Beverly and Brett Downen: A Dynamic Duo Cosplay Powerhouse Team!

“Cosplay is like a creative family. We are all here to help each other grow and succeed. It’s impossible to create in a vacuum.” – Beverly Downen

“If I could bend light and make it come from the directions I want, that would be the ultimate superpower for a photographer. It’s about controlling light to capture the perfect shot.” – Brett Downen

everly and Brett Downen reign supreme as beacons of artistry and dedication in the world of cosplay. Beverly is the mastermind behind Downen Creative Studios and the empowering SHEPROP!, a cosplay community with over 5,000 members. Brett is the visionary photographer behind Downen Photography, whose lens has immortalized countless cosplayers with his keen eye for detail and dramatic flair.

Together, this Pacific Northwest dynamic duo continues to inspire and innovate, crafting and capturing intricate costumes that push the boundaries of imagination. They not only create and capture stunning visual art, but also foster a supportive and inclusive community where boundless creativity thrives.

Let’s dive into Beverly and Brett’s journey, their creative processes, and the heartwarming story of how a shared passion for cosplay has become a cornerstone of their lives.

BOOM: Thank you. Thank you very much. Hello, Beverly and Brett. Thank you for joining me today. It’s fun to have both of you in one interview. Let’s talk about some fun stuff that makes my gears turn, cosplay and photography.

Brett: Hey, thanks for having us. I’m very excited to be here. We get to talk about ourselves.

Beverly: Yeah. Thank you so much for having us. This is gonna be really fun.

BOOM: Oh, you bet it is. I am curious. Which one of you was into cosplaying first? How did your passion for cosplay begin?

Beverly: Hmm? Who was into cosplaying first? That was definitely not Brett. That was definitely me. But to tell the truth, the first person in our family that was really into cosplaying was Zoe, so I like to blame Zoe for those things.

Brett: Yeah. She is the true origin story of how you got into cosplay. Yeah.

Beverly: Zoe is my stepdaughter, Brett’s daughter. She was the catalyst, I guess, that inspired me to go down this creation path.

Brett: Yeah. She asked that faithful question to Beverly. Will you help me make a cosplay? And that was the beginning of all things.

Beverly: Yes.

BOOM: Can you walk us through your process of creating a new aPOPalyptic costume and the best background to photograph it in?

Beverly: Hmm. Okay. Well, if I was to create a new apocalyptic costume, I’d probably make it out of a bunch of found objects, because that is all that I would have in the apocalypse is things in my closet, maybe things that I scavenged, from the garage, in an old box that was forgotten, in the bowels of our house.

Brett: Or it sounds like several of the cosplays you started with.

Beverly: That’s true. Turns out that’s true. You know, my Furiosa costume was made mostly with things that I just had lying around, which is why I am a bit of a pack rat.

Brett: That is true. There’s a system in our house where I don’t get to really throw away anything, and I’ve been trained over time to understand what falls into the “ask permission to throw it away” category versus “It’s probably safe.” Like, you know, a banana peel is probably safe to throw away. But there’s times when there’s either, like, a length of bowl wrap or just some interesting shaped items that I better get permission before throwing that stuff away, which I would also imagine all of this stuff would probably go into an aPOPalyptic costume. Photographing it, you know, you’d have to think about industrial ruin. You’d have to think about very deep red sunsets with buildings in the background. I would imagine that’s how I’d be, I think, picturing photographing such a thing. One other thing, which, you know, thankfully, the Mad Max saga really helps with this as well, is in the apocalypse, clearly, everything is a wasteland, and there’s plenty of areas that can be construed as wastelands that you could definitely take a character and bring them out to, like, a desert area or just. Just kind of a rough terrain. And that would work pretty well for an aPOPalyptic costume as well.

Beverly: Yeah.

Brett: The other cool thing about shooting an aPOPalyptic costume is that you don’t always want to shoot in harsh noon lighting, but you really could. You could do really high contrast with a costume like this, because we know we’re talking about end of times, and the ozone layer is probably shot, and we have a lot of light on us, So, there’s definitely ways to make it look as bleak as it probably sounds.

BOOM: Love that. Which characters have you enjoyed cosplaying and photographing the most, and why?

Beverly: So I have my, my favorite in my head. But don’t say yours yet. No, because I want to see if ours are the same. Okay, so on the count of three, we’re both gonna say it at the same time.

Brett: Okay.

Beverly: Okay. So it’s gonna be 123, and then. And then say it. So, one, two, three, talk, then go.

Brett: Not one, two, and then say it.

Beverly: Correct. Okay.

Brett: Okay.

Beverly: Ready? One, two, three, Hela! Awesome. So, well done.

Brett: Well, let’s talk about why, Beverly, do you enjoy cosplaying that one the most?

Beverly: I’m really proud of that costume, and when I wear that costume, I feel like I’m wearing something that means more to me than just a costume. The whole process of creating that was a lot. I learned so much. I just feel really powerful and strong in that costume. I mean that headdress is really, really huge. It’s such a gravity defying thing, and I’m just really proud of my work on that whole costume. Everything that I did on that was really pushing myself and my limits. And, yeah, that kind of set the bar for myself, for what I was willing to do to learn to make something as awesome as that costume.

