[Touhou Project] Shooting Record of This Touhou Cosplay Set & Account Direction Adjustment

This set of Touhou cosplay photos has finally been exported from the camera card and sorted out. While the fresh feeling is still here, I want to take this opportunity to talk in detail about the location selection ideas, costume styling, and some future plans for adjusting my overall account direction.

This time, I experimented with several quite different scene atmospheres. First was the setup under nighttime cherry blossom trees, where I specially brought warm yellow paper lanterns to create a dreamy and slightly mysterious vibe; cool-toned clothing reacts beautifully under warm light. Next was outdoor photography by the water, taking advantage of diffuse natural light to reflect the soft textures of ribbons and lace edges on the outfit. Then came the outdoor location with traditional wooden architecture, utilizing backlighting to turn the red walls and wooden doors behind into a lovely background bokeh. Finally, I tried a vintage indoor set, pairing props like a grandfather clock, books, and woven rattan baskets to create a scholarly yet relaxed mood.

Regarding the outfits, I still made extensive use of lace, ruffles, wide sleeves, off-the-shoulder designs, and over-the-knee socks outfits. Although putting them on and taking them off can be quite tedious, the resulting sense of layering is definitely worth the effort. Paired with wigs of different colors—such as pinkish-purple, emerald green, bright blue, gold, and silver-white hair—each had corresponding adjustments in makeup and eyeshadow, presenting fine sparkles or deep dimension under the light. I also put a lot of effort into props: besides the lanterns mentioned above, I incorporated folding fans, paper umbrellas, and picture frames, which, combined with specific gestures, maxed out the visual richness of the photos.

Reflecting on running this account recently, I've had quite a few realizations. Currently, when I post content from other IPs—like Arknights, which I play a lot—the data feedback and engagement have been rather average, not quite reaching expected results. Another game I really enjoy playing is Final Fantasy XIV; although some old followers and enthusiasts show up to support every time I release this series, the cost of cosplaying FF14 is extremely high. Not to mention the extremely high demand for outfit detail, the weapon special effects and lighting synthesis involved make the post-processing cost and time staggering each time, making it unsustainable as a frequently updated main focus. So after exploring various options, I found that Touhou Project cosplay has the highest audience acceptance and the most natural response.

During actual shooting, there were also many memorable live situations. For instance, while shooting the night scene, the dangling position of the lanterns and the lighting angles required repeated adjustments to avoid cluttered ambient light sources. During outdoor shoots, the wind occasionally caused trouble, blowing the wigs into a mess and causing skirt hems to flare out in strange shapes, leaving us to snap photos during rare moments when the wind calmed down. But through this process of shooting while constantly communicating with the photographer, I gradually learned how to stay focused under various unexpected conditions.

In terms of post-production color grading, I preferred maintaining a crisp skin texture for this set while controlling highlight softness to avoid losing detail from overexposure. Colors were mostly unified around the primary theme: for example, blue outfits leaned toward a cool tone, while red-and-white outfits had their saturation boosted slightly for stronger visual impact. Every time I retouched a photo, I re-examined the composition to see which crops would enhance the visual effect.

In the end, whether doing cosplay or sharing photos, the essence remains recording what I love and my current state of mind. From costume preparation and location scouting to live shooting and post-production, immersing myself in the process is inherently meaningful. Focusing on the Touhou theme is also because I feel its creative space is vast and unrestricted.