Putting on this costume definitely had some weight to it, but seeing everyone tease my "crooked sword style," I know the execution was indeed a bit off. Looking back at the photos, I couldn't help laughing at myself—that pose of raising a leg while slashing the sword was originally meant to channel a sharp, fierce thrust, but a slight twist of the ankle and a loss of balance turned it into the wobbly posture you see now. Honestly though, cosplay photoshoots often have these moments where reality falls short of imagination, especially when holding a long-hilted sword; balancing the prop while maintaining graceful body posture is far harder than it looks.
For this shoot, we selected a Japanese tatami-style studio for our Indoor studio photography session, relying primarily on a few candles placed on the left as the main light source. This warm, one-sided lighting heavily tested the three-dimensional contours of my face, but its advantage was accentuating the soft, rich textures of the purple wig and blue-purple garments. The skirt and sleeves had wonderful drape, though whenever the movement grew wider, the sleeves tended to tangle around the sword hilt. For that leg-raise pose in photo three, I was actually flexing my core tightly just to avoid stepping on the skirt hem, which inadvertently made the final shot look rather comical.
The garment details are abundant: the golden motifs and purple flower knots along the arms, plus the diamond pendants at the waist, caught striking metallic highlights under the candlelight. What satisfied me most, however, was this Black tights outfit styling—while some feel black tights look a bit modern, these slightly mysterious stockings truly elongated the leg lines, pairing with the black-and-yellow color-blocked heels for a sharp, cool look when standing upright. As for the prop sword, holding it for a long time made it quite heavy; resting it on the floor while standing relaxed in photo four felt far more natural than forcing a dynamic slash.
Speaking of pose design, the photographer and I chatted about how striving too hard to look "cool" with weapon-wielding characters easily turns into stiff posturing. Proper power generation requires treating the sword as an extension of your body, keeping your center of gravity flowing with the tip of the blade. This time, I focused too much on the exact forms of "slashes" and "thrusts" while overlooking lower-body coordination, creating that awkward sensation of "forcing a stance without stable balance." Next time I shoot similar themes, I plan to break down movements into static keyframes and practice empty-handed first to smooth out hip and leg angles before picking up the sword.
The most delightful part of cosplay is that every character possesses distinct signature movements; although friends laughed at it being "unorthodox," it served as fantastic experience. The fabric blend of cotton, linen, and chiffon absorbed a faint smoky scent from hours under candle heat, yet reviewing the photos during post-processing still gave off great atmosphere in this Anime-style photography project. In particular, the hazy candle glow casting over the purple wig created a tranquil yet subtly commanding mood that fit the lore of Genshin Impact.
Regarding weapon grip, I noticed my habit of holding the sword with my right hand, whereas the character lore leans more toward left-handed or two-handed dominance, which might explain some of the awkward angles. In any case, I'm treating this as a playful trial-and-error run. Next time, I'll study martial arts or sword-dance tutorials beforehand to solidify my horse stance and thrusting posture, ensuring the sword tip aligns with my eye line so there won't be another awkward moment of "raising the sword high while leaning sideways."
Lastly, while indoor studio settings are controllable, once the candle light source shifts, shadows change drastically, making the photographer's shutter timing crucial. Out of thirty or forty shots taken, only a few made the cut—most had sleeves covering my face or sword glare overexposing. I hope to achieve even better synergy with the photographer next time to truly capture Keqing's composed elegance rather than just making a comedy reel!