[Hiyuki cosplay] The Cool Shrine Maiden in Wuthering Waves: Destiny Under the Backlight

When I finished shooting this set of photos, I kept thinking about that line from the character.
'If the gods will not help, I shall end the shrine maiden's fate with my own hands.'
This sentence actually touched me deeply, because this shoot itself felt like an exploration of competing with myself, especially in controlling the light and understanding the character's state, which took a lot of thought to figure out.

Let's start with the external styling. This time, the white wig is very long, featuring bangs and a half-tied high ponytail. The shiny strands of hair you see in the pictures were actually combed very carefully before the shoot. Because even a little bit of frizz would look very messy against the backlight. So I used a lot of styling products to smooth them out, paired with a red ribbon at the top as an embellishment, adding a splash of eye-catching red to the overall black-and-white color scheme.

The texture of the costume actually surprised me. It's not a pure matte fabric, but a white material that reflects a silk-like luster under the light. Although the off-the-shoulder design looks great, it was a huge test for my posture management at the time. I had to keep my shoulders straight and my collarbone defined at all times, otherwise, the overall look wouldn't seem sharp enough. There are some golden cross-shaped badges on the clothes, as well as red, black, and white tricolor stripes on the shoulders. This level of detail accuracy was a huge plus during the actual shoot.

As for the makeup, I tried several versions of the red-eye look this time. Since the overall hair color is very light, if the eyeshadow is too heavy, it easily makes the face look muddy. In the end, I chose a relatively clean, heavy eyeliner style, weakening the eyeshadow colors and using red contact lenses to set the tone. Paired with a lighter lip color, this put the focus on the cold and unruly gaze. I feel that this kind of restraint actually better reflects the character's introverted sense of determination.

Speaking of the shoot location, the lighting strategy this time was a crucial part. We simulated a strong, warm golden backlight typical of dusk indoors. The photographer placed the light source very high, shining directly down, which not only illuminated the red velvet backdrop behind me but also created a very distinct rim light along the edges of my hair. To make the most of this lighting, I specially cooperated with on-site smoke. The direction and density of the smoke greatly affected the final photos; some shots turned out too thick and easily blurred into a mess, so we needed to repeatedly adjust the smoke's position during this cosplay photography session.

In terms of expression, I didn't intentionally make exaggerated expressions but instead calmed my breathing as much as possible, making my gaze look more stable and even a bit detached. A slight tilt of the head or a backward glance could capture different emotions. When shooting this style of photos, I actually feel that makeup/styling and photography each account for half. A good photographer can precisely capture the movement of hair strands under the backlight, while I need to make my physical state and emotions match this light and shadow environment.

From preparation to the actual shoot, this set of photos took quite a bit of energy. Just creating this sufficiently warm light indoors required testing the light positions many times. However, seeing the final results gives me a great sense of satisfaction. This white long hair combined with the cool makeup performed even more brilliantly under the warm light than I imagined. The whole process was also a great experience, and I hope to share these little details from the shoot with you.