On Day 1 of the 38th Firefly ACG Expo, Guanzi and I cosplayed Ram and Rem together, shooting for the entire afternoon. Preparing the hair and makeup took quite a while; the wig colors, the halos on our heads, and the white feather ear accessories were all faithfully recreated. The white ruffled dresses had a great silhouette, the bows on the chest stayed tied securely without coming undone, and the lace trim on the cuffs had a lovely drape while walking. The White stockings were very comfortable, making standing on the venue's foam floor mats easy on the feet. Since it was an outdoor shoot, photographer NightDiva set up cool-toned fill lights on site, which beautifully highlighted the translucency of the white outfits and the blue-and-pink hair. With softer lighting, the skin texture on camera turned out fantastic.
The biggest challenge during the shoot was the heavy foot traffic. To avoid passersby in the background, we switched shooting spots several times and adjusted our angles according to the photographer's cues. For instance, in the pose sitting on the floor mat and glancing back over the shoulder, to reveal leg lines and showcase the White stockings, I shifted my center of gravity multiple times until the framing looked most natural. The two-person interaction with Guanzi was also super fun—we had to strike playful poses while keeping our bodies squared to the lens and ensuring the overhead halos were fully visible. Occasionally, large movements would tilt the halo, requiring us to pause and re-pin it. The shooting pace was fast, but we thoroughly enjoyed every minute.
The fill lights were very bright, effectively illuminating our faces in darker areas. Because we were shooting outdoors all afternoon, facial oils built up, so I touched up my makeup twice mid-shoot, especially the eye and lip makeup. The eyeliner was waterproof, so it held up well for a long time. Wearing colored contacts made the gaze angles quite demanding—even a slight glance at the camera could convey completely different emotions, so we tried over a dozen times before finding the perfect eye expression. To go with the gesture of holding the blue beverage cup, I deliberately adjusted my finger placement so it looked more relaxed and natural. After the entire afternoon, although tiring, our seamless teamwork and the professional guidance of photographer NightDiva led to a great yield of Convention photos. The overall pose design stayed faithful to the character settings—such as Ram's backwards glance sitting on the floor and Rem's gesture of handing over the blue cup, both of which took considerable time to nail the right angles. The surrounding environment was rather cluttered, so the photographer used a longer focal length and a wide aperture to blur the background, making the subjects the absolute focus of the frame. In a convention venue with constantly changing lighting, maintaining the clean white tone of the dresses without turning gray and preventing yellowish skin tones heavily depended on good lighting. Completing this shoot so smoothly was truly thanks to everyone's cooperation. That wraps up the complete record of our Ram cosplay and Rem cosplay at the 38th Firefly ACG Expo. The whole experience was deeply fulfilling, and special thanks go to our photographer for the hard work.