Wearing this costume on the convention floor was genuinely a massive endurance test, particularly that oversized wide-brimmed hat—whenever a gust blew, it felt ready to take flight, requiring me to constantly anchor it by hand or pin it down firmly with hair clips. We alternated between outdoor and indoor shooting throughout the day. Outside, the sun was scorching, causing the long, straight blue wig to frizz and tangle easily under the high heat, which meant rushing to smooth it out with a comb every time we moved locations. The outfit is exceptionally layered, composed of an inner blouse, a corset vest, an outer dark embroidered skirt with a white pleated underskirt trim, topped with an obi sash; breathability was quite poor, so every brief shooting burst meant ducking into a quiet corner to catch my breath and touch up my foundation to prevent patchiness.
While the long-hilted sword looked imposing and sleek, it was surprisingly heavy. Holding poses with one arm forced my elbow and wrist to exert constant quiet effort. To facilitate fluid movement, I practiced sword-handling stances beforehand, discovering that angling the blade diagonally across my torso in a three-quarters profile or using the sword sheath's tassel as a foreground framing element gave the shots substantially richer depth. The mini plush mascot cradled in Photo 3 was custom-made earlier to match this costume's exact colorway, making for an adorable interactive prop. The entire session was captured live by close friends who, amidst the chaotic convention background and dense foot traffic, tenaciously scouted remarkably clean angles. For example, in Photo 4's outdoor full-body shot, they skillfully sidestepped background passersby while balancing natural lighting, leveraging the stone pavement and high-contrast architectural backdrop to evoke a cool, commanding aura.
Shooting indoors had its own hurdles: overhead convention ceiling lighting tends to be flat, easily making subjects blend into the busy environment. To counter this, we sought out booth edges featuring dark backdrops and dedicated lighting rigs, utilizing side-backlighting to chisel out my silhouette while highlighting the fiber texture of the blue wig. During a rest break, I casually slipped off one side of the coat over my arm and adopted a relaxed standing posture, which felt infinitely more freeing than constantly brandishing the weapon. Many passing con-goers stopped to take photos, occasionally chatting about the garment patterning and prop craftsmanship—that shared camaraderie was deeply rewarding.
By the end of the day, my legs were aching from walking back and forth across the halls in tall boots, and the soles of my feet felt battered. Yet reviewing these raw files shot by my friends—with flawless composition and impeccably timed kinetic snapshots—made all the physical fatigue vanish instantly. The lighting and backdrops across the Shanghai CPSP grounds were superb, resulting in a high hit rate of great shots. Once I apply subtle color grading back home, they'll be ready to share with everyone.