Brett: I didn’t see you for months. That was an incredible build. I’ll always remember the helmet, especially in that build. And watching it go from chunky EVA foam on unbent coat hangers into, I think, one of the most beautiful props I’ve ever seen in person. Not just at Beverly’s, but one of the most beautiful props, I think, I’ve come across is that amazing midnight black, glossy helmet that, by the way, disassembles for travel, which I’ve always appreciated. It’s one thing to build that helmet. It’s another to forward think enough to realize that you have to travel around the country with something like that, and how are you going to do it, and building that into the helmet and still keeping it as epic as it is, it was just so impressive to watch that happen. Photographing it has always been exciting because it’s such a dramatic character to begin with, and my style is kind of dramatic. I like deep blacks. I like bright whites. I like saturated colors, if I’m using colors. And that helmet is made to be dramatic just by itself. The entire cosplay though, it’s an incredible bodysuit. Beverly knows how to wear it. She knows how to pose in it. You combine the beautiful body piece with the helmet and just such a striking cosplay and character. We’ve been drawn to Hela, the Thor series, since, really since Dark World. So, I feel like that portion of Marvel is a little bit closer to us than some of the other aspects of the universe. So, getting to photograph it, kind of bringing it into our lives, is always extra exciting when we do get to do that.

BOOM: SHEPROP! emphasizes education, understanding, and empathy. Do you find this lacking in the maker or cosplay comic con world? What made you start SHEPROP!?

Beverly: So, I started SHEPROP! back in 2018 after a series of events that made me pretty upset. I was making Hela, and I was reaching out to people online. I didn’t really have a forum or maker community that I could feel comfortable asking questions. It’s hard to ask questions when you’re new or when you’re trying to find out how to do something when no one has really done a lot of it before. A lot of people have strong opinions, and a lot of people are very unkind about things that they say to you. And I encountered quite a bit of that when I was making Hela. So the last straw, so to speak, was a woman that asked me if my husband made my costume. This was the day after I won an award for the costume at Emerald City Comic Con. And we drove home after the event, and I was so angry, and I decided that I needed to have a space that was safe from all of that, and just a place to uplift and support female makers. And it has since been opened to welcome anyone that identifies as female, non binary, transgender, two spirit, anyone that has an underrepresented gender can join this forum. And it’s a safe space where we can share tips and creative ideas and get help and ask the questions that we can’t really ask in other maker forums without the fear of being disparaged or mansplained or, you know, made fun of. So, it’s an important thing that I wanted to do for myself that has, I think, helped other people find a safe place in the cosplay community.

BOOM: Brett, what’s the funniest or weirdest thing that has happened to you while shooting a cosplayer?

Brett: There is plenty of weird in cosplay. It just comes to the territory, thankfully. I think one of the funniest things that happened during a photo shoot was when I was in the San Jose, California at SiliCon, and I was shooting with a very well known cosplayer named Ridd1e. She’s my friend Riki, and she’s an amazing cosplayer. And we decided we were going to meet first thing in the morning and shoot outside the entry of the con, where there were some really cool cement wall backgrounds, and it looked like, kind of perfect for her Edward Scissorhands cosplay. Sometimes, I have a photographic assistant with me. A lot of the time, it’s my friend Alex, and Alex had promised to be there that morning. He knew this was, like, one of my big shoots. Alex was late, so luckily Riki had her husband with her. He was an amazing help along the way. So we started our photo shoot, and things are going really, really well. Lo and behold, in the background, I see a very large person, like, quite dressed with a giant white dome on his head. It looks like a big spotlight. And I realized that this is Alex. Alex is six foot four. He’s a big dude, and he’s got a big smile on his face as he’s walking at us, and he is dressed as the Pixar lamp. And he thought it was going to be hilarious, and it was, that the Pixar lamp was going to be a photo assistant holding a flash. So he shows up, and we are laughing and just admiring him and enjoying it, just having a great time looking at his surprise cosplay. And then we go back to shooting, and within just a few seconds of starting the shoot with Alex as my photo assistant, we had to stop the shoot again because my photo assistant had a line of people lining up behind him to get their pictures taken with the Pixar lamp. So the rails definitely came off that photo shoot, and we just had to smile and patiently wait for the line to die down to continue on our photo shoot. But that’s probably one of the funniest things that’s occurred to me. I look back on that like, I wouldn’t change a thing. Everything about that was so wonderful and warm and hilarious. It was just such a great time. So, yeah, make a funny cosplay. It’s worth it.

BOOM: Beverly, which character would you choose to cosplay if you had to wear the costume 24/7 for a week?

