[Japanese-style Fantasy] This Outfit Is Packed with Details, the Vibe of Holding a Sword vs. Cradling a Bird Feels Entirely Different

When shooting this set, it happened to coincide with several consecutive days of overcast rain in Guangzhou. Since we couldn't go outdoors, we might as well spend more time on the details in the studio. It took nearly two hours from receiving this costume to adjusting it on my body because the dark-patterned fabric of the inner layer wrinkles very easily; every single layer needed to be secured with safety pins to ensure that the curves revealed at the shoulders and chest looked natural. The red section of the waist binder is matte satin, while the purple section uses brocade with geometric dark patterns; the golden piping where the two are stitched together is very narrow, but exceptionally prone to curling up, so I repeatedly ironed it three times before the shoot to make it smooth.

The heaviest part was actually that piece of armor on the left shoulder with a black-and-gold base and a purple gemstone. Although it is made of resin, to create a 3D effect, the interior was thickened and tied to the shoulder strap using fishing line; once the angle was adjusted, I couldn't move around too much, otherwise it would shift. The gloves are semi-transparent black mesh sheer, and the golden patterns on the back of the hand were sewn on separately. Afraid they might snag on the wrapping rope of the sword hilt, we had to wrap the hilt with a soft cloth every time before I held the sword. The prop samurai sword is nearly one meter in total length, and the red rope on the hilt is wrapped very tightly; when holding it, the center of gravity is at the handguard, so lifting it single-handed to maintain balance actually gave my forearm muscles quite a workout.

The studio setup utilized red and yellow oil-paper umbrellas and hanging floral fabrics, which, paired with the blue-purple side backlighting, cast a translucent effect along the edges of the deep blue wig's hair strands, exactly the atmosphere I wanted. During the shoot, I experimented with several different temperament directions—when looking back while holding the sword, I needed to tighten my core to make the side-profile lines sharper, while avoiding the sword tip poking the umbrella ribs behind me; whereas those few shots cradling the little bird heavily tested my patience, because the little guy kept fluttering on my fingers, forcing us to crank up the shutter speed to press it rapidly the exact instant it stopped. Posing slouched over the low table was instead the most relaxed: hands crossed supporting the tabletop, with the center of gravity pressed onto the clothing folds at the chest, which perfectly allowed the fabric around the shoulders to drape down naturally, revealing the collarbone lines.

Post-processing mainly handled the reflections on the background oil-paper umbrellas and the highlights on the character's face, preserving the woven luster of the dark patterns on the clothes as much as possible, without excessive airbrushing, because this kind of Japanese-style fantasy attire still requires a bit of skin texture to ground the overall weight. The pairing of the mask and gloves was also a spontaneous idea; since the studio's air conditioning was quite cold, the semi-transparent mesh could both block the wind and let the arm lines loom faintly. When communicating with the photographer, I specially emphasized that the waist must be cinched tightly, but the gradient blue-purple skirt hem on the outer thighs needed to spread out naturally, so it could display a bit of layering of the dark underskirt beneath when sitting. The entire set took about three hours to shoot; when changing poses, I discovered that the lining on the inside of the cuffs unexpectedly had a pearlescent luster, which was a pleasant surprise.

Regarding prop storage, the samurai sword and armor took up most of the space in the suitcase, and bringing them from Guangzhou indeed took quite some effort. However, seeing those golden and purple details clearly presented in the final photos makes it feel completely worth it. Under different lighting angles, the dark patterns of the clothes and the reflections of the armor yield entirely different visual effects, which is precisely the most interesting part of a Guangzhou studio shooting.