Today's shoot features Hook from Honkai: Star Rail. Costumes, props, and makeup were produced and coordinated by Xuemeng Culture, shot in partnership with photographer Qie. The overall look—including that huge, prominent plush hat, the yellow and brown color-blocked jacket, and heavy boots—was a complete character restoration attempt inside this industrial set.
The shooting location was set in a vintage Mechanical style industrial workshop, where old-fashioned oscilloscopes, CRT monitors, scattered car tires, and various mechanical parts were visible everywhere. Ambient lighting primarily used warm yellow tungsten bulbs, with yellow warning signs plastered on walls alongside collaged old notices. We also prepared design blueprints on the table as props to enhance the scene's storytelling vibe. The overall space was quite compact, but that made the composition feel all the more authentic rather than overly hollow.
The entire shooting session lasted about three hours, with multiple adjustments made to poses and camera angles. I experimented with various expressive dynamic poses: relaxing with eyes closed and hands behind my head, hugging knees while staring straight into the camera, crossing legs while reaching out toward the lens, and resting my legs up on the table. The final shot of holding up a blueprint with my mouth wide open served as a dramatic wrap-up, as if stumbling upon some groundbreaking new invention. The photographer paid close attention to side fill light during shooting, using a small desk lamp to illuminate the face and avoid excessively harsh shadows. A few shots even incorporated red smoke to highlight that Sci-Fi atmosphere.
In terms of costume and prop details, the plush hat created by Xuemeng Culture had internal support, making it very stable during movement. The coat sleeves were wide and voluminous, while the inner yellow-and-white color-block top and skirt had great proportions, preventing the loose outerwear from making me look short. The leather armor on the arm was fixed with buckles, making it very convenient to take off and adjust—this was crucial when handling the mechanical arm prop without restricting movement. The boots had thick soles, providing solid leverage when stepping on chairs or tires, so there was no worry about slipping during the shoot.
In capturing poses for the entire Photography photoset, I did my best to fit Hook's vibe of \"pretending to be mature while retaining childish innocence.\" When resting with eyes closed, I kept my facial expression relaxed, but when pointing or holding blueprints, I intentionally raised the corners of my mouth to show a hint of pride and confidence. This expression switching required quite some effort during the shoot, as I had to stay immersed in the character while keeping an eye on silhouette angles in front of the lens.
The overall collaboration process was smooth for everyone. Photographer Qie captured compositions very precisely without leaving traces of over-retouching, preserving the natural skin texture and fabric grain of the costume. Xuemeng Culture's fine-tuning on outfits and props was also spot-on; the arm armor and hat ornaments maintained high fidelity to the character design. Overall, this work combines a hardcore industrial base tone while preserving the character's original lively and animated spirit. Through this outfit pairing and body language expression, the traits of this mechanic girl stand out vividly—making it a deeply devoted shooting record.