Beverly: All right. This one is both somehow difficult and simple to answer. But, I think, what I would cosplay if I had to wear it day and night for a week, it would be something simple, like Carol Danvers when she lands on earth, and she’s trying to figure out, like, who she is. And she’s kind of stranded on earth, you remember from Captain Marvel, because back in the nineties, she lands inside a Blockbuster Video, and that is sort of like my jam. So, she’s wearing jeans, and then she has a flannel shirt and a Nine Inch Nails t-shirt. I mean, that’s a cosplay. So, that would be really comfortable. And I’m really enjoying being comfortable when I’m wearing costumes these days. So, I definitely would not wear anything that had heels, because, heck no. Yeah.

Brett: And, you know, a lot of people wear Nine Inch Nail shirts for seven days straight, and nobody questions them. So, that was a solid choice for cosplay. Exactly.

Beverly: It’s all about comfort. Being uncomfortable is my nemesis. I cannot. I can’t do it. If I’m uncomfortable in my cosplay, I need to take it off immediately. And Brett can attest to this, because if it happens when I’m trying to do a photo shoot with him, he has about 30 minutes with me before I am done with wearing the costume. Yeah, I have spent months on costumes before and I’ve only worn them a couple of times for a total of probably 2 hours. And that’s okay with me. It’s more about the process of making than, than it is wearing for me.

Brett: So, it’s amazing the number of shots we can get in seven minutes, too.

Beverly: I’m trying to get better at it.

BOOM: Brett and Beverly, have you done any couple cosplaying? If so, which characters?

Beverly: Couples costumes. We’ve always been big fans of Halloween, so I think couples costumes have been pretty fun and pretty easy. But, on the cosplay spectrum of, you know, just couples costumes–I’ve made a couple of things that you’ve worn.

Brett: Yeah. One of the biggest things you ever made was Briareos from Appleseed.

Beverly: Yeah.

Brett: I mean, that was a group cosplay, but it definitely could have been a couples cosplay considering the characters we were and everything. But we were initially…

Beverly: or Lady Sif.

Brett: Yeah, that was before that day. Magneto.

Beverly: And Jean Grey, which they weren’t a couple, but it was, we were from the same universe, so yes, kind of a couple’s cosplay.

Brett: Well, we win as a couple, so I think that’s true.

Beverly: We also have done Bob and Linda from Bob’s Burgers, which is a store bought costume. And it’s one of our most fun costumes. Everywhere. We’ve done…

Brett: That’s a Dragon Con costume.

Beverly: Yeah, we’ve done flight suits, like Top Gun flight suits. We did that. We also did this obscure one from the movie Fido, which is a really cute zombie movie, which I recommend if you’re into, you know, some cult classics. This one is definitely. It’s a really, really great, great film. I love it. It’s a fantastic movie.

Brett: So, yeah, I forget about that one.

Beverly: Yeah, it was so much fun. I know I’m forgetting others because, Dragon Con has really given us a good reason to figure out more couples costumes because it’s just so much fun. That…

Brett: We did the gender bent Bob and Linda last year. Nobody seemed to get it, but that’s okay. I thought your mustache looked amazing.

Beverly: That’s our cat in the background, by the way. She’s singing. She has a lot to say.

Brett: She’s not a good singer.

BOOM: You definitely have a diva kitty. Okay, I am going to go out on a limb with this one. Beverly, have you ever photographed Brett in cosplay?

Beverly: Have I ever photographed you in cosplay?

Brett: I’m sure you have. I feel like, now that I’m thinking about it, you probably photographed me in Briareos. I feel like that was one where we may have set up the studio to get some shots. So, you would have done the photographing of it.

Beverly: No, that was, that was Cosplay Boom. That got those really nice shots.

Brett: Then, I take it all back. We never shot.

Beverly: I’m. No, I don’t think that I’ve ever shot you. Because, when we started making costumes together, or when I started making costumes for you to wear. Yeah, you were the photographer, and I, I don’t really understand light nearly half as well as you do. Like, your gear is definitely a different, different language that I don’t really speak that fluently. So, I think I’ve always relied on you to set everything up. And now that you don’t really wear costumes anymore, all of the photos that we have, that both of us are in costumes, they’re selfies that we’ve taken with our phone or just fun videos or something. Or, which is my favorite, when we’re in an elevator and there’s a mirror on the ceiling of the elevator and we look up and we take those pictures.

Brett: Every con we go to, we find one elevator with a mirror to keep the tradition alive.

Beverly: Yeah. But as far as, like, actual photography, that is of quality, the photographer in the family is Brett. It’s not me.

BOOM: Brett, other than SHEPROP!, what has been your favorite cosplay team to photograph?

Brett: A couple of different teams come to mind pretty quickly. The first one is our, kind of our inner circle group. We have these events we host now and then. We call them slumber cons, and that’s where we invite friends over for a weekend, and we do nothing but crafting, eating, and drinking and photo shoots. I’m going to call that event, like, that’s one of my favorite group kind of team events. Now, within that group, there’s a cosplay duo who I absolutely love photographing. They go by @CarmaCosplay, and it’s two best friends. And they are insanely talented cosplayers, but they’re also insanely talented models. And we always walk away with gold when I shoot with Carma.

Beverly: Yeah, they’re amazing.

