Both this year and last year around Halloween time, the DC Cosplay Photo Shoots group hosted an event at the Workhouse Arts Center in Lorton, VA. This location used to be a prison, but has since been turned into an arts center. It’s pretty amazing, partially due to the fact that the Workhouse (or groups that work with them) put up a Halloween Haunt every year. But even without that, the buildings themselves provide some interesting backdrops. Some of my favorite photos have come from this location, all of which take place on the outskirts of the main buildings.
Last year, the Haunt was put on by Madhaunter’s. In a section of the parking lot, they had a prison front and what looked like a mini maze of bloodied walls, packing crates, and other run down materials. If I recall correctly, the weather that day was pretty nice and despite the shoot being midday, the clouds in the sky provided some nice natural light
Bill Marcellino as Black Lantern Batman
Blackstar Cosplay as a mercenary
In an area close to some of the buildings, they set up some tight corridors leading to an electric chair with viewing station behind some plexiglass. It was all very creepy, and seemed like a perfect backdrop for the havoc-wreaking Beetlejuice. Since there was no ceiling in this area, I still was able to get the natural light while looking like it was indoors.
Crazy Jae Cosplay as Beetlejuice
But then, further out on the outskirts of the parking lots in a woody area, they had some fantastic dilapidated buildings set up. These were awesome, but were much more challenging to shoot in, given the lack of light. I did have a flash on me, but wasn’t very proficient at using it. This next shot, when converted to black and white, ended up looking kind of cool and gritty, and the skull prop that was lying around worked great with Beetlejuice.
Mike Becvar as Beetlejuice
Finally, there were a LOT of brick buildings. One building was painted a cool teal color, some were covered in foliage, some were part of an abandoned building, and some were just your regular run of the mill brick walls. All were brick, but each provided a completely different feel.
Alana Owlet Cosplay as Shinobu from Monogatari
The Scarlet Impaler as Sleeping Beauty from the Japanese horror RPG, Mary Skelter Nightmares
Elizabeth Bui as a candy corn witch
Heather St. Hilaire as a Silent Hill nurse
Sara Abis as a character from The Handmaid’s Tale
This year, the Workhouse put on its own Haunted Trail, the remnants of which were still up when we did our shoot. Instead of dilapidated buildings, the highlight of this year (from my perspective) were several graffiti covered backdrops. One looked to be a shipping crate and the other a broken down bus. Since we again shot in the middle of the day, editing these photos involved some creative editing and darkening to fit the mood better.
Walter Ventura as the dark Prince Puma
Sierra Roses SFX Makeup as Tate Langdon from American Horror Story
Carmens Cosplay as the Evil Queen
The other highlight was that for all of 15 minutes we were allowed to go into the one building that has maintained the old prison’s interior. We split into two groups and each photographer took in a couple cosplayers and had 7 minutes to shoot. It was a really tight space - I was backed up against a wall with a 50mm lens, but we made it work!
Nerdenheim Cosplay and baby as zombies
Sierra Roses SFX Makeup as Tate Langdon from American Horror Story
Another cool spot was by the old baseball dugout. There was this building that was built into the side of a hill so the roof was easy to hop up on. Getting down at a low angle gave a great view of the rusty rooftop (yay texture!) and sky in the background.
Near the creepy clown bus, there were a few dilapidated buildings set up - not quite as extensive as the previous year, but it still provided some interesting settings.
Crazy Jae Cosplay as Miss Argentina from Beetlejuice
Sierra Roses SFX Makeup as Tate Langdon from American Horror Story
Finally, around the perimeter there are a bunch of wooded areas, which of course are always a wonderful backdrop for photos.
Lady Cels as The Witch Umbreon
Sara Abis as a dark fairy
Heading into the shoot this year, I wondered if I would be disappointed in the variety of options, given that we already shot there the previous year, but it certainly did not disappoint! Even if nothing changed, I feel like simply shooting different cosplayers brings endless creative options—that’s what I love about cosplay photography.