2002Winners

The 2002 Adventurersplace.com Lara Croft Look A Like Contest showcased the talents of Lara Croft fans from around the world.
76 Contestants representing the U.K., U.S., Germany, Croatia, Italy, Austria, Belgium, Yugoslavia, Canada, The Netherlands, Romania, Portugal, Russia, Singapore, Taiwan and Bulgaria.
The contestants created outfits based on Lara Croft Tomb Raider. They then took photos wearing those outfits in studios and on location. Their outfits covered all 5 current games as well as the soon to be released "Angel of Darkness", the Movie, and the Comics. They even created outfits for "Fun" categories such as "Alternate" and "Lara as Indiana Jones".
I am incredibly pleased with all of the hard work each one of these contestants put into their outfits and photos. Every one of them has shown so much talent and promise and it has been an honor to have them all as contestants in my contest.
I want to say thank you to all of the contestants, our Sponsors, all of the websites who supported the contest and all of the people who have taken the time to follow this contest, visit this site and give their support. You have all made this a great contest. I look forward to the next event!
-Zen Dragon Webmaster

NOTE: All images and content on Adventurersplace.com are ©Copyrighted and may
NOT be used anywhere else without prior permission from the Webmaster-Zen Dragon

Let me first say that the voting for this contest was very difficult. In some cases the count was close (within 10 or so points) and in others there were clear leaders after counting the first 10 or so votes. Everyone in this contest did a wonderful job. For those who had prior experience, you have topped yourselves once again. And for the new comers, I was really impressed with the amount of quality work displayed here. You all should be proud of your work and until our next contest...

Random Judges Comments:
"The costume for Warrior Princess was outstanding, WOW! She really has it all, new character, new look, bright colors and great shots"

"Vera plays the part very well in her photos, along with a very detailed and realistic costume"

Random Judges Comments:
"Tracy wins this category firstly for her sultry-yet-tough depiction of Lara as Indy. Her pictures are interesting especially with the gold idol which lent authenticity to her portrayal, and her backgrounds fit her costume. Her expressions are spot-on too."

"One word for Tracy's pictures, "WOW!" I mean the outfits were AWESOME! The props used made the picture SO much better, her facial expressions added so much more..."

Prize: One of a kind Lara Croft Original Pinup by Jerry Williams and a 2003 Lara Croft AOD Calendar

Random Judges Comments:
"Elizabeth made a very convincing Lara, with an excellent job on her outfit, good use of backgrounds and excellent gun handling"

"There are creative shots, firepower, good gun handling, a
swell costume and decent expressions. She had MOST of the pieces of a good
Lara."

*Prize: Hand made Aussie style whip from East Coast Whips
*Tracy has decided to decline her prize and therefore the prizes all move down one notch.

Random Judges Comments:
"Tracy's opera costume from chronicles is perfect"

"Tracy in the military outfit I thought was outstanding, I could really see Lara wearing this in the game. Excellent costume, this one should be submitted to Eidos"

Runner-Ups:
Emily
3rd Place Prize: Prize: 2003 Lara Croft AOD Calendar
Amaunet

Prize: One of a kind Lara Croft Pinup by Dan Cooney and One set of Clear Chrome Tomb Raider Collector Cards courtesy of Comic Images

Random Judges Comments:
"Jenny had an excellent spot picked out for those AOD pictures. They are very industrial looking, yet abandoned at the same time. It gives a cold feeling which adheres to the "Angel of Darkness" theme."

"...perfect photo quality and colors, amazing location, believable and original poses. There is a real resemblance to Lara in this submission."

Prize: TopCow store exclusive foil logo copy of Tomb Raider/Darkness
which has been graded 9.8 by CGC (Comics Guarantee Corp.) from Mile High Comics

Random Judges Comments:
"Very creative, a lovely Lara, Loved the picture with the little pictures in it, very game like"

"Valle has amazing pix and skills to make composites too! I love the Chronicles pic the most- it's the best in the whole category"

Random Judges Comments:
"Lily had the best portrayal of AJ's Lara while keeping the adventurous spirit."