Brett: Yeah, those are, those are the two that I immediately think of. There’s another group that I have a lot of fun with, because everybody has a lot of fun with this group is @Team_Totoro_Cosplay. Look them up. They’re awesome. They’re a really great group as well to play around with and photograph. What other teams have I photographed?

Beverly: Oh, my gosh. From Seattle. They’re bodybuilders. They do Iron Man costumes. They’re amazing. They’re so nice.

Brett: Rogues Gallery Fitness… @roguesgallerycosplay.

Beverly: Cosplay. Yes. They’re amazing.

Brett: They’re a couple. Incredible. Incredible cosplayers in general. Everything they touch seems to be pretty incredible in their lives.

Beverly: And they’re just such great humans, too. They’re so kind. They’re so amazing and friendly and wonderful and in general, like, just, you just want to be them.

Brett: You just want to be around them. Julia and Aaron, also, they’re some of those cosplayers who don’t hide how they build things. They freely share how they build, especially their big armor pieces. They’ve done some really cool Iron Man builds and Pepper Potts build as well. They show absolutely everything along the way, how they build it. So, I would definitely say they’re one of my favorite teams to photograph. Both very talented in front of the camera.

BOOM: I am curious, if you could have a superpower to help with cosplaying photography, what would it be, and why?

Beverly: Do you want to go first?

Brett: Yeah, I’m going. Here we go. I’m doing it. Can’t stop me.

Beverly: I can’t wait.

Brett: Okay, so the superpower that would benefit me the most is, if I could bend light. If I could just be a light bender. Imagine, like, having all of the power of light control as a professional photographer and not even really needing the equipment so much. If I could bend light and if I could make the light come from the directions I want it to come, I feel like that is like the ultimate superpower for a photographer.

Beverly: Yeah, yeah, yeah. I like that. My superpower would be to have a craft version of a control-alt-delete button, because that’s like reset.

Brett: That’s where you restart.

Beverly: Yeah, no, wait.

Brett: No, no, no.

Beverly: I don’t want to restart. Scratch that. What I mean is command-Z. Oh, like undo, right. And, like, undo, like a few times.

Brett: So that I. Or control-Z.

Beverly: Control-Z. Thank you. Control-Z. Did I say command-Z?

Brett: No, no, command-Z is correct for Apple.

Beverly: Oh, okay. Yeah, control-Z.

Brett: No, I was just trying to include everyone.

Beverly: Thank you for translating.

Brett: And for Linux, go figure your own life out.

Beverly: Anyway, the point is so that I could go back in time and fix the problems or mistakes that I’ve made, without having to redo anything or keep my blood pressure at a nice and safe level.

Brett: Okay, so let’s say. But say you can go back and go back in time, like 5 seconds, 10 seconds, 30 seconds.

Beverly: Oh, no, it would be like, however much time I want. Because, if I made a patterning mistake or let’s say I cut out fabric, and then I was like, “Oh no, I needed that piece for this other thing.” Or I cut it inside out. That has happened so many times. So I just need. Listen, this is my superpower. I get to design it the way that I need it.

Brett: No, sure.

Beverly: Unlimited style. I can have.

Brett: I just. I was doing a what if situation.

Beverly: Okay, well, it’s gonna be, and I could, you know what? I can use that during the apocalypse as well, which would be pretty handy. Yes.

Brett: So do a quick undo.

Beverly: Yep, that would be my superpower.

Brett: But if, like, your superpower was like, you can turn back time x number of seconds or minutes, but you can only do, like, there was just one like that. That was it. What would your time length be? That would be the best for your needs.

Beverly: Okay, so I’m gonna say 13 because we just watched Galaxy Quest and the Omega 13 turns back time by 13 seconds. So, I would have to say 13.

Brett: All right.

Beverly: Yeah. It’s either 13 or 42. And we all know why I would want to turn 42.

Brett: Duh.

Beverly: Yeah.

Brett: But, okay, no, Omega 13. That’s pretty funny.

Beverly: Yeah.

Brett: Just enough time to fix one mistake is what they say in the movie too. All right, so Omega 13 would be your…

Beverly: Omega 13 would be my, yeah, yeah. I would have an actual Omega 13. Yeah. I’m glad we figured that out.

Brett: Yes. No, it’s good.

BOOM: You two are good. Really good. What’s the most unusual item you’ve used for a costume and for a photo shoot?

Brett: I think the most unusual thing I’ve used for a photo shoot is I’ve use baking powder, baking flour, excuse me, as like as a white powder, as a like a cloud. And it’s really fun. I would highly recommend to people. You don’t need professional equipment to make this happen. You basically need a bag of flour and someone willing to throw it at you. So, that’s exactly what you do. You take flour in your hands, or we found that there’s different items you can use to throw the baking flour. Like, a sweeping pan, like, you know, you know, works out really well to cascade a big fanning, like, cascade of flour, like a curtain. Those little wand spoon things you use to, like, throw balls for dogs to, like, fetch. You could really launch flour really well with those things. You could also just launch it, like, with your hands. Backhand and forehand both work. So we did all of that, and we, we pummeled my friend Emma with flour. But, God, we got some epic results out of that, and I do…this is my disclaimer, so nobody does this and gets themselves in trouble. Baking flour is flammable, so don’t combine baking flour with fire effects or, you know, don’t have a cigarette in your mouth while someone’s throwing flour at you, because it can ignite the entire flower cloud. And that’s, um, as cool as it sounds, you don’t want to be in it.

