This photoshoot features a Circular convention photoshoot of Cirno cosplay from Touhou Project, and it is one of the photo sets from recent conventions that I am most satisfied with. Because the character's canon personality is supremely confident yet adorably foolish (an absolute baka), when preparing the costume, I deliberately paired an ice-blue wig with an oversized red ribbon bow—a contrasting color scheme that looked exceptionally eye-catching in live convention snapshots.
The costume is packed with design details: the petticoat hoop skirt is huge, adorned with abundant lace trims and fluffy pom-pom decorations, which made walking around rather cumbersome. In the original lore, the floating ice crystals around her are a core element; since physical rigid props can hardly maintain a true hovering illusion on-site, we mainly focused on striking the right poses during the shoot, leaving the photographer to add translucent crystals and drifting snowflakes in post-processing using Ice crystal effects. Shooting during peak convention hours meant heavy crowds in the background, so we intentionally found a spot with an alphabet backdrop wall and used a telephoto lens to avoid the cluttered bystanders.
The most entertaining part of the shoot was sitting on that black high stool. Because the dress was massive, sitting down and properly showcasing the layers of the skirt required lifting my legs or doing various stretching poses. In Photo 5, I did a pose extending one leg straight out; maintaining balance required stabilizing my upper body while my center of gravity was quite shaky. The photographer called out several times before capturing the best leg contours and playful charm of the White stockings. Later, we switched to Photo 2 with arms spread wide open on the stool, and Photo 3 with a single-leg standing pose—this sequence of movements was truly exhausting.
Photo 4 was taken specifically close up to the lens; after adding snowflake effects and Ice crystal effects, the overall mood aligned even better with the Ice Fairy lore. I was originally worried the hairstyle might look too much like antennas or bunny ears, but wearing it with these bright blue contact lenses made the overall look remarkably faithful.
Being a Circular convention photoshoot, we captured many different angles. There are static shots gazing directly into the lens like Photo 1, as well as poses sitting on the stool showcasing leg lines like Photo 5 and Photo 6. When being photographed by fellow cosplayers and photographers at a convention, getting the lens proportions right is essential. Although this photo set didn't undergo overly heavy skin smoothing in post, the crystalline refractions and snowflake grain textures were rendered with delicate finesse.
Actually, cosplaying this character at conventions is super popular—everyone who sees you shouts 'Baka!' During the shoot, I also tried my best to maintain a tsundere yet slightly goofy expression to match her personality. In addition to the high-stool sitting poses, we also tried leaning against the wall and some running dynamic actions. The red ribbon laces on the costume and the big bow on the chest are major highlights, contrasting sharply against the blue-and-white primary color scheme. Although the head accessories and the skirt tassels occasionally got tangled, the overall anime aesthetic turned out very satisfying to me.