"The Gensokyo the Gods Loved." Today, carrying our wish for a Touhou Fuujinroku: Mountain of Faith group shoot, I finally put on this Shameimaru Aya cosplay outfit, stepped onto the gravel by the stream with everyone, and experienced an autumn atmosphere belonging to Gensokyo.
This group shoot has actually been planned in my head for a long time. The autumn leaves scene of Touhou Fuujinroku: Mountain of Faith is arguably one of the most classic visual spectacles in the Touhou series. The autumn streams, dappled sunlight, and shimmering water surfaces, paired with this red, black, and white Tengu attire—from the ambient balance of light and shadow to the color coordination of the outfit, the overall completeness of the frame is what our team valued most this time.
We made a lot of preparations in advance for this shoot. In terms of the outfit, embroidery details on the clothes, the texture of the belt, and the distressed treatment of the boots were done to recreate the setting as much as possible. Even the ears and hair accessories on the wig were secured using various adhesive techniques to prevent them from reflecting light or falling off under the intense sunshine by the stream. Although such detailed treatments might only flash by on camera, for a character acting as a "reporter" in Gensokyo, solid clothing textures are what allowed me to truly immerse myself in the role.
The lighting on the day of the shoot was amazing; the sunlight filtered through the interwoven red and yellow maple leaves, creating very soft dappled spots. We walked back and forth along the wooden bridge and riverbank several times, and the photographer constantly communicated with us about the composition, using the high highlights of the river's shimmer as rim lighting to make the characters look more dynamic. Especially the backlit moment standing on the wooden bridge, with layers of autumn leaves and town houses in the background—even just reviewing the playback on the camera's LCD screen, one could feel the serenity and romance of Gensokyo in autumn. However, the pebbles by the stream were indeed very slippery, and stepping on them in boots required extra balance. To strike the character's fan-waving pose, we helped each other climb onto that protruding giant boulder. Although the soles of my feet hurt a bit, to capture the ideal angle, all the hard work was worth it for this autumn leaves outdoor shoot.
After a full day of shooting, we saved several hundred raw photos from different camera angles and scenarios in the camera. As a Tengu, Shameimaru Aya's speed, sharp sensitivity, and sense of camera presence as a Bunbunmaru News reporter actually demand high facial control from the cosplayer. I didn't need to deliberately make exaggerated movements, but rather blend those touches of composure and confidence into the authentic natural environment. When sharing frames with companions dressed as other Gensokyo characters in the group photo, the color elements on everyone merged perfectly into the autumn scenery without any clutter, feeling very much like a vivid autumn scroll. This was a wonderful experience of Cosplay photography.
The full-day shoot was actually very tiring, running up and down carrying heavy outfits. Not only did we have to control our expressions, but we also had to coordinate with the photographer to wait for that perfect beam of natural light to pierce through the shade of the trees. But the moment I saw how harmoniously everyone was positioned in the viewfinder, with props and hair accessories gently fluttering in the wind, I felt all the running around was completely worth it. There were no overly sentimental speeches on this day; it was purely enjoying an outdoor shoot with friends, doing what we love, and solidly recording that memory of autumn leaves belonging to Touhou Fuujinroku: Mountain of Faith.