This photoshoot featured Yumemizuki Mizuki from Genshin Impact, primarily aiming to capture a dreamy aesthetic in a pink and purple color palette. The biggest highlight was the pairing with Cute props, such as a round fan and a pink piglet. A lot of effort went into everything from costume preparation to prop placement, and the final results proved that all the hard work was well worth it.
The outfit is a modified Japanese style design with intricate layering, including white ruffled cuffs, a pink-and-purple base fabric, and black necktie trim. The overall color scheme required meticulous coordination. Just adjusting the waist sash took about ten minutes to ensure it would not loosen during wide poses. The bow on the back and the hair ornaments needed careful securing, or they would slip off whenever I tilted my head. The wig is styled as a long, light-blue high ponytail; to prevent it from collapsing, padding was added at the back of the head alongside a generous amount of styling spray. Blending the Elf ears took the most time—multiple layers of concealer were applied to seamlessly match my skin tone.
The makeup focused heavily on eye contouring. The purple contact lenses were crystal clear but tended to feel dry, requiring eye rests or eye drops between takes to maintain moisture. Eyeliner application and eyelash trimming were crucial, incorporating both upper and lower lashes to create that wide-eyed effect. The eyeshadow featured a pink-to-purple gradient, complemented by red lips and blush to give the entire look a dreamy, translucent finish.
The set was a room with traditional Japanese shoji doors. The wooden lattice diffused light beautifully, acting as a natural softbox to give the skin a soft, smooth texture. The photographer used a wide-angle lens to make my silhouette look petite. The first shot was composed as a slightly front-facing half-body portrait, holding up the fan toward the camera to accentuate the subject and color contrast. The second shot used a top-down angle, cradling the pink piglet toy, which highlighted the delicate facial details and made the character look exceptionally cute.
We ran into a few minor challenges during the shoot. For instance, the voluminous wig and wide sleeves interfered with each other during movement, and props occasionally snagged on the fabric, requiring pauses to adjust. At one point, sleeve creases became too noticeable, requiring a re-pose and reshoot. Additionally, the colored contacts carried a slight risk of shifting during close-ups, requiring careful gaze control.
Post-processing mainly involved slightly raising the exposure, adjusting the tones closer to pink and purple, and adding a subtle glow effect to soften the image, aligning with the character's dreamy setting. Photoshoots are essentially an ongoing process of refining details. Bringing Yumemizuki Mizuki to life this time was a complete, rewarding experience in understanding the character's aesthetic and managing the props. Ironing out all these details definitely took a lot of thought.