"Lily has some amazing locations the door picture looks just like a scene
from the movie and the waterfall is very like the movie too!
Her outfit is fab too and she has a great mean movie expression"

Random Judges Comments:
"Anneke has the best very detailed costume, amazing AOD make up and convincing poses. She captures the dark AOD feel and atmosphere in those pix just perfectly! "

"Anneke's costume was A1, the top looked amazing, I loved her poses and her locations. Expression was very good."

Random Judges Comments:
"...her photos, with the inclusion of the dog and the atmospheric lighting and setting seemed to totally sum up LC in every way. "

"Bek's really captures the spirit of adventure, I loved the shot of her with her arm in the dogs mouth...it was stunning"

After a final contestant and outside judge vote, the "Ultimate Lara Croft" title winner has been chosen:

Tracy will have the honor of being drawn by CustomStrat, one of the judges and artist of the competition. The drawing will be a 16x20 inch portrait sketch taken from one of Tracy's images.

He has been an on and off, professional artist and photographer for 30+ years. He was trained in photography in the USAF and studied commercial photography at the New York Institute of Photography and at New York University. He studied fine art at the Royal Academy of Arts in London and has a BA in the History of Art and Architecture from the University of Reading UK. The bulk of his art work has been commissioned portraiture and has included a portrait of Queen Elizabeth II commissioned by Reading Borough Council as part of their bid to achieve city status. He has participated in Royal Academy Summer Exhibitions and National Portrait Gallery Portrait Award competitions. In 1996 he mounted a critically acclaimed one man show of abstract works at the Four Star Gallery in Indianapolis after which he came to the conclusion that he would rather play blues guitar.

Dave Smyth, President Shorty USA Inc spent over 2 hours reviewing all of the contest photos. Dave found it too difficult to choose just one winner, considering that he not only enjoys quality photos, guns and Tomb Raider, he also appreciates quality digital photo manipulation. So he decided to extend his category to both a composite and a non-composite contestant and here are the winners:

Both Joanna and Valle have won their choice of a pair of the Air Soft Desert Eagles pictured below or $100 cash

Dave would like to congratulate both contestants for a fine job and wanted to commend all of the contestants for a job well done.

Note: By accepting the prizes, the winner give permission for ShortyUSA to use their images on the ShortyUSA website

Jessica wins a Lara Croft T-Shirt (Lg), a pair of round red sunglasses,
and a set of clear chrome Tomb Raider cards from Comic Images.

There are so many contestants that are eligible for this award. Picking a contestant from the 16 and under and the adults was a very difficult task, but after careful consideration, I give you my selections for "Best Newcomer".

I chose Kimberly for several reasons...to me she has put together a nice group of photos. She features both the PAC outfit and an AOD style. She made her own gun rig and as well as her guns. She has very nice facial expressions, rarely looks into the camera, her poses were pretty decent and I thought that she did a nice job with her hair. While her photos were taken at home, she made it a point to change her locations a bit as well as mix up her poses. It is for these reasons that I have selected Kimberly as the "best Newcomer" for the 16 and Under Category.

Prize: 2003 Lara Croft AOD Calendar and a set of Clear Chrome Tomb Raider collector cards

This choice was also very difficult for me. While there were many incredible newcomers, Diana seemed to capture the "essence of Lara" in several different ways. It wasn't just about her photo submissions but about her transformation as well. When I first saw her "non-Lara" photo, between the glasses and the red hair, I had difficulty picturing her as Lara Croft. Many of the contestants had the "look" prior to even getting into character.
When I saw her submission to the contest I was very impressed. While there were little details in her outfits which could be improved, she pushed herself beyond her normal limits to get the shots that she did. Her poses, facial expression, gun handling, choice of locations, were all first rate. She had a nice variety of different photos in her submission which really showed her attention to detail. It is for all of those reasons that I have selected Diana as the "best Newcomer" for the adults.