This time, I shot this set of convention photos for little nurse Serina on-site at Guangzhou Blue Archive Only 4.0. The lighting on site was quite complex, so the photographer scouted locations in advance to find a few relatively clean backgrounds, utilizing wooden tables and chairs at the venue as props.
Before shooting, I specially trimmed the wig to shape the bangs and the curvature of the bob haircut on both sides. Because this hairstyle easily sticks flat to the scalp, inner padding was added for support. The makeup focused on enlarging the eyes, paired with specific colored contacts, while the blush and lip color complemented the pink hair and outfit. The costume has plenty of details; the black bow at the collar and the black sleeves at the cuffs add a solid, heavy texture, but pairing them with White stockings perfectly balances out the dullness, making it look a bit more lively. Wire was inserted into the hat for shaping to ensure it wouldn't fall off when tilting my head up for photos.
To showcase good leg contours, we kept adjusting angles during the shoot, such as sitting cross-legged on the table to adjust direction, or sitting with bent knees to elongate leg lines. The photographer was very good at finding light. Overhead lighting at conventions easily casts harsh shadows, so we tried our best to use reflectors or avoid direct light sources to make the face look more translucent, while better capturing the texture and sheen of the White stockings. The strap length of the bag was also adjusted twice to ensure it served as part of the visual balance from both the front and side.
The venue was quite crowded, so we squeezed in around ten minutes of candid shooting near the tables and chairs. To avoid a messy background crowd, the photographer used a relatively wide aperture, blurring the yellow lightboards and blue screens behind into soft bokeh. This set of photos only slightly fine-tuned the skin tone and brightness based on raw shots to match the clean, refreshing feel of the nurse uniform. Post-processing also touched up the golden halo above my head to give it a more floating effect.
Here are a few poses I was quite satisfied with, such as sitting on the table with legs together holding the hat with one hand, or putting a leg up on the chair to properly showcase the effect of wearing White stockings. There were many fellow fans at the venue who gave a lot of positive feedback on the restoration of the character, making the shooting process go very smoothly. This trip to Guangzhou was definitely worthwhile. Every time I cosplay a character, I get exposed to different photography ideas, and this expressive power in front of the lens is honed through Convention photos time and again.