Learn photography

Field notes · Look · Try · Compare

Making a portrait beside an arcade game

Explore how a portrait can include the colors, edges and shapes of an arcade setting.

Yenra Photography · Published October 17, 2026

An arcade offers plenty of color and shape to include in a portrait. A bright edge can sit beside a person, a wider view can introduce the surroundings, and a curved opening can give the figure a place within the frame. You and your portrait partner can explore those relationships one comfortable position at a time.

These three Colossalcon East 2017 photographs credit Ichigokitty Cosplay as Sonic the Hedgehog. Each gives the person a different relationship to an arcade machine. For an experiment of your own, choose a venue that welcomes photography and ask before using a machine as part of the portrait. A standing position beside a game is a useful place to begin.

Include a clear edge of the setting

In the first portrait, the bright vertical edge of a prize machine runs beside the standing figure. The raised gold-colored ring appears on the other side of the face. These strong shapes give you a useful starting point for looking at the person and the arcade together.

Notice how much of the machine is included. A narrow part of it contributes color and context while leaving room for the pose. Try looking first at the face, then at the machine edge, and then at the complete photograph.

With a willing partner, begin beside an interesting game where photography is welcome and there is room to stand. Leave circulation and play areas clear. Make a frame your partner likes before exploring a small change in viewpoint or how much of the machine you include.

Widen the view around the portrait

The second portrait widens the view around a seated figure. Curved sides and a bright foreground panel occupy more of the frame, while visitors and other games remain visible behind. The photograph gives the portrait a fuller sense of the busy place.

Compare the space around the person with the first example. Look at the shapes in front as well as behind, and notice which parts help you understand the setting. You can enjoy this balance without needing to reconstruct how the original lighting was made.

Try a wider view from an accessible position. If your partner wants to use a designated seat, check that it is permitted and comfortable. A wider standing portrait works too. Review the frame together and ask which surrounding details add something you want to keep.

Let a larger shape surround the figure

In the final example, the large rounded opening of a blue machine surrounds a side-on portrait. The machine has a recognizable outline of its own, with colored lights and a curved upper edge. Those shapes become part of the arrangement around the person.

Follow the curve above the head and down beside the body. Compare that enclosure with the straighter edge in the opening picture. Both can connect a portrait with its setting, and each gives you a different framing idea to explore.

Choose one edge, curve or patch of color that interests you and make a comfortable variation beside it. Ask your partner what they enjoy in the result. You might keep a closer portrait and a wider one, with a short note about how the surroundings change the feel of each frame.

Look back with curiosity.

• Which part of the setting helps explain the place?
• What changes when more of the game is included?
• Where does your partner feel comfortable and easy to see?

Keep exploring

Making a portrait in a busy place · Making a portrait with lights in the background · Planning a portrait together

Browse the complete Colossalcon East 2017 gallery. Follow a photograph into its original neighbors and see what else catches your attention. A repeated shape, a colorful setting or a shared detail may begin another discovery.