Monday, November 23, 2009

Aquarium Photoshoot!

We did it! After two months of back-and-forth with the PR reps at the Georgia Aquarium, we were allowed to bring Big Daddy in for a photoshoot!

This was a colossal effort, and just like the original display of the piece, several hands went into making it happen. Much thanks to my friend Kim and Jay for getting up at 5am to come with us and be our handlers, to the Georgia Aquarium staff for this amazing opportunity, and to Matt Nicholson (and his fiancée!) of Dim Horizon Studio for doing such fantastic photography and editing.

Big Daddy is currently for sale! Check this eBay listing, which ends on 12/03/09 - just in time for the holidays! Nothing says "I love you" quite like a hulking murder machine.

I hope you guys enjoy these photos as much as I have been.

Edit: 11.24.09 - Select wallpaper sized files now available for download!

Wallpaper Sized photos of the above:
1280 x 1024
1680 x 1050
2048 x 1152
2272 x 1704

Wallpaper Sized photos of the above:
1280 x 1024
1680 x 1050
2048 x 1152
2272 x 1704

For those interested, these pictures were taken in the "Ocean Voyager" and "Tropical Diver" sections of the Georgia Aquarium. They do offer private photoshoots for individuals and businesses, and they take place before business hours so you can have a crowd-free session. Our photoshoot took place between 8 and 10am, so we didn't disturb the normal flow of customer traffic. If you want to contact the Georgia Aquarium about doing a private photoshoot of your own, check out this form.

There were divers cleaning the insides of the tanks when we first arrived, and as we began our shoot, some of them started to crowd around and look at what was taking place. Definitely an odd experience when you're the one being looked at from the inside of the fish tank.







Its easy to see the biggest change in the suit: LEDs! I added light diffusion panels to the dome of the Big Daddy for this shoot, and I'm very glad I did. I also added foam padding around the shoulders, hips, and knees in order to fill out the suit a bit more and prevent that stick-like effect that showed up in some of the photography from DragonCon.

As with before, I owe all the sewing credit to my fiancée, Emily. She's also the creepy-as-hell Little Sister in these shots.

Wallpaper Sized photos of the above:
1280 x 1024
1680 x 1050
2048 x 1152
2272 x 1704



Wallpaper Sized photos of the above:
1280 x 1024
1680 x 1050
2048 x 1152
2272 x 1704



Thanks for reading!

49 comments:

  1. Fantastic work!
    What kind of filter did you use to make the pictures so game like?
    For added drama you could make little sister's eyes all white or reddish (no pupil) :)

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  2. Completely awesome photos!! Excellent work!

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  3. I love this shoot. Some of these images look like screen shots or concept art. Brilliant costumes, brilliant location and brilliant photography!

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  4. This is the most amazing thing I ahve ever seen.....

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  5. This is one of the most amazing thins I have ever seen. You not only envision this stuff but can actually physically make it and then you are with it enough to make this kind of thing happen. You will be one of the people that shape the future of art.

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  6. If I had 250 bucks lying around I would snatch this up in an instant, you and your fiancée did an amazing job. I managed to get everyone I work with to believe these were actual ingame renderings!

    Props to you and all those involved!

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  7. TheAwesomer.com has picked up the photos, again, and is displaying them for all to see. Well done man!

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  8. I'd love to buy this for my husband, but he is actually 6'5 and wears a size 12 shoe. Go figure!

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  9. That's incredible, great job. I can't wait to see how you're going to top this endeavor.

    When was the shoot? I was at the Atlanta aquarium recently and I have a feeling I only missed you by a few days. It would have been awesome to be menaced by you in person. :(

    By the way, would a 6'3" guy fit into that suit? Because even though I have no money I'm almost tempted to bid on that...

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  10. I abolutely LOVE these images! Great job on the costumes and great job to the both of you AND your photographer on these photographs...absolutely stunning!

