This shoot was all about Takamatsu Tomori, set against the backdrop of rainy city streets at night. "I want to become human" has always been the core of how I understand her character. To capture that subtle feeling of being somewhat detached from the crowd while yearning for connection, we deliberately chose to shoot outdoors on a rainy evening.
For the wardrobe, I layered a milk-white fleece cardigan over a grey hooded sweatshirt, paired on the bottom with a pleated skirt and white lace-trimmed White stockings alongside platform shoes—an overall soft, slightly everyday outfit. Carrying a white fuzzy bunny bag added a touch of endearing charm. In my hand was a Clear umbrella, an exceptionally photogenic prop for a rainy night shoot. The Clear umbrella not only kept off the rain, but served brilliantly as a foreground framing device and a reflective surface.
The shooting locations centered on street phone booths and bus stops. The vintage green telephone carried a nostalgic retro aesthetic. On rainy nights, droplets bead across the glass; framing through the phone booth panes or through the transparent umbrella produced a hazy, natural filter effect. Street puddle reflections also enriched the color layers of each composition. Inside the phone booth, space was tight, requiring the photographer to dial in wide-angle perspectives while dodging harsh reflections on the glass. The warm-and-cool lighting contrast emphasized the crisp chill of the rainy night atmosphere.
On the gear side, we used a Sony a7R III body paired with Viltrox 35mm F1.8 EVO and 55mm F1.8 EVO lenses. The 35mm focal length is ideal for environmental portraits, clearly establishing the background even in cramped spaces like the phone booth. The F1.8 wide aperture secured ample light gathering at night while retaining crisp resolving power across the edges of the frame. The 55mm lens handled close-ups and waist-up portraits, delivering silky-smooth bokeh alongside tack-sharp focus on the subject. Even amidst intricate nocturnal illumination, the camera's low-light autofocus proved dependable, ensuring a high keeper rate.
The rain was actually quite heavy during the shoot. Posing with the umbrella required precise angles to prevent raindrops from hitting my face and ruining the makeup, while inside the phone booth we constantly had to protect the camera gear. We staked out the bus stop for quite a while just to catch the arrival of a bus with the right color palette, waiting for that fleeting clash of warm and cool color blocks. Yet seeing the bokeh glints on the umbrella and the cool ambient glow inside the phone booth made braving the downpour worthwhile. The final photos might convey serene stillness, but on set I was shivering while striving to hold the character's expression. To channel her delicate, slightly wandering state of mind, relaxing the body was paramount. Immersing myself in that rainy night solitude allowed my gaze and hand gestures to flow much more naturally. All in all, it was a profoundly evocative shoot.