[Inubashiri Momiji Cosplay] Night Parade of a Hundred Demons on the Autumn Forest Plank Road, A Serene Fragment of Touhou Project

This set of Inubashiri Momiji was shot a year ago with Teacher Chen Ai Bing Lan. Recently, I dug out a pile of backlogged RAW files and retouched them again. Previously, I always felt the makeup wasn't clean enough, and the wrinkles at the garment seams were handled stiffly, causing me to get stuck constantly during retouching. After letting it sit for a while, I finally plucked up the courage today to release the finished set.

Let's first talk about the makeup and styling for this shoot. Securing the beast ears was actually a major issue—the fur was quite thick, but the internal steel frame was made a bit thin, causing them to tilt easily due to gravity during the shoot. If I re-shoot next time, I will replace it with a headband structure offering better support, so the photographer won't constantly have to shout at me on set to adjust the angle. As for makeup, because it was a crystal-clear autumn day, the light was very harsh; shining directly on the face easily exposed the grainy texture of the base makeup. To avoid excessive oiliness, I kept the base makeup quite matte and layered slightly deeper shadows under the eyes, aiming to simulate that cold, serene yet focused temperament of the character. However, the lines of the eye makeup weren't kept sharp enough and smudged slightly, taking quite some effort during local skin retouching.

The environment on the day of the shoot was fantastic—a red dawn redwood forest in autumn, flanked by constructed wooden plank roads and stone bridges. Among the photos in this post, some feature sitting by the stone bridge looking back with an umbrella, while others show looking back from the side on the plank road. The red Japanese style umbrella and white long-sleeved furisode costume paired exceptionally well with these warm-toned autumn landscapes. I remember during the full-body shot in photo three, the wind was quite strong; controlling my center of gravity against the wind-facing umbrella surface actually caused my body to sway slightly, but the photographer used a faster shutter speed to capture that moment's stride, perfectly showcasing the light, airy dynamic effect of the outfit. Back then, I preferred poses where I didn't look directly at the lens, or side-views and back shots, which better displayed the beast ears and tail while cooperating with the depth of the wooden walkway to give the overall image a stronger sense of storytelling.

During post-processing, I often found myself conflicted. The raw photos were amply lit and airy, but certain angles made shadows look too heavy. I adjusted the overall color temperature and hue, trying my best to make the leaves present a rich reddish-brown color, which felt heavy enough to ground the white clothing without letting the outfit overexpose into a flat white. For seated poses like in photo six or back views in photo four, I habitually focused on controlling the color while making minor adjustments to skin texture and figure, preserving natural skin textures. Particularly in photo three showcasing the complete look, I enhanced the contrast between the red fabric at the hem and the fluffy tail to separate the color layers, and specifically retouched the gaps in the wooden plank road, otherwise I looked as if floating on the boards.

For fellow enthusiasts wishing to shoot similar traditional Japanese style anime settings, I personally suggest paying close attention to the silhouette of the garment hem and petticoat. The lace and black fabric on my hem this time were a bit too heavy, resulting in unnatural tail positioning while walking. As for props, the pom-pom decorations on the hands can be subtly secured with thin wire to prevent them from swinging back and forth and hampering body posture. Additionally, under harsh outdoor light, the best approach remains avoiding direct midday sunlight to capture soft rim lighting; this naturally gives the face more three-dimensionality and makes post-processing much easier.

This retouching session serves as a personal review, and I hope this set does justice to the hard work put into the preparations back then.