I've finally finished retouching and posting this set of photos taken at last year's anime convention. Photography was by Nanke Yimeng, and post-processing by Lao Mo. Although I procrastinated for quite a while, looking back at these moments while organizing the album was still deeply satisfying, retaining that very natural, candid on-site vibe.
This time, I cosplayed Cheshire Cat from Azur Lane. The character's hair features a grey-purple base with vibrant blue highlights. When I received the wig, it required detailed layering and styling to preserve the volume and curve of the bangs and side locks, creating a dimensional, sculpted look. The costume itself is rich in details—crisscrossing black and white lace patchwork, decorated with criss-cross black straps and golden buttons on the bodice, and we even shot two different bow tie styles. The cropped cut of the top combined with a wide neckline not only fits the character's airy aesthetic, but also flatters body proportions sharply on camera.
I brought two handy props that day: a black umbrella and a silver-grey vintage compact camera. This point-and-shoot camera suited the scene wonderfully, looking very natural whether held for selfie-style poses or used as a prop. The red beverage can on the table created a bright color pop, breaking up the monochrome palette and giving the set a relaxed, casual everyday feel.
The shoot took place in an indoor space with wooden booths, resembling a cozy café or restaurant. While the convention hall was quite noisy, things became delightfully quiet when the photographer brought me over here. The indoor ambient lighting was somewhat dim, but the photographer skillfully used flash and reflectors to achieve a balanced, even facial exposure, giving my skin a translucent glow while clearly highlighting the wig's sheen and the intricate texture of the white lace and bow on my head.
Doing cosplay is really a holistic visual effort—beyond accurate costumes and wigs, the makeup harmony, body posture, and poise all dictate the final photo quality. For today's makeup, I deliberately kept color saturation subdued, avoiding overly long eyeliner to highlight the vibrant blue contact lenses, while choosing a sheer peach lip gloss to look fresh and spirited without appearing too aggressive.
Among this set, I especially love the shots holding the camera. Partially obscuring the lower half of my face created a subtly mysterious perspective where my eyes conveyed all the emotion. There are also several shots with lively hand gestures; extending my arms nicely showed off the black-and-white lace trim along the sleeves with great clean lines. The close-ups are also worth checking out, clearly showing the gradient transitions in the hair and the fine eye makeup details. The post-processing hit just the right balance—retaining genuine skin texture without over-smoothing, preserving natural tactile depth.
Looking back on this experience, the weather on the shoot day was actually quite hot, and the convention crowds were intense. Finding a quiet indoor nook amidst the bustling crowd to capture these calm, atmospheric shots felt much more comfortable than shooting outdoors under the scorching sun. Reviewing convention photos each time offers great takeaways—how to balance aperture and shutter speed under similar lighting, or how to conceal bobby pins to keep headpieces firmer—invaluable experience accumulated through real shoots.
Even though the raw material is from a year ago, posting it now serves as a meaningful record of my past self, after all the thought and effort invested into prepping each look. Every character expresses a unique vibe, and this styling matched Cheshire's signature lazy charm perfectly. The shoot was smooth and truly rewarding.