    I featured them!

    http://www.8bitfix.com/forum/topics/best-bioshock-cosplay-pictures


    -Beatboxtaun (Tanya)

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  11. This is totally amazing. Fantastic work on everyone's part. Really awesome.

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  12. Holy God, these are awesome. Just...awesome.

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  13. dude...this is amazing! That is one hell of a find for a fiance :-p (amazing seamstress AND a bioshock addict to boot!) The pics are amazing...i had to look at some of them a few times cause they are hard to tell if they are real or like CGI stuff.

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  14. Absolutely amazing! Thank you, mister. Thank you.

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  15. Kudos for the idea and execution.

    Absolutely Stunning!!!!!
    I am in awe.

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  16. I have one tiny criticism:
    They are in tropical type aquarium.
    Doesn't Bioshock 2 take place in the Deep Cold Atlantic?
    It just seems they are in too shallow of water and too tropical fish.
    This was probably something you couldn't avoid. The set-up of the Big Daddy is flawless. The only other thing I would have done was given your fiance some sort of contacts so her eyes would have looked more spooky. Please take these as honest criticisms and not a pounce on your work.

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  17. incredible job. you have pushed the envelope for making fiction reality. truly inspiring. beautiful images.

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  18. Woo! I've only seen people play Bioshock, but these are the best cosplay photos EVAR!

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  19. In a word, fantastic

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  20. Beautiful work. I featured you in my cosplay blog, I hope you don't mind:

    http://kosupurei.blogspot.com/2009/11/bioshock-big-daddy-and-little-sister.html

    I only used a small version of your photo. Thanks for sharing this!

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  21. This is indeed beyond amazing. The best cosplay photoshoot I've ever come across. Mad props to you for the amount of time and effort you have obviously put into the suit. And your fiancee as the little sister really complemented your suit very well.

    I've also featured your suit in my blog (http://stompandchomp.com/games/bioshock-big-daddy-costume-on-ebayand-best-cosplay-photoshoot-ive-seen/) as such talent needs to be appreciated by the masses out there.

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  22. Very sweet shots. But take it easy on the photoshop. Let the photos speak for themselves.

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  23. Hi,

    Your cosplay of Big Daddy is awesome ! Amazing work and photoshoot !!!

    I made an article on this (in french sorry) here :

    http://www.gamekult.com/blog/mercenar/161169/Cosplay+Big+Daddy+Little+Sister+Bioshock.html

    Feel free to leave a comment there if you want.

    Mercenar

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  24. great work, and great photos to it!

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  25. This is just incredible! I love the look!

    One thing could've made this even more awesome: some fog, so light-rays from the visor would be visible and to add a little creepy atmosphere. Other than that, it's more than incredible.

    Also: I want a fiancée like her!

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  26. These are so beautiful! I had to look again becuase I thought they were actually from the game! Wonderful, just wonderful.

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  27. Before seeing this I was just dork-curious, now I have a giant, raging nerd-on!

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  28. You need to get married and make babies NOW, so you can dress your daughter up like a little sister.

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  29. If I may pry, since the auction is long gone from eBay, who bought the costume? Did it go for a pretty penny?

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  30. Dan says...

    If I may pry, since the auction is long gone from eBay, who bought the costume? Did it go for a pretty penny?
    ------------------------

    I, too, am curious :D

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  31. To those wondering, Big Daddy sold for a rather appropriate $2K. He now lives in Taiwan!

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  32. I am terrible at making anything. So I was wondering if your wife is up to doing some commission work? I want to dress up as a little sister for halloween and I cannot find an outfit anywhere.

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  33. Fantastic work, both from you and the photographer,
    also how great that the Aquarium allows shoots!

    Very nice site, bookmarked ;O)

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  34. I am so amazed I just realized my eyes were watering.

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  35. Do you sell the costume??? if u do, how much does it costs?

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  36. The fish were probably like "WTF?"

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