Getting straight to the point, the main focus of this shoot is this deep purple dress and that heavy black greatsword. The fabric of this outfit was chosen to be a lustrous satin material, which presents a beautiful deep violet hue under the sunlight. To fit the character's temperament, the costume underwent a relatively major structural deconstruction, such as the intersecting black straps across the chest and neck, along with a large area of open-back design, allowing for a strong visual tension in both side and back shots. White vine embroidery is utilized at the cuffs and hem; the combination of black, white, and purple is the core of this costume.
To say what the greatest test was in this shoot, it was definitely this prop greatsword in my hands. It is much heavier than imagined. In order to maintain that aura of single-handedly propping it against the ground or holding it horizontally in front of the lens, my arms were actually shaking during the intervals between shots. The pose in the photo where I'm sitting on the ground holding the sword with both hands was actually a rare moment of rest, though it happened to capture that relatively tranquil scene. The shooting location was selected in front of a classical building with white Roman columns and stone carvings. The intense sunlight combined with the white stone background formed a beautiful contrast of warmth against the cool tones of the dark clothing. When shooting close-ups and half-body portraits, it was quite a test for my eyes because the light was quite blinding; squinting even a little would make it look lacking in sharpness, so I could only adjust my angles to avoid direct sunlight.
The hair and makeup this time leaned toward clean and simple, with the focus placed on elongating the eyeliner and lifting the spirit with red lips, using the white wig to anchor the large area of purple so it doesn't look too cluttered visually. Cooperating with the shifts in posture during the shooting process, the wide hemline of the skirt would naturally spread out in the wind or when lifting my leg to sit down, producing highly photogenic effects on the gray stone steps. The photographer utilized quite a few low-angle machine positions this time to make the greatsword and my height look more elongated and upright. Combined with the white railings and sculptures, it delivers a very tranquil sense of classical order. To match the temperament of this outfit, no overly playful poses were designed for the movements; basically, everything relied on the support of the sword to complete the standing, sitting, and looking back actions. Post-processing primarily adjusted the overall exposure and subtly treated the blue of the sky to keep the washed-out sky looking pure. Overall, the physical experience of this outdoor portrait photography session was quite exhausting—the weather was hot, and combined with long sleeves and a long sword, moving around wasn't very convenient. However, the texture of the final photos truly reflects the structural beauty of dark-colored garments. I am highly satisfied with the silk-satin reflections and the skirt hem shadows captured in this shoot; it was quite a fulfilling outdoor endeavor.