Beverly: Well, I’m just thinking, like, if you were in the apocalypse, and you could actually find yourself with a bag of flour. You could use that you if out you help to know,

Brett: Yeah.

Beverly: You know, to help you out if you needed to have something. Some kind of flammable thing.

Brett: Yeah. Good idea.

Beverly: Good to know.

Brett: Yeah.

Beverly: Stored that away.

Brett: For the apocalypse.

Beverly: For the apocalypse. The most unusual thing that I’ve used for a costume or a photo shoot. I think the one thing that comes to mind is my Athena costume had a whole bunch of thermoplastic details on it that I had molded from old buttons and old jewelry that I inherited from my mom when she passed away. So it was really, really special to me. And I don’t know that it’s really, that it’s unusual, but they’re definitely not screen accurate. They’re definitely not traditional, but they mean a lot to me. So, in that regard, they’re, they’re unusual because it’s not something that a lot of people will do in cosplay. But that was an original design, and I needed to do something that was custom in my own design after finishing, I think it was Wasp or maybe it was Hela. It was a very screen accurate costume that I created, and then I just needed to get away from screen accuracy. And it was a nice, nice way to memorialize a little bit of my mom into the costumes. And I still try to do that as well. I’ll try to sneak in one of those items onto my costume, if I can. Thank you, Xena, for your input.

Brett: The cat also has opinions.

BOOM: What advice would you give to someone who is just starting out in cosplay and photography?

Beverly: So my advice to someone that’s just starting out in cosplay is to just go for it. Don’t look at what everybody else is doing online and find something that you really like. Character or costume, or maybe it’s just a material somebody gifted you a few yards of some awesome material, and you want to make something, go ahead and just, just make it. And you don’t need to watch 10 million tutorials on how to make something. Just dive in. Don’t worry about accuracy, don’t worry about it. Just find the joy in what you’re doing in the crafting process. And if it’s making you happy, then you know that you are on the right track. So if you’re just starting out with cosplay, just remember that we’re all here to have fun and that’s what it’s about.

Brett: That’s pretty good advice there. I see a lot of cosplayers. There’s so many amazing cosplayers who share their skills and how they make it. I just want to back you up on that one, that it’s about having the fun first, find the excitement in it and letting the skills develop over time. This is such a great way to really enjoy what you’re doing, rather than always being frustrated that you don’t quite have the skills yet. It’s not quite coming out the way you want it. You know what? Just throw it together and really enjoy the process along the way. Regarding photography, I mean, it’s basically the same thing. One thing that I see people do, and they get very discouraged after they invest way too much money in equipment that they don’t know how to use. It’s not fun, it’s frustrating. And you put a lot of pressure on yourself when you’re working with some really expensive equipment you bought. Thinking that, hey, I’m going to be a photographer. And then you find out that it’s a lot harder and it’s going to take a lot more time than you think to refine your skills and get better and better. So just like Beverly said, you know, one of the things that’s super important along the way is that you’re having fun shooting with friends, playfully shooting with friends, not being serious about it is a great way to start. And also, I can’t state this enough. Use the equipment you have, or if you don’t have equipment, borrow some or think about getting some used equipment. Cameras from ten years ago are still relevant to this day. They still have the quality. Photography is photography. The actual tools in photography changes very little over time. Yeah, it’s digital now, and theres mirrorless cameras that have a lot of bells and whistles, but the concept of light has never changed, so older cameras still have to function with the same physics as modern cameras do. Get yourself some used equipment or some borrowed equipment and go have fun. Don’t worry too much about the right techniques. Worry more about being a resource for your friends, not just to give them output, like give them images, but as a place to have fun. Something else that always helps, I think, for both beginning cosplayers and photographers is that photo shoots are deadlines. If you agree to have a photo shoot in four weeks or five weeks time, that gives a cosplayer motivation to stay focused on what they’re working on, both as a cosplayer and a photographer. Think about those deadlines and using photo shoots as a great and fun method of really kind of like putting that little bit of time sensitivity on what you’re doing to see how much focus you can achieve while you’re working on your skills.

BOOM: Beverly, how do you stay cool, temperature wise, when wearing elaborate and heavy costumes? This robot needs some tips on not overheating in what’s left of this hot, hot world.

