[Yamausagi cosplay] The Little Bunny in Dongguan Botanical Garden Is Coming with a Lantern!

This time, I cosplayed Yamausagi from Onmyoji and chose Dongguan Botanical Garden as the location. Before heading out, I decided to aim for a serene and natural style, and it turned out to be the right choice. The greenery near Huafang Court has rich layers. The slopes of the suspension bridge and the small stone path truly give the feel of a mountain trail, and the color of the wooden structure around the pavilion goes nicely with the kimono. Carrying a paper lantern and holding a round fan, I could easily capture a relaxed state with just a bit of movement. Photographer @PuluoPhotography did an amazing job with the snapshots; the captured color tones are very soft, and the lush green background leaves keep the frame balanced without looking overly crowded.

However, the price of an outdoor shoot is close contact with mosquitoes and insects. Both of my hands were bitten and swollen, and it stayed itchy for two or three days after returning. I was actually wearing long pants, but I didn't expect the bugs to focus entirely on my hands. Looking back now, if I had prepared a bottle of repellent water or brought some mosquito patches at that time, it wouldn't have been this miserable. If you're going to a location like a botanical garden, especially these areas with dense greenery, you must stay extra alert.

I brought along a few props that fit Yamausagi's settings quite well this time. The paper lantern is printed with red flower patterns, which echoes the color of the diamond patterns on the obi sash. We shot a few sets of standing, sitting, and walking poses; whether standing there with the lantern or partially covering my face with the round fan, the results turned out quite well. The post-processing avoided overly flamboyant color grading, focusing instead on slightly dimming the greenish ambient light to make the white costume pop out more in the frame, guiding the overall direction toward a bright and translucent feel.

Walking through the botanical garden in this costume felt quite well-integrated into the surrounding environment. Occasionally, passing tourists would steal a few extra glances. This feeling of being noticed was a bit curious, yet also quite happy. Regarding the makeup, to avoid an excessive contrast between the outdoor lighting and natural light, the base makeup leaned toward a matte finish this time, making it look much cleaner under the botanical garden's lighting. The lip makeup used an orange tone to echo the warm color elements of the entire outfit. The wig was styled in advance, keeping the bangs from looking too heavy, and a small support was added inside the bunny ears on top of my head so they wouldn't collapse easily.

In fact, the costume itself is relatively lightweight, so it wasn't too stuffy outdoors, and moving around was fairly convenient. Slowly walking past the orchid garden with the lantern gave me a wonderful sensation of strolling through a traditional courtyard. The plants near the orchid garden in the botanical garden are relatively short, which makes the character proportions look much better in photos and keeps the background from getting too cluttered. If you also want to come here to shoot Japanese-style or ancient-style characters, I highly recommend trying out this route for your Cosplay photography.