one-to-one interview and having met Jay personally before,  it was easy to ask him all sorts of questions. And anyone who has talked with Jay Tablante before would be quick to discover how friendly and candid he is.

 

I hope this video had been insightful and helpful to anyone who’s hoping to step into the world of Professional Photography.