Beverly: Staying cool is something that I always worry about. I have a lot of hair, and I get hot really, really easily. And a lot of the costumes that I make are all encompassing. There’s a lot of EVA foam, which is not very breathable. So I do need to consider how I’m going to cool down and how I can get out of the costume quickly. It’s a very important topic. I think that the one thing that I started doing more and more of is try not to wear wigs. For me, it’s hard enough to wear a wig when I have a lot of thick hair, and having a wig on your head just makes things even more hot. But sometimes you have to wear a wig, if that is what a costume calls for. So I’ll do other things with my costumes, like, I will make sure that the back of my costume isn’t totally enclosed. If I have a cape or something that is hiding that part of the costume, I’ll just leave it open. And that is a really life saving kind of a tip for anyone that isn’t entering a costume and needs to worry about screen accuracy. You build up a lot of heat on your back, or at least I do. And so if you give yourself a little bit of ventilation in some places. If you plan for it and you add it into your costume and you make it as important as getting some of those details right. You’re just going to be a lot more comfortable. I’ve also started to consider my footwear and being more comfortable and having that as important as looking good in the costume as well. Because as soon as you have uncomfortable footwear on, the amount of time that you want to wear that costume is a fraction of what you’ll actually be wearing. It, so that’s also really important. I’m learning a lot as I get a little bit older, and I’m also not willing to be in pain in a costume either, so. But yeah, staying cool, you know, during the apocalypse, I’m imagining it’s probably going to be really warm, so I think I would probably wear light, light fabrics, breathable fabrics, cotton, and as little EVA foam as possible.

Brett: So, what I’ve seen and done along the way too, is I think it helps cosplayers out a lot, is having a handler nearby with the water ready to go. Another strategy we’ve used and definitely encourage, is to set your, set your phone alarm so you force yourself to take breaks. So how long do you want to be in that cosplay, walking around before you need to sit down? Err on the side of shorter rather than longer, because everything in your cosplay is harder, takes more effort, and it takes them far longer to get anywhere in cosplay than not. So think about taking more frequent breaks along the way. And I think that goes with wig wearing as well. A lot of people want to put the wig on and then keep the wig on as long as possible, but I don’t know a single cosplayer who doesn’t eventually have a massive headache, if they do that. And also everyone who’s wearing a wig, even this bald guy, there is a sense of overheating that takes place. So, think about those breaks along the way. If you have a handler, great. If not, think about how you’re going to hydrate, which is going to help you cool down a little bit.

Beverly: Neck fans are really great. Neck fans.

Brett: Yeah, we own more than a single pair of neck fans now for these exact reasons. And then lastly, Mr. Robot, adding fans to armor and to helmets has been a godsend. My Thor helmet that Beverly made, she ended up extending it to put some PC fans in the side of it, and we built into some ventilation that wasn’t there before, and that really saved me from just buckets of sweat coming out to being manageable for a far longer time. So PC fans are small, they can be battery operated, and they could be built right into your cosplay.

BOOM: Brett, how do you adjust your camera settings when capturing the metallic sheen and intricate details of robots or other armor clad cosplayers?

Brett: Oh, boy. Okay. So, it’s not just camera settings, it’s also the lighting and how you work with the light for metallic sheen and for details. But let’s talk about camera settings first. If you’re really thinking detail like really, really sharp detail, you’re going to be thinking about stopping down your aperture to f8 or f11, which means you’re capturing super fine details, but you’re requiring a heck of a lot more light to do the same thing, which is why it’s kind of like a combination of camera settings and then how you’re going to control your lighting at the same time. So, I would be shooting at f8 or f11, and I’m going to be using off camera lighting, like I normally do, you know, which is flashes that are remotely controlled, that are going to give me lighting from different directions. So depending on what kind of lighting you want coming off of your armor, especially for armor side lighting or lighting at about a 45 degree angle, is going to give you some beautiful shadows, but it’s also going to give a lot of detail to the brightness and the shadows along the way. So you have to really consider external lighting source. And it could be like, like I’m saying, like, I bring flashes everywhere I go, but there’s this giant ball in the sky called the sun and if you know how to kind of utilize that, that sunlight, you can do side lighting, you could do foreground lighting, you could, you could do silhouette, you know, backlighting. So there’s different methods of controlling it, but just make sure your aperture is stopped down, if you’re really interested in really capturing every bit of minutiae and detail on the costume.

BOOM: Is there a particular comic con or anime convention that you think has the best cosplay?

Beverly: All right, you want to do the same thing where we think of it and then we say it at the same time on the count of three.

Brett: I think we’re dialed in. Yeah.

Beverly: Okay. One, two, three.

Brett: Dragon Con. That is definitely, well, Dragon Con, it’s a five, six day con now, event.

Beverly: So it’s fun. Adventure. It’s fun cosplay, where the pun cosplay, costumes, you know, are supreme there. So, yes, you will see people that bring their best crafted costumes, but you will see most people there are there with a silly costume, or they’re there with a bunch of people, and they, they’ve all decided that they’re going to do this very obscure episode from this obscure show from, like, the seventies. And, you know, one person is going to get it, but it’s that one person that’s going to get it that is the inspiration for a lot of those silly costumes.

Brett: It’s the reward.

Beverly: Yeah, it’s a reward. Exactly. It’s so much fun. It’s like Halloween, but packed into a weekly long fun time in Atlanta.

Brett: Thousands and thousands.

Beverly: The end of August. Yeah, super fun. Highly recommend.

