Oct. 2020 - A Behind the Scenes Look at Tribble Cosplay
We've been celebrating Halloween all this month by dressing the Science Division Tribbles up in a different costume every day and posting it to our social media.
Here's a little behind the scenes look at the creation of some of those images! Be sure to follow #TribblesInTrouble to see new cosplays as we release them.
Here's the Tribble pirate photo that we posted on October 7th. We created this cosplay with props and materials that we already had around the house: a metal boat, a Star Trek™ bandana, and some craft paper, cardboard, and foil.

A Science Division Tribble cosplaying as a pirate.
Jay and I are lighting designers for theatre, so we have all kinds of lighting equipment on hand. We have a station set up to take photos in the Science Division office upstairs. I call the room my Kayleigha Cave, because it's full of Star Trek and other nerdy collectibles--a few of them are even props that Jay and I have created, ourselves.
Four color-changing LED lighting fixtures are plugged into a simple lighting console. It allows us to set the colors and the brightnesses of the lights as we assemble each scene.

The lighting console that we use to set levels for Tribble cosplay photos.
While the photographs themselves are pretty neat and tidy, the home office lighting set up is anything but.


If you look closely, you might spot Godzilla chilling with some tiny Tribbles!
The next image is from October 5th. We posted it in celebration of World Teacher Day. My mom, dad, and sister all work in education, so teachers are near and dear to my heart. Jay also teaches. He instructs high school students in the art of lighting design. Teachers cannot be thanked enough for the work that they do.
Thank you to all of you out there who work in education!

A teacher Tribble educating young Tribbles in the art of Klingon detection.
We used a Halloween chalk board decoration that I already had on hand. Fluffy craft store pom poms became Tribbles for this shoot. Jay constructed a scaffolding to hold up the chalk board so it could look like the teacher Tribble was pointing to it. The glasses that the Tribble is wearing are Jay's actual glasses.


Here are the rest of the photos from this month so far:

October 1st - A Tribble dressed as a Mummy using muslin fabric and googly eyes.

October 2nd - A Caesar Tribble created with one of my scarves and a headband leftover from a Halloween when Jay dressed as Bob Ross and I dressed as a "Happy Little Tree."

October 3rd - A Spock Tribble accompanied by a pumpkin that I painted to look like Spock.

October 4th - A Tiger Tribble! Tigers are my favorite animal. The hat and the door mat are mine.

October 6th - Gone fishin'! We used boots from a stuffed animal, and Jay made a tiny fishing rod.

October 8th - A Tribble dressed as a vampire--with no reflection, of course! Jay made tiny paper fangs, and we wrapped cardboard in foil to create a mirrored surface in a picture frame.

October 9th - We created the Charlie Chaplin look using a hat, a construction paper mustache, and a rod with black and white tape wrapped around it.

October 10th - "I'm a lumberjack, and I'm okay!" Jay made a tiny axe for the Tribble, and I gathered sticks from the yard after a windstorm to create a forest look.

October 11th - I poked a little fun at myself with this one. This Tribble is dressed as me in my fall scarf with my seasonal coffee. I grew the gourds, myself!

October 12th - Aye, they're into the machinery! This is actually a Tribble cosplay that we created last year, but a lot of folks hadn't seen it, yet, so we shared it again as part of this series.

October 13th - A fortune teller Tribble! The crystal ball is a glass fishing float with a light behind it. We wrapped one of my scarves around the Tribble and added a big hoop earring.

October 14th - A nature photographer Tribble, hidden in leaves to capture the perfect shot. It can be quick and easy to set up an outdoor shot with just a few props.
I hope that I've inspired you to set up some of your own Tribble cosplay photos. It's fun and easy to do with items from around the house! Keep your eyes out for even more Tribble cosplays as we continue to share one a day throughout the month of October!
I am really enjoying my Tribble! (& your extra content!) Having one has been a life-long dream come true for me. It is pretty awesome that the same dream inspired you both. God bless