On my journey, wonder what I should "borrow" along the way~ This shoot was mainly for this Touhou Project Marisa Kirisame cosplay, so we specifically chose a heavily wooded area to utilize the dappled sunlight filtering through the leaves to enrich the composition.
First, let's talk about the costume: putting it on was actually quite intricate with multiple layers underneath, and the corset belt was laced very tight, mainly to recreate that vintage Magician aesthetic. The oversized wide-brimmed hat took up quite some space; it featured branch pattern embroidery, and while it looked great, I had to be careful not to snag it on tree branches in the woods. The lantern prop in hand took a long search to complete—with black, white, and green spiral ribbons wrapped around a wooden staff, holding it truly evoked a sense of exploration.
The Forest photography process was quite demanding, especially when finding angles. The photographer, Denka Ginger King (灯火 生姜大王), was very meticulous, and we mostly utilized the late afternoon toward dusk lighting for backlit shots. In angles like Photos 1 and 2 where I lay on the tree trunk looking downward, the tree bark was actually very prickly, and I couldn't move around, needing to hold my expression and pose to align with those slanted rays of light. For the later full-body shots on the wooden stairs, the key was walking with a stride that was relaxed yet hinted at mystery, while carefully controlling my center of gravity as my boots stepped across the wooden planks.
Because we wanted a natural, immersive environmental expression rather than a plain studio backdrop, we had to rush the shoot as the lighting in the woods shifted faster than expected. The outfit's color scheme contrasted nicely with the surrounding greenery, and its sheen looked very natural against the halo glow. My favorites in the entire set remain those shots standing on the wooden stairs; the overall composition feels relaxed and expansive, placing the character right in the visual center, seamlessly blending the props, costume silhouette, and dappled foliage light to create the feeling of gathering magical materials along a forest journey.