Brett: I also like some of the biggest cosplays of the year are released. Like, the big cosplays are released on Friday and Saturday night or really Friday and Saturday afternoon, because at night everyone’s kind of drunk. But that’s when the, like, the biggest ones of the year come out as well.

Beverly: Yeah, it’s always really fun. It’s fun to watch people building these amazing costumes throughout the year, and then they arrive at Dragon Con and you know where they’re gonna be, and you can make sure that you get down to the floor to admire it in person. Yeah, that’s always really, really fun.

BOOM: Is there a convention that’s on your bucket list that you haven’t been to?

Beverly: So, San Diego Comic Con is on my bucket list. It’s such a huge show. It’s such a different show. I don’t know that I would even want to go in a costume. I just want to go and experience that convention once. It’s massive, and it’s a different flavor than, you know, we were just talking about Dragon Con. Totally different from Dragon Con. That show has more to do with pop culture and new releases and new merch and going to panels with celebrities and that kind of thing. There’s definitely cosplay there, but it’s. That’s not. Not the focus. The center focus, the center focus is more on the studios are there and just a different vibe. And I would love to go and experience it. Yeah, one day we’ll get down there.

Brett: I would agree. San Diego Comic Con also has the panels that are run by the movie crews themselves. And you get to hear some amazing, I’m sure, amazing stories of behind the scenes stories. But you also get to hear, like, these are the best of the best of movie crews and producers and everything, and you get to kind of hear what’s up in Hollywood. And I think Hollywood kind of waits for San Diego Comic Con for a lot of their creative announcements.

Beverly: Yeah, that’s where Marvel will release or will announce the rest of, you know, the shows that they’re going to be producing and creating for the next few years. The other reason why I want to go to San Diego Comic Con is because frequently there will be an exhibition of screen worn costumes, or at least that’s what I think. So as a cosplayer, you can go to San Diego Comic Con and look at these costumes behind glass. But it’s a really great opportunity to see a lot of these props and costumes that are used or created for those films, and that’s always really fun. That would be very exciting for me going references my get to

Brett: Yeah.

Beverly: Going to get my references in person. That would be awesome.

BOOM: If you two could travel back in time, what time period would you go to, and why?

Brett: So, are we traveling together on this one? Like, is that the plan here? If you two could travel back in time, are we picking different times? And then we’re going to come back and report to each other how amazing it was? What’s the plan here?

Beverly: I don’t know. Oh gosh. I have such a hard time with this one because there’s no period in time that I romanticize about or that I’m like, oh, if only I could go back in time and do XYZ. If I could go back in time, it would be to, like, invest in Apple stock, or it would be to somehow change some sort of historical thing. Although I know that I would be changing the future, and we all know from films that that is not something you really want to be doing. You don’t want to be messing with the timeline. But I think it would be, would it be fun to go back in time to the very first convention to interact with the first cosplayer ever. And I wish that I could remember when that was and who that was, but this person, it was a long time ago, and it was a costume that I think it was from a film, and it was a woman. And I think it would really be really cool to go back in time to that moment, knowing that that was the first time that that was the first cosplayer ever. And I think that would be a really cool moment. The other thing I would do, okay, I would go back in time to the world’s fair, and I would get a Heinz ketchup pin from, I know, this is very, very…

Brett: Did not see this coming.

Beverly: I know, I know. Well, there’s a whole story behind the Heinz ketchup, and how it became Heinz Ketchup, and it was a big deal. And they went to a world’s fair, and they were giving away these pins, and it was, like a huge thing, and there was a huge line for Heinz Ketchup because you could get this free pin. So, I would love to go back in time and get a free pin.

Brett: Oh, wow.

Beverly: Be a part of history.

Brett: That’s an interesting and obscure thing to do to go back in time. I want to take the kids back in time before cell phones and watch them freak out. “What do we do, dad?” “Whatever you want, just not on the phone. Go explore the world.”

BOOM: What upcoming projects or characters are you excited to work on next?

Beverly: So, the costume that I’m working on right now is Lae’zel from Baldur’s Gate 3. And I’m really, really excited about all of the aspects that I’m making in this costume, because I’m really trying to stretch my brain in a lot of ways that I haven’t had to stretch my brain like body paint. I’m making some latex ears. I’m going to be sculpting and molding and casting, which I’ve done before, but not for latex prosthetics. So that’s new. And I’ve got some other new things I’m trying to fit into this costume as well. And there’s some really exciting things that are coming down the pipe, though we can’t really talk about just yet. So those are some other things that I’m really, really excited about that are going to make 2024 really kind of memorable, actually. So stay tuned. Muah ha ha. Do you have anything that you’re working on next?

