In most instances, yeah, you can get some impressive cosplay photos from a con floor or a studio. If you’re Canadian, though, you can head into that country’s vast wilderness, and get some pics that are truly special.
Similar to an Iceland trip made last year by some of cosplay’s biggest stars, a band of Canadian cosplayers and photographers recently went on a week-long tour of the Rockies, taking in sights like waterfalls, glaciers and the majestic Lake Louise.
Lichon Photography, TrickyLove, and Thistle Photography were there taking shots, while the cosplayers were Shushuwafflez, Nomadic Goldfish, MeltingMirror, Calamity Cosplay, and VickyBunnyAngel.
The pics they got look more like something you’d see on a poster or music video than a cosplay website.
A journey like this was obviously a lot more involved than your standard cosplay shoot. Five cosplayers took 15 costumes on the road for a week with three photographers, which took a hell of a lot of planning (over a year’s worth) and location scouting (not to mention creative packing and clothing for hikes) to pull everything off.
While taking amazing pictures was obviously a priority with the trip, a secondary goal with the scenery and team involved was to specifically highlight the work of Canadian cosplayers and photographers, who for the most part tend to be lumped in with Americans.
To get these kind of photos, the cosplayers had to hike up mountains in costume, dodge bears and at one point try and strike a pose in a lake of glacial melt (while Chinese, Japanese and German tourists looked on).
The team ultimately hit five hotels over seven days, visiting multiple national parks. Which was a lot of driving and climbing around, but with scenery like this beckoning, it was 100% worth it.
You can see some behind-the-scenes shots, and read more about the planning that went into the trip, at MeltingMirror’s blog.