This time, I successfully partnered with photographer @Mirrow to complete this mixed project of indoor night shooting and outdoor daytime scenes for Kochiya Sanae Cosplay. From the early styling preparation to the on-site shoot, the overall pace was very tight. Being able to combine the character's traits with the prosperous cherry blossom scenery before us, I feel the final product of this collaboration looks excellent.
Regarding the styling details, the mint green wig this time was specially trimmed according to the character's features—fluffy on top, with the bangs on both sides made into an irregular, straight, and wispy shape. Paired with these high-saturation, translucent blue colored contacts, it gives the gaze high recognition in the frame. The base makeup stays as close to the character's skin texture as possible, fading facial blemishes, complemented by a warm-toned pink lip gloss so that the character won't look too pale under the night flash.
In terms of clothing, it focused on recreating the color scheme from the original design. The white mandarin collar and pearl buttons at the neckline make the neck line look sharper. The main body of the dress is a patchwork of navy blue and white, accompanied by a large amount of lace trim and hollowed-out patterns. In front of the neck is a golden pendant adorned with a red gemstone, connecting down to a traditional blue frog button. The design of the sleeves and the back is quite complex, piecing together many ruffles and white fabrics. Since a lot of silk threads were used to secure them, the multi-layered fabrics can form a wonderful sense of layering in the gentle breeze during the entire outdoor location activity.
The environment for this shoot was divided into two time periods. The first few photos were taken at night in front of the blooming cherry blossom branches. Because the light on site was relatively dark at night, a strong strobe flash was used as the main light source, which clearly separated the contours of the cherry blossoms and the character. Under the direct flash light, the highlight details on the face are very clear, creating a strong contrast between the character and the background. The latter few photos were framed during the daytime when the light was ample. The background features blue skies and patches of cherry blossom trees, exactly taking advantage of the soft diffused reflection formed when sunlight filters through the flower branches. The resulting feel is more transparent and natural, without the strong sense of harsh light found at night.
When framing near the outdoor steps and water channels, low-angle shots from different perspectives could capture a composition where the sky and cherry blossoms interweave. Those few shots of walking on the stones in the middle of the riverbed were actually quite a test for core stability, not to mention controlling the skirt hem to keep it from touching the water. Photographer @Mirrow also repeatedly adjusted the angle to find the best camera position, and ultimately adopted a high-angle view for shooting, successfully obtaining that photo I am quite satisfied with. Figure six is the live camera screen playback; you can see the aperture set at F1.8 and the shutter at 1/125s. Under such a large aperture, the riverbed, stones, and far-off cherry blossoms are all brought into the depth of field, presenting a rather clean sense of open space.
In terms of prop interaction, we prepared some white artificial cherry blossoms. Whether holding it in the mouth or pinching it with fingers close to the cheek, it can nicely increase the vitality of the frame in close-up shots. We repeatedly communicated and adjusted the distance between the hands and the face during focusing and composition, ultimately retaining these four relatively natural half-body close-ups. Actually, a cherry blossom outdoor photoshoot easily runs into sudden emergencies, such as strong winds or branches blocking the view, but the overall workflow this time was very smooth, and the final results completely preserved this spring atmosphere inside the Touhou Project Gensokyo through our mutual exploration of anime-style photography.