Brett: I think all the projects I’ve got in my head are for me to be pushing my photography in different genres. I really love fashion photography, and I don’t mean, like, capturing models walking down the ramp at a fashion show, but big beautiful gowns and dresses and men dressed to the nines and beautiful black and silver suits and things like that. I’m falling back into doing black and white more and more now. I don’t know where this is coming from, but I love Hollywood silver screen look. And I’ve got a couple models I’m going to be working with who also want to kind of follow me down that path. I’ve also got a couple of goth friends, who I love shooting Goth and goth fashion. So, while I want to kind of branch out and do some other photography, I’ve also just recently realized that I really want to shoot, like, another epic cosplay. I haven’t done an epic cosplay photo shoot, like, a really big one, in quite some time, and now I’m kind of getting an itch to find someone who’s going to be doing a new release on something super epic. Bald Guy Cosplay comes to mind.

Beverly: What about Beverly Downen and her Lae’zel Lae’zel…

Brett: I would absolutely love to shoot your Lae’zel, and I’m looking forward to your latex ears being finished, so we could, we could definitely pursue that. I love your Lae’zel as well, because we can shoot in a forested area or a mountain area, which we have plenty of right around us. us.

Beverly: Because it’s not the apocalypse just yet.

Brett: No, no, there’s still greenery out there.

BOOM: Where can we find you two in cyberspace?

Brett: So, yeah, I’ve got all my galleries are on downenphotography.com. And if you ever want to book me for an event, I love, absolutely love doing panels, workshops and demonstrations. I do live photo shoots as demonstrations at conferences, and you can find that at Downen dot photography no .com on the end, just downen dot photography. Reach out to me. I love, love doing live photo shoots at conferences and getting new cosplayers up on a stage to make them feel like a million bucks and make them feel like a star for a while. So those are my websites and then, of course, I’m @downenphotography on Instagram, and downenphotography on Facebook and here and there. So, Beverly, where are you at?

Beverly: I am everywhere except TikTok. And if you just search for Downen, d-o-w-n-e-n, you will find both of us. My biggest place, where I post the most frequently, is on Instagram. But you can also head over to my website, which is downencreativestudios.com. and I do have a newsletter. If you sign up for my newsletter, you will get news from me and it’s pretty infrequent. It might be like once a month. Is that the name of it? No, it’s the Downen Creative Crew. Oh. Pretty fancy.

Brett: Can I contribute? Because I’m part of the crew?

Beverly: We’ll have to talk. We’ll talk.

Brett: Sounds like a “no.”

BOOM: I think I’ll stay out of this one. It’s time for a shout out. Who would you like to acknowledge and thank today and why?

Brett: I think it’s first important to give a shout-out to our cat, Xena, who needed to be a part of this, like, more than ever, which is just ridiculous. But thank you, Xena, for being part of our interview today.

Beverly: Yes, aside from the cat, you know, I think, especially in the creative arts, it’s impossible to create in a vacuum. And we are really fortunate to be surrounded by friends that are generous with their time, generous for their knowledge, and have undoubtedly contributed to our ongoing inspiration for creating and just thriving in this creative space. Cosplay is, it’s like a creative family. And I would like to think that we are all here to help each other grow and help each other succeed. And so I would like to acknowledge and thank the people who have helped me at every step of the way. My close friends and also, the people that I’ve reached out to online for help on my various projects, and who have given me opportunities to travel and to go to conventions. It’s a big, big, big long list, but I think it’s reminiscent of a lot of people who are in this industry, I guess. And in any creative industry, we’re all here to help each other along.

Brett: Yeah. It’d be hard to shout out to everyone. There’s definitely a crew of people who inspire me and those who come to my aid. And I’ve got some amazing friends who become photo assistants at the drop of a hat. I want to appreciate all of them. I’m not going to shout every name out, but I just everyone who ever, ever helps along the way. Team photo shoots are always more fun than solo one, so I always appreciate all of them.

BOOM: Finally, how would you make the world a better place?

Beverly: How would I make the world a better place? That’s a pretty big question, but I think I would start with, oh, my gosh. I would just ask everyone to be kind to each other and to hold a door for each other. If you’re going through a door, please hold it open for the person that’s going through the door behind you. And take that as literal reference as well as a metaphorical one, because if we consider others and the things that we do and make that a habit, I think that we can make the world a better place for a lot of people.

Brett: Yeah, you stole mine. I was gonna say practice kindness. I mean, the best thing we can do, whether it’s in person or online everywhere. Being kind is always far more rewarding than any other possibility. So practicing kindness, I think, really does make the world a better place.

BOOM: Thank you for your time and valuable insights and for the fun responses, Beverly and Brett. I’m superhero sized impressed with Beverly’s costumes and community and Brett’s photo making skills.

Beverly: Well, thank you for having us. This has been really fun, and it’s been fun to sit down with my number one human, my favorite person ever, to answer these and to be part of this interview. This has been really fun for us.

Brett: Yeah, it’s been a lot of fun. Thank you so much for taking the time to get to know us. This has been really a pretty special experience. You know, it forced both of us to sit down in the middle of our evening and just get to focus on one another for a little while. So, thank you. It’s been great.

Beverly: Thank you.

Did you know that you can record a video or type a comment for this POPcast transmission?

Add Something to The Wall of Love!

BOOM’S TRANSMISSIONS, a post-aPOPalyptic POPcast brought to you by BOOM Rattle BOOM LLC.