Another National Day holiday is here, and this time I reserved my time for the Guangzhou CICF Anime Exhibition. After my independent cosplayer application was approved, I started preparing my outfits for these few days early on. When packing my luggage, I sorted accessories and wigs into categories because the styles I planned to wear spanned a wide range, from the wing-fairy style I rarely attempt to complex Chinese-style qipaos, with each outfit taking up an entire suitcase. The crowd volume on the first day of the exhibition was truly no joke; arriving at the Poly World Trade Center Exhibition Hall at a little past eight in the morning, the queue to enter had already wrapped around multiple circles.
Finding a spot in the venue with good lighting, a clean background, and without blocking others' passage is the key to successful convention photos. To capture clear details, this time I brought a constant-lighting wand and a softbox. When shooting outfits with white wings and light-colored gauze skirts, the arrangement of lighting is particularly crucial. If you rely solely on the ambient light from the top of the venue, it's very easy to make the clothes look grayish, which is hard to rescue in post-processing. Therefore, before starting each shoot, the photographer and I would test the light first, adjusting the color temperature to ensure the character's skin tone and the texture of the clothing material could be restored to the maximum extent.
One thing that left a deep impression during this shooting experience is that matching long dresses and long socks is physical labor at an anime convention. For example, with that purple tulle long dress, the layered fabrics were very easy to step on when walking, and coupled with high heels, I started sweating just walking to the shooting area inside the venue. There was also an outfit with white tights; the exhibition floor tiles have many gaps, and I was especially afraid of snagging them when changing locations, so I was extra careful, trying my best to lift the skirt hem or maintain a slow speed while walking. For poses requiring sitting on the ground, laying down a light-colored cloth mat in advance is extremely necessary, as this protects the clothing and keeps the edges of the captured frame clean without leaving ground stains.
The styling featuring green hair paired with a traditional Chinese folding fan heavily tested hand movements and gaze. During the shoot, I tried to open up my shoulder and neck lines, and since the fan would block part of my face, the focus of my gaze became very important to maintain a sense of interaction with the lens. On the other hand, for the black hair paired with shorts and black tights, the posture could be more natural and casual; leaning slightly against the railing or doing some daily casual poses could convey that effortless temperament. To keep the makeup long-lasting, my makeup bag contained plenty of oil-blotting paper and setting spray, and touching up my makeup twice after half a day was the norm. For scenes that needed to be shot outdoors near the subway or cars, sunlight hitting the pink beret and white tights made for very photogenic shots, but one also had to pay attention to facial fill lighting during backlight.
The entire CICF exhibition schedule was very fulfilling; I met many photographers carrying professional long lenses and cameras, and made quite a few new friends. The sense of belonging brought by attending independently is very strong, as everyone is purely expressing their love for ACG culture. Although the venue is huge, walking all day was still a bit much for my knees, so I suggest future attendees definitely bring a pair of comfortable flat shoes as a backup, and switch to high heels only when taking pictures. Over the three-day exhibition period, despite aching backs and sore legs, seeing the camera memory full of material made all the busyness feel completely worthwhile. Post-processing work will proceed slowly, hoping to record the most perfect state.
Finally, returning directly in JSON format as plain text without any extra text.