[Gongsun Li Cosplay] Red Leaves Carry the Most Passion, A Dance to Send Yearnings, Chinese-Style Shoot in Qingdao

This shoot selected a Chinese-style architectural complex in Qingdao, where the red column corridor and giant white rabbit sculpture truly matched the aura of this outfit. From starting makeup in the morning to wrapping up in the afternoon, the entire long day was spent battling with light and shadow. The wig was a specially ordered white long straight hair style, and that pair of large rabbit ears on top of the head used thickened aluminum wires for support, which didn't collapse even after wearing it for a whole day; during the shoot, turning my head with a slightly larger amplitude would bring out a highly dynamic curve. The costume's color scheme is an orange and mint green color-blocking, with the outer layer being that very translucent chiffon tulle, and there are maple leaf prints on the hem; walking around allows the skirt hem to float with the wind, just matching that phrase "Red leaves carry the most passion." What people love most about this costume is its off-the-shoulder design, which, paired with the golden metal neck ornaments and waist pendants, has a very soft reflection under the sun. However, off-the-shoulder also means no base layers can be worn; during the shoot, I had to constantly pay attention to the shifting of the shoulder straps and clothing—several shots were just set up when the tulle on the shoulder slid down, forcing the photographer to call a halt and rearrange it. The oil-paper umbrella in my hand is the heavy highlight of the shoot, with red maple leaves and a white base printed on the surface, and the tassel pendant on the handle is hand-woven, carrying just the right weight in hand. When shooting the transitional actions between empty-handed, holding a fan, and holding an umbrella, I found that raising the umbrella with my right hand for a long time was actually quite a test of arm strength, especially when needing to tilt the umbrella at an angle to block the light or serve as a foreground for the frame, which would make it ache after five minutes, so those relaxed-looking sitting posture shots actually had my back and arms secretly exerting strength. The sitting posture in the fourth photo is the frame I'm most satisfied with myself—sitting on a red lacquered long bench, legs naturally extending forward, with the white stockings showing a very natural skin texture under the sun, and the black chunky heels making the ankles look thinner, with the center of gravity of the whole body falling on the lumbar spine, which both guaranteed the poise and prevented looking too rigid. The wind in Qingdao was quite strong that day; several times during the shoot, the wind blew the umbrella inside out, or blew the tulle on the cuffs into my face, but fortunately, field assistants helped with reflectors and fixing props. The greatest joy of this kind of real-scene shooting is being able to utilize natural light; the sun filters through the red columns to draw long, diagonal light and shadow on the ground, and when shooting back-lit, the edges of the hair have a layer of golden hair strand flow texture. During post-processing, I basically only adjusted the tone and light/dark, without doing much liquification, because the styling was already in place during the early stage for this Qingdao cosplay session. Actually, the most unexpected thing was that giant white rabbit sculpture in the scene; it was originally just intended as a backdrop board, but after capturing it in the second full shot, the depth of field and sense of fantasy of the entire frame instantly came out, making it feel like walking right out of the world where the character resides. During the shooting gap, I also tried that folding fan; when folded, holding it in hand brings a sense of heroic spirit, and when opened, it is very gentle—carrying two props just means I can switch through more sets of emotions. The color tuning of this set of photos goes for a warm orange-gold tone, not deliberately lowering the saturation but instead highlighting the orange of the clothing itself and the vermilion in the scene, which matches the autumn atmosphere better. The makeup this time used glitter eyeshadow and blue-purple colored contacts, with the edges of the eyeshadow smudged very naturally without any rigid eyeliner framing, making the eyes appear exceptionally spirited in close-up shots. If you also plan to do an outdoor shoot for this character, it's recommended to find a place with corridors arranged at staggered heights or carrying a moon gate; the oil-paper umbrella and rosewood structures are truly a perfect match. This Chinese-style photography experience was great; next time I want to challenge more dynamic snapshots, such as turning the umbrella or lightly leaping movements, and I hope the weather will still be this supportive.