[Feixiao Cosplay] Fallen Leaves in the Forest and the General's Cold Blade: First Work of 2026

The first set of final cosplay photos for 2026 was chosen directly in an autumn maple forest as the background. Stepping on the withered yellow fallen leaves all over the ground and hearing the crisp crackling sound beneath my feet truly gave off the atmosphere of an autumn hunt or the edge of a battlefield. Seeing the final look of this costume during the early prep stage, I kept thinking about how to capture that crisp, sharp, yet slightly elegant feeling. After communicating with the photographer on site, we decisively handed the viewfinder over to this rich natural light.

Let's talk about the costume part first. The details on this outfit are truly packed to the max. The blue and white patchwork jacket on the upper body, combined with the golden metal accessory on the chest and the draping red tassel rope knot, creates a vivid color clash. The white wide leather belt and metal buckle at the waist instantly tighten the waistline. For the lower body, I paired a black thigh-high boot on one leg with a leather strap on the other. When shooting a character with a combat setting like this, this asymmetrical leg design is actually quite a plus, beautifully elongating the leg lines. During the shoot, to make the boot and strap show their texture, I deliberately adjusted the orientation of my knees, letting the overall visual center sink down to display a stronger sense of power.

The most head-scratching part this time was actually that exaggeratingly long white wig, with the tail section featuring a very beautiful blue-green gradient. It felt heavily weighed down once put on, and combined with the giant beast ears on top of the head, even the perspective felt a bit high. In the original post, I joked that 'when I get rich, I must hire someone to help me brush my hair.' It's really not being pretentious; this kind of long trailing wig with gradient colors can easily look rigid or lie flat on the ground in real life if there's no wind or hand to flick it. During the shoot, to capture the moment the wig flutters, the photographer and I coordinated many head-shaking movements while ensuring the hair strands didn't block my face and maintaining my expression management. My neck was basically stiff during those few minutes. However, when the final photos came out and I saw the scattered effect of the long hair, I felt this kind of fatigue was truly worth it.

Regarding props, I held a blue-and-gold colored short knife and a long-handled staff in my hands. The long staff required me not only to adjust its upright angle but also to support myself on the ground with one hand to coordinate with a semi-squatting low-gravity posture. This action looks quite dashing, but in reality, it tests core strength heavily. The hand supporting the ground needs to be steady, the gaze needs to lock onto the lens, and breathing room must be left for the weeds and fallen leaves scattered around on the ground. To find this composition that allowed my whole body's lines to stretch out that day, I squatted five or six times consecutively. My calves were shaking when I stood up after shooting, but seeing the contrast between the cold weapons and the warm autumn landscape in the viewfinder, I instantly felt the struggle was worth it.

In terms of photography, this set of photos didn't use complicated artificial light, relying basically on the scattered natural light of the autumn afternoon. The large aperture rubbed the tree trunks and maple leaves in the background into very soft out-of-focus color blocks, so even if the background vegetation was messy, it wouldn't overshadow the subject. The counter-punch of warm and cold tones was the core of post-processing for this set, preserving the orange-yellow color of the sun shining on the fallen leaves while brightening the cyan-blue tone of the clothes themselves. The final output photos have transparent colors, and the integration between the character and the environment is relatively high.

After finishing this set of photos, I also picked up a few beautiful maple leaves as souvenirs by the way. From early fabric cutting and wig preparation to putting on makeup, finding a location, and then braving the strong wind to blow the hair strands on-site, there was indeed a lot of tedious preparation work behind it. But that's exactly where the fun of doing Honkai: Star Rail cosplay lies. When you transform yourself into the character of your imagination, even if it only exists for those short seconds in the viewfinder, the sweat paid during the process will turn into surprises in the final photos. The texture of this costume and props has indeed given me more confidence in this year's shooting plans through Anime-style photography in this beautiful Autumn outdoor scene.