[Keqing Cosplay] Genshin Impact Character Real-Scene Studio Shooting: Retouched a Teaser Photo First Myself

Official photos are still queuing up for export with the editor, but I really couldn't sit still, so I picked one to retouch myself as a small teaser for everyone following me. This shoot was held at Sister @淳子's studio, and the level of exquisite detail there truly gave me choice paralysis the moment I walked in. From a whole wall of carved solid wood openwork folding screens to stacked dark red vintage suitcases next to it, and a wooden side table in the corner balancing the scene's weight, every piece was placed so perfectly as if they were born in those exact spots.

The tone for this makeup and styling was purple, white, and blue. Choosing this light ash-purple long wig, the hair color creates a subtle translucent feel under alternating warm front fill light and cool backlighting. The black cat-ear-shaped hair accessories on both sides of the head feature a delicate matte finish dotted with tiny beads; even with various head turns and tilts throughout the night, their position remained solidly fixed. The top retains the collar plus tassel pendant design, where the dark purple-black and pure white splicing outlines the highlights of the upper body well. Semi-transparent blue gauze sleeve covers on the arms, combined with white ruffles along the cuffs, flutter with every movement, bringing lots of dynamic capture fun to a static photoshoot as part of a Stocking outfit look.

What surprised me most was that huge bouquet of blue hydrangea props—not only did the colors transition naturally, but the texture in hand felt very solid. During photos, if you don't know where to put your hands, holding flowers or gently resting them on the suitcase naturally solves stiff posture issues. Big thanks to photographer @AOZI for staying up late with me to find angles step-by-step. He's great at capturing casual moments—like when I adjusted my cuffs or dazed off resting my chin on my hand, his shutter had already clicked. He's also extremely skilled at using the blue ambient light coming from behind the folding screen, paired with front fill light, to make facial contours and wig rim-lighting look exceptionally bright and translucent.

When I retouched this photo myself, the post-processing felt like reliving the emotions of the shoot. I didn't forcibly boost color saturation, but rather toned down the background darks to create a clearer cool-warm contrast between red wood grain and blue ambient light, while slightly brightening the light-receiving side of the skirt so the purple-blue fabric wouldn't look dull. For makeup, I preserved the relatively authentic texture of the original shot without heavy skin smoothing, which would destroy the 3D structure of the costume. This studio can handle so many styles; if you also suffer from choice paralysis, you should definitely check it out in person.

Although we stayed up late on the day of shooting, the process was very enjoyable. Communicating with the photographer felt like playing a scene-building game together. Every set adjustment and lighting tweak brought different surprises in the viewfinder. The benefit of retouching photos myself is that I can tune colors completely to my heart's desire without bothering the editor for repeated tweaks.

Actually, retouching this image was also a concrete realization of my own aesthetics. Though the outfit for this shoot was very ornate, I didn't want to make it overly flashy or blindingly bright; instead, I preferred highlighting a quiet, gentle atmosphere. Due to lighting at the scene, the wood grain of the background folding screen originally had slightly uneven depth, so I applied a very subtle soft light filter in post to make the screen's texture finer, achieving a great blend with the character's outfit.

Let's talk about the wig too. Light purple wigs can easily look fake in camera due to reflections, but because this one had good hair fiber quality, the edges of the hair strands captured clear blue ambient light during studio lighting, creating a very interesting 'hair strand rim light' that is difficult to synthesize artificially in post. When editing, I specifically zoomed in to keep this detail without over-smoothing. Also, regarding the gloves on my hands, black gloves paired with ruffled cuffs added a sense of refinement akin to Lolita fashion elements; the relationship between finger curvature and cuff folds was something I paid special attention to during retouching, ensuring every line looked natural and smooth.

However, the official photoset still contains a lot of other angles, including wide-angle compositions and captures focused on prop interactions. So I'm also looking forward to the final official results. That's a bit of my rambling about this self-retouched preview photo—hope it brings you a better visual experience when the full set comes out!