[Clorinde Cosplay] Genshin Impact Champion Duelist: Capturing the Light and Shadow of a Shoot from One Year Ago

Opening my photo album from January 2025, I finally dug out this archived shoot taken by photographer @神气糖, organized it, and saved it to my alt account. Looking back at the behind-the-scenes moments from that shoot, it feels like it just happened yesterday. Today, I'd like to share this set of photos and some of my experiences during the shoot.

This costume actually took a lot of thought during the preparation phase. The black leather corset vest was made from leather material with a certain stiffness and good resilience. Such material fits the body contour very well, tightening the waistline while maintaining its shape without creating ugly wrinkles during large movements. The white top underneath and the black vest create a nice layered look. The golden metal pieces decorating the shoulders and chest were custom-made from hardware suppliers. At that time, we adjusted the symmetry and firmness of the buttons back and forth several times before achieving a texture that sat just right.

For the short blue cape on the shoulder and the long streamers attached at the back, we hand-sewed thin shaping wires along the edges of the fabric so that they would maintain an excellent sense of silhouette during the shoot. This way, whether I walked along the corridor or turned around, the cape would flutter naturally with the movement rather than limp, maintaining its beautiful original outline. This outfit came with many accessories—long white gloves, a leather fitted mini skirt, thigh-high stocking straps, and white high-heeled ankle boots. Although there were many elements, they didn't feel chaotic under a unified color scheme.

This blue-black gradient wig was also meticulously trimmed by myself, especially the bang covering the right eye. To achieve that effect of subtle veil—hanging right in front of the eye—I repeatedly trimmed it for a long time. It needed to create a mysterious visual covering without completely blocking my line of sight or affecting my walking and posing in outdoor scenes. The sun was very bright on the day of the shoot. Natural light penetrated the awning and cast onto the terrace; the metal buttons on the white gloves and the patterns on the blue cape reflected fantastic highlights and shadows in the sunlight, adding a lot of rich texture to the photos.

In fact, shooting a character with uniform elements requires very high posture control. Unlike a casual or relaxed standing posture, I had to consciously tighten my core, straighten my back, and naturally open my shoulders during shooting. The tailoring of this costume itself gives a sharp and heroic sense of lines; if I slouched, the character's unique capable and alert aura would be completely lost. I especially love the snapshot photos capturing dynamic motion, such as when the cape spreads in the wind or when my hand gently rests on the hat brim—that split-second feeling of dynamism feels much more authentic than posed shots.

The shot sitting on the stone railing looks relatively relaxed, but in reality, to achieve the most ideal visual proportion for the thigh ribbon straps and the extension of black stockings, I tried several leg placement angles and weight distributions. I needed to ensure the curve of the high heels looked attractive without shifting my center of gravity so much that the frame lost stability. The contrast between white gloves and black leather outfit, along with delicate dust motes in the air and the halo of sunlight, instantly pulled the atmospheric feel of the entire picture to the max.

Working with the photographer was extremely efficient. He excelled at capturing motion and was skilled at highlighting the tactile texture of costume fabrics. At that time, in order to find different camera angles, we moved up and down on the stone platform of this corridor for a long while; the photographer even lay flat on the stairs to find a tricky low-angle shot for me, which is pretty hilarious to think back on.

Now that exactly one year has passed since the shoot, re-examining this set of photos allows me to look at my styling and expressiveness back then much more objectively. Photos are indeed the best time machines, preserving these moments of characters crafted with so much heart and soul. They not only record myself at that moment and the fine details of that cosplay outfit, but also serve as a deeply cherished physical memory along my cosplay journey.