[Phrolova cosplay] Wuthering Waves Hsin: Full Shoot Record at Guangzhou Firefly ACG Expo

At the Guangzhou Firefly ACG Expo in July, I met everyone on-site with this brand-new makeup and styling for Phrolova X Hsin. Before setting off, the photographer and I had already devised a detailed plan for the lighting layout at the expo, hoping to showcase the character's unique demeanor. The temperature at the venue was very high with heavy foot traffic, but despite wearing heavy fluffy animal ears and a complex costume, being immersed in a gathering of ACG enthusiasts filled me with passion. The camera used for this shoot was the Sony A7 IV, supported by official Jinbei photography equipment and Sony gear, making me fully confident in the light and shadow texture of the final shots.

Regarding hair and makeup, we put in a lot of effort. We chose a light green wig, layering and braiding it beforehand to give the hair a fluffier look on camera. The massive black-and-gray gradient fluffy animal ears on my head were the visual centerpiece; to fix their position and shape, the stylist used thick metal bobby pins paired with hairspray for support to ensure they wouldn't collapse in the hot convention hall. The asymmetrical black and red costume design, combined with a fitted cut on the lower garment, preserved the character's cool glamour and mystery while showing light, dynamic movement as I walked. Flame-like red patterns were painted on my arms, a detail that appeared very three-dimensional under side-backlighting.

As for the on-site lighting scheme, I can share some practical shooting tips with you all. The trigger used this time was the Jinbei Q7III Sony version, which performed very crisp lighting control with the lens. For the main light source, we used the Jinbei HD250max with an 80CM octagonal softbox; the soft key light provided by this combination felt very natural, preserving skin texture nicely while balancing highlight details to prevent facial oiliness under complex convention lighting. The main light illuminated my face and upper body, sculpting three-dimensional facial features for me.

To increase visual depth, the photographer set up a bare Jinbei HD100 light for direct flash as side-backlighting. The hard light beam from the bare light hit from my side-back, outlining a rim light along the edges of my fluffy ears while making hair strands look like they were shimmering under sunlight. The contrast brought by this hard light freed the frame from being overly soft, adding sharpness that is especially suited for a character with a hint of fantasy.

When shooting sitting or standing poses, to prevent shadows on the lower body from becoming too heavy or fading into the background, we placed a Jinbei Hi500pro on the floor for low-level fill light. Flashing directly onto the floor, the light reflected up happened to illuminate my legs and the hem edge, so my feet wearing transparent shoes didn't blend into the dark floor, maintaining a clear boundary instead. I must admit, having a complete light control setup in a crowded convention venue with chaotic ambient light is crucial. Without this Jinbei photography lighting setup, keeping color harmony between subject and environment under complex light sources would be extremely difficult.

For location selection, we found a relatively open and clean area, using a giant bright ceiling light in the center of the hall, combined with low-angle leg fill light, to form an alternating warm and cool light-and-shadow atmosphere. The shooting process went smoothly; the Sony A7 IV performed solidly with continuous autofocus—even when I walked or made large poses, the focus locked onto my eyes reliably. As a cosplayer, I hope to leave high-quality visual records at every anime expo. A great camera and lighting setup can save many tedious retouching steps in post-production, letting me relax as much as possible to be myself in front of the camera.

Looking at the straight-out-of-camera photos after shooting, the texture was already rich, all thanks to hardware support from the gear. Interpreting this new form of the character was a wonderful experience for me. These are some of the shooting memories I wanted to share behind this work.