The photos from Day 1 of the 5.31 Chongqing taxi7 Chongqing anime convention are finally sorted out. The air conditioning inside the venue didn't seem to be running at all that day, and the sweltering heat was truly suffocating; after several hours of shooting, I reached a point where pausing made my brain go numb. For this Portrait photography shoot, I used a Nikon D850 paired with a Sigma 50mm f/1.4 ART primarily for close-ups, while a secondary body with a Tamron 24-70mm f/2.8 captured full-body dynamics. Lighting was a dual-flash combination of Godox V850III and AD200Pro II. The two-light setup combined with spatial compression yielded a high hit rate, but navigating through the packed venue carrying so much gear was definitely a rigorous test of physical endurance.
This time, we deliberately captured more dynamic action shots. For that final Black stockings and greatsword pose, stepping out on one leg and dropping the center of gravity made balancing difficult; holding it repeatedly left my knees and ankles quite sore. However, thanks to the freeze effect of the Godox speedlight, the captured snapshot moment was exceptionally sharp and clean. To complement the characteristics of this shot, I specifically wore black high heels with heel pads to stabilize my balance, adjusting the crouch angle so that the leg lines and texture of the Black stockings were sculpted precisely by the top light, yielding very satisfying results. Huge thanks to my partner for patiently troubleshooting with me in the stifling hall while constantly adjusting light angles to eliminate stray reflections; the teamwork under such high intensity was top-notch.
During the shoot, I am truly grateful to all the wonderful friends who maintained extreme professionalism despite the heat, delivering poses faithful to the character design and even helping me adjust lights and reflectors. The lighting environment at the convention was complicated with messy overhead lights and dense crowds in the background. However, using a wide aperture to isolate foreground from background and using flash to suppress ambient light brought out a dramatic stage feel. It made me realize that the more chaotic the environment, the more you need lighting and composition to carve out a clean atmosphere. Toward the end, it was so sweltering that my head was spinning, pressing the shutter and adjusting the zoom ring purely on instinct. Looking back during post-processing, some photos felt genuinely miraculous—instant emotions captured in extreme conditions are often far more vivid than posed shots.
Although this was a physically grueling, boot-camp-style shoot, seeing my envisioned lighting effects and dynamic snapshots in the final images made it all worthwhile. I hope the AC works better at the next convention, and that I'll have more time to study light reflection across different fabrics to sculpt subjects more dimensionally. Despite the messy backgrounds, different lighting angles brought out the unique textures of various characters, making this Black stockings and greatsword attempt a great breakthrough. Looking forward to teaming up with such cooperative cosplayers to play with lighting at the next cosplay event.