Hello SuperHero Photography fans!

You’ve seen our images? Do you love them? Do you wonder about the characters behind those AWESOME cosplays? Well we’ve decided to run a new fortnightly column/article featuring characters that Adam has had the pleasure of shooting! Among other items, we’ll bring you daily quotes, a mini interview with the cosplayer and links to fab tutorial sites.

Think of it as a little way of us saying ‘Thanks!’ for following us (and also we want everyone to create their own EPIC cosplays!!).

So it’s 1996 and Lara has just kicked ass onto our screens - Do you remember the outfit? How many hours did you spend trying to find a corner to work the camera to ‘that’ perfect angle for polygon admiration? ;D

http://files.aag.webnode.com/200001916-74952758f6/TR_CORE-REV_Page_14.jpg - Lara concept art, Toby Gard

Ah the scandal of having such a well proportioned lady as the protagonist of a game. Anyway, love her or loathe her, you have to admit she has had some pretty awesome outfits throughout her years as leading lady in Tomb Raider and we have decided that to kick off our Featured Cosplay feature we’d feature the first EPIC character to be most widely received by SHP fans!

Here she is!

Of course you all know that this is the beautiful and talented Jenn Croft of http://www.jenncroftcosplay.com . I had the pleasure of asking her a few questions about this cosplay;

For recreating the Lara look, it doesn’t take a whole lot of time. Mainly just doing the makeup and hair takes about an hour and then theres the additional stage makeup (dirt) that takes about 15 more minutes. Putting on the costume doesn’t take long at all, since I built it to be optimized as far as putting it together and disassembling is concerned.

Each costume takes a couple of days to a couple of weeks to build, depending on the materials I use to make it. If I’m using rubber or leather for gunbelts, it only takes a matter of hours to complete. If using vinyl or any other synthetic pleather, it could take longer since more engineering is involved. The complexity of the costume also plays a factor. Something as easy as the comic book outfit doesn’t take long to put together since the clothes are pretty basic. The Underworld clothes, however, required custom seamstress work that takes quite a bit longer to design and create.

I think the most wanted variation for Lara involves any of the costumes with a low neckline, haha. They are always the most well-received. Especially the green top and brown shorts which is always the most recognizable signature look of hers and always photograghs nicely.

I just finished the original Classic Lara Croft costume from the first game and that costume was on my bench for a while. Now I have to figure out which to do next. Any suggestions are always welcome!

My favorite image in costume is my more popular waterall abseil picture. Every time I look at it I think about how fun it was to do and how it mixed two big loves of mine: cosplay and climbing. I can’t wait to do another shoot where I get to combine my extreme sport hobbies with cosplay!

A couple of tips that I would recommend to recreate the Lara look is this… Don’t use a look that works well for digital Lara. Use one that compliments you as well. I’m talking hair and makeup mostly but also the cut of the top and shorts as well. Not everyone can wear the same exact costume so you have to find a variation that makes you look good. And when you dirty yourself up for a “roughed up Lara” photoshoot, try to keep the dirt minimal on the face, especially around the eyes. Lara with dirt on her face is cool, but Lara with black eyes is not. Just remember the old phrase “less is more” when it comes to making the face look dirty.

Thank you very much to Jenn for taking the time out to answer those questions!

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-5xAlYFX2Uss/TfAKYmZWs-I/AAAAAAAAALw/SLJ-XtyBLVw/s1600/Shafer_Lara-Croft_Concept-Art.jpg - Lara concept art, Ben Shafer

Here’s a few links to some very comprehensive tutorials so you can all create something as AWESOME as Jenn’s Lara wardrobe!

http://tombraidercosplay.net/tutorials/tutorials-main.html

http://www.assassionista.com/2012/03/lara-croft-cosplay-tutorialinformation.html

OK, a short but sweet Featured Cosplay, if there is anything you’d like to see included or have a suggestion for a character for a future FC article then please send me an email -[email protected]

Keep an eye on our facebook page for daily Lara quotes and other links!

See you in a fortnight!

Sophie