[Amiya cosplay] Bringing Arknights' Bunny, CP32 Anime Convention Photo Sharing

Before shooting this set of Amiya photos, the problems that needed solving most were actually the layering of the outfit and the fixing method for the fluffy bunny ears. The top features white puff sleeves combined with a dark blue corset design; to fit Amiya's elements, a calm navy blue was added to the overall color palette, while embellished with quite a few red bows and lace trims. The skirt has many layers, and at first, I worried it would fly around when walking and fail to hold its center of gravity, but the actual snapshots under the shutter turned out very well. Stepping in thick-soled black platform leather shoes paired with a circle of white lace ankle socks, this contrast of soles combined with the leg-baring wear highly conforms to the lightweight visual habits of anime, and it indeed stabilized the styling during walking and jumping.

The shooting location was around the perimeter of the CP32 Anime Convention pavilion, utilizing large areas of floor-to-ceiling glass curtain walls and natural diffuse reflection light. The lighting on site was actually quite complex, with strong outdoor light penetrating through and illumination from the pavilion itself. However, this was perfect for using a reflector umbrella to hit a more comfortable soft light. Misaka yb-sensei, who was responsible for the Portrait photography that day, gave very professional advice on light and shadow. For instance, when shooting the turns and single-leg standing shots, the angle of the reflector umbrella was specifically adjusted to cut the highlights onto the character's hair strands and the edges of the skirt hem, making the fluffy texture of the bunny ears look fluffier and the dark wig's texture clearly visible.

The most interesting accessory in this styling is actually the giant snack bag prop held in my hand. The chibi bunny image on the bag creates a wonderful resonance with the ears on my head. Although the prop looks like a highly ordinary snack bag, because of its exceptionally large size, holding it in hand easily occupies more than half of the frame. Therefore, when posing, care was needed to avoid letting the bag block body lines or facial expressions. During the shoot, several holding methods were attempted, such as bending over to place it in front of the body, raising it high, or turning it to the side to coordinate with limbs. Personally, I am quite satisfied with the dynamic feeling of the single-leg jumping shots, and the static feel of the shot where the bag is raised high to show off the character's pattern, as it can both display the cute chibi pattern on the bag and fully present the fluffy silhouette of the maid outfit.

Every time appearing as a Maid cosplayer with such large props requiring specific accessories, it is a big test of on-site orchestration. Although the bag is lightweight inside, holding it continuously and adjusting postures for an hour straight still makes the arms sore. Fortunately, the ambient feel of the final photos can offset these minor fatigues. The maid outfit style is often classified into a sweeter type, but in this design of Amiya, combining it with a distinct primary color palette makes the overall presentation lean more toward a crisp Japanese maid outfit. The large bows and armbands on the costume were fixed only after adjusting their positions multiple times, because it was necessary to ensure that the bow could maintain a front-facing orientation when turning around, instead of turning to the back.

Looking back at this set of CP32 photos, the overall feeling is very bright. The reflective tiles on the floor bounced the daytime natural light back onto the face, making the facial complexion look very ruddy. After slight color balance adjustments in post-processing, the blue eyes and the navy blue on the clothes echo each other, preventing the frame from appearing overly flashy. The yellow packaging bag of the prop was originally a highly eye-catching bright color, but against the backdrop of the entire cool-toned background, it instead became the visual focus of the frame, letting people spot this playful easter egg at first glance.

In fact, playing cosplay up to now, I can increasingly experience the visual variance brought by different convention site conditions. For a highly crowded expo like the CP32 Anime Convention, if one wants to shoot a set of clean and pure on-site photos, one must be adept at finding spaces and specific light positions on site. This time, instead of choosing a large aperture to blur out all the crowds for an environmentally blurred photo, I made more use of a large depth of field to demonstrate the fabric material of the costume and this interesting giant snack bag. This type of photo submission that uses the actual anime expo environment as a background often preserves more of the atmosphere and infectiousness of that moment. Exchanging styling details with fellow enthusiasts after shooting or taking a close-up of the prop bag are both highly fulfilling experiences.