[Tohru cosplay] Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid Anime Convention Parade, energetic candid shots on Backlit Avenue

Today, I shot this set of Tohru convention photos on Backlit Avenue at the Guangzhou CICF anime convention. Due to the very hot weather in Guangzhou, shooting outdoors wearing this long dress and thick wig was a significant test of physical strength and endurance. Fortunately, the sunlight that day was great, and the lighting and shadow effects under the backlighting were extremely photogenic, making all the hard work feel worth it.

Let's talk about the details of this costume first. The orange wig specifically features pink and magenta gradient highlights, making the colors very vibrant under the sunlight. The horns on top of the head are textured resin props, firmly secured with hairpins, while the floral crown is meant to enrich the head styling. The wings on the back consist of a frame plus airbrushed wing membranes; they are relatively light and won't put too much burden on the shoulders. The most eye-catching part should be the turquoise scaly tail. To ensure the styling stands upright, there is a support structure inside. When posing, special attention must be paid to the center of gravity to avoid the tail poking the ground or tripping oneself. The white ruffles at the bottom of the skirt hem needed careful ironing before heading out, otherwise they would easily curl up and affect the visual effect.

When shooting these photos, I tried several different actions. The first jumping photo is a candid shot; I jumped up while holding the skirt hem. To ensure the arc of the skirt spreading out, the photographer and I coordinated several times. While jumping, I also had to control my facial expressions to avoid looking fierce from exerting too much force, while keeping an eye on the tail behind so it wouldn't be stepped on. The second photo squatting on the crosswalk—actually, when squatting, the skirt hem easily bunches up, so I had to manually spread out the white edges to make the styling look more complete. The standing forward-leaning and reaching-out actions focused more on the sense of interaction with the lens, trying to showcase the character's lively and energetic personality.

Shooting at the anime convention site, besides the outfit itself, one must learn to adapt to the environment. The metal guardrails and crosswalks of Backlit Avenue added a texture of collision between reality and 2D to the photos. Because the sunlight was strong, my face easily fell into shadows, so the photographer used a reflector for fill light to ensure my face was bright. I especially love the feeling of walking or doing actions on the crosswalk, as if the character is truly parading through the streets of the 3D world.

As a coser, portraying a character well requires not only in-place costumes and props, but also experiencing the character's personality. Showing a fully energetic state in front of the lens was my requirement for this shoot. Jumping, squatting, reaching out—although these actions seem simple, under the constraints of complex clothing, they all required repeated adjustments.

Although this anime convention was exhausting, I met many friends on-site who love this work. Everyone exchanged shooting insights and shared what they saw and heard at the convention. Part of the convention photos has been edited, and I picked a few poses I really like to put in the post. No fancy words, just recording an anime convention shooting process full of sunshine and sweat.