[Suzuran Cosplay] Golden backlit fantasy at the Dongguan Botanical Garden

This set of photos was shot at the Dongguan Botanical Garden. The sunlight on that day was fantastic; light filtered through the dense leaves and hit the ground, forming very beautiful and well-layered mottled light spots. This kind of natural light and shadow is extremely suitable for location shoots.

The equipment used for this shoot was the Sony A7M3 camera body paired with the Sirui 85mm lens (f/1.4). As the golden focal length for portraits, the 85mm focal length's performance in an outdoor botanical garden environment is truly surprising. The background blur effect brought by the large aperture directly filters out the tree trunks and messy branches in the background, instantly widening the sense of layers. I used the maximum aperture of F/1.4 throughout the entire shoot. It is worth mentioning that this Sirui lens not only supports autofocus and captures character movements very quickly, but it also has a lightweight body of only 540g. Paired with the A7M3, the overall weight is well-balanced. I held the prop staff and picnic basket in one hand and operated the camera with the other to shoot for an entire afternoon without putting much pressure on my wrist. The accompanying model also exclaimed that the photo success rate was extremely high after viewing the original images on the camera screen.

In terms of lighting, to create an aesthetic atmosphere, we adopted backlit shooting with our backs to the sun. Sunlight acted as a natural rim light, hitting the edges of the golden wig, the fluffy Kemonomimi girl ears, and the fluffy tails, forming a charming halo. However, backlighting can easily lead to a pitch-black face, so I set up a reflector next to the camera position specifically to brighten the face, ensuring clear facial features and rich eye catchlights while retaining the natural ambient light atmosphere.

Regarding the costume pairing, this set was handmade from scratch. Golden long straight hair paired with light yellow fluffy Kemonomimi girl ears and multiple fluffy large tails. The inner layer is a white lace long-sleeved shirt with an orange ribbon tied at the collar, paired with a light blue pleated skirt featuring white lace trims along the hem. The legs wear white mid-calf socks matched with brown vintage Mary Jane shoes. I also paired it with a brown circular cross-body small bag and a vintage wicker picnic basket. As for props, a wooden staff features a rattan-woven ring at the top wrapped around with white daisies, yellow flowers, and pink-and-white ribbons; when walking, the swaying of the skirt hem and tails has a very dynamic beauty.

During the shooting process, I had the model try various poses such as standing, leaning against tree roots, and walking. There are several huge ancient trees in the botanical garden with thick roots and trunks, making them perfect as background or foreground frames to give the image more depth. Guiding the model to walk while holding the staff or carrying the basket, and then using the camera's autofocus for continuous tracking, captures very vivid and natural moments. Especially the shots of running and turning back to wave are extremely lively.

During post-processing, I adjusted the color tone to a warm yellow and vintage green feel, strengthening the autumn vibe of the Dongguan Botanical Garden. The depth of field compression brought by the large aperture made the light spots softer and rounder, making the character subject very prominent. With the coordination of composition, light and shadow, and costume details, this set of photos presents a very translucent texture, making it a very smooth shooting experience.