[Hu Tao cosplay] Shooting diary of NARAKA: BLADEPOINT and Azur Lane

Today, I collaborated with teacher Lanqiao desu to shoot two sets of works: one is Hu Tao cosplay from NARAKA: BLADEPOINT, and the other is De Zeven Provinciën cosplay from Azur Lane. The stylistic span between the two looks is quite large, switching from Western fantasy to Eastern Japanese style, which demands completely different mobilizations of emotion and physical expression, making the shooting pace very compact.
The Hu Tao set was shot first. To fit the character's elf-like feel, the wig was chosen as light gold, with braided braid details processed on the forehead, and combined with elf pointy ear props, the overall fantasy atmosphere emerged. The clothing is this pea-green camisole nightgown with white lace trims on the neckline and cuffs. In terms of makeup, the color rendering of the green contact lenses was enhanced, the eye makeup deliberately elongated the eye shape, paired with a large area of natural blush, trying to create a clear yet non-human visual effect. We found an indoor scene with natural light, where the bed was covered with white sheets, matched with brown and yellow plush dolls, and pink roses as foreground adornment. To capture the most natural expression, I tried several angles such as sitting, side-lying, and lying flat. Lying flat and using a plush bear to cover the body was actually to create a sense of hiding and laziness. I also specifically checked the playback on the camera screen, checking the shadow distribution of the light hitting the face to ensure that the character's facial highlights were three-dimensional enough.
Next came changing into the second set, De Zeven Provinciën's clothing. The structure of this Japanese fantasy-style outfit is quite complex, with a white, pink, and red color scheme plus plenty of lace, ruffles, and embroidery, and the large golden flower accessory at the waist is very eye-catching. Besides the pearl necklace and golden tassel sleeve covers, the red strap details on the legs also made the overall Anime cosplay feel more prominent. The pink-and-white plush animal ears on top of the head were the finishing touch, paired with pink-purple contact lenses, completely transforming my aura into another state. The scene was changed to a space with a wooden texture and pink cherry blossom trees arranged in the background. Holding a white paper umbrella and a folding fan printed with cherry blossom patterns, along with cherry blossom branches, I tried various postures such as kneeling and stretching the body. Every time I adjusted my posture, I would confirm the composition in the lens with teacher Lanqiao desu to see if there were any blocked parts or out-of-balance proportions.
The screen capture photos recorded the moments when we constantly adjusted the positions of the props. The material of this outfit is relatively lightweight, and if the placement angle of the fan and paper umbrella is slightly off, the balance of the overall frame will be broken. We spent quite a bit of time coordinating light and shadow, because pink and white clothing tends to blur together under warm light, requiring adjustments to the camera's color temperature and exposure compensation to preserve the lace texture of the clothes. Shooting both sets of clothes indeed consumed a lot of physical energy, but seeing the preliminarily formed images in the camera, both the state and texture met expectations. The whole process was a very satisfying creation, and it also gave me a deeper understanding of the states of these two characters.