[Kagura and Kamui Cosplay] A Different Temperature of Fuzhuang Garden on a Rainy Day: Retouched into a Warm Golden Tone

This photo set was actually shot at Fuzhuang Garden, and the weather wasn't good at the time; it was raining non-stop. The original raw images were overall gray and cold with very scattered light, but I felt that a garden on a rainy day has a unique sense of serenity, perfect for this kind of narrative duo back-view. In post-processing, I intentionally pulled the color tone toward a warmer direction, brightening the highlights and deepening the shadows to make the textures of the tree shadows and tiled eaves stand out more, ultimately presenting this atmosphere akin to the golden light of dusk. This type of retouching is admittedly quite "heavy-handed," but I think the emotion is right there, better fitting the character traits from Gintama—outwardly flamboyant yet inwardly complex.

Standing on the stone bridge at that moment, with our backs to the camera, actually made it easier to avoid the pressure of eye-focusing and place the attention on the costume details—the black waist-cinching top with blue straps, the tailored curvature of the red skirt, and the texture of the bandages were all repeatedly arranged before the rain. There were almost no tourists in the garden on a rainy day, allowing us to sit quietly on the bridge railing and listen to the sound of raindrops hitting the green tiles. That kind of immersion is something studio shoots can never provide.

Although the final finished photos look like a sunny day, looking back, the low contrast of a rainy day actually left a huge creative space for post-processing; I call this tone my personal "sunny-day rainy-scenery" treatment. This styling itself relies heavily on contours and color blocks, so when color grading, I paid special attention to the collision of red and black to ensure the characters still pop out against the complex background. Having done cosplay for so long, I've always felt that the environment has more soul than a studio; even if the weather is imperfect, as long as you capture that moment with your heart, post-processing can turn that imperfection into a different style. This is probably the charm of a duo outdoor photoshoot.