This Liyue group photoshoot for the 5th anniversary of Genshin Impact was held in a Chinese-style park in Japan. To find a suitable pavilion with red pillars and green tiles, we visited several surrounding locations before finally settling on this spot. The architectural structure and color scheme were as close as possible to the architectural style of Liyue in the game. Honestly, finding this kind of Chinese-style park in Japan is extremely difficult; there aren't many traditional pavilions locally, as most are relatively modern. Stumbling upon such wooden structures with flying eaves and bracket sets was truly rare, and everyone worked very hard during the location scouting process.
As the cosplayer for Ningguang cosplay, the biggest challenge for this shoot was keeping this costume stable outdoors. The skirt hem and headdress are both very long, requiring a solid center of gravity when standing on the steps to hold up the character's signature commanding aura. The midday sun was scorching, affecting both makeup and wigs a bit, but fortunately, the photographer's mastery of light was very professional, using the contrast between architectural shadows and direct sunlight to produce very satisfying results.
This wasn't just a simple photoshoot, but an exercise in teamwork. Group shoots demand synchronized coordination above all. The cosplayers for Ganyu Cosplay, Keqing cosplay, Gaming, Zhongli, Hu Tao, Xiangling, and Xiao were all exceptionally cooperative in adjusting props and poses. For example, when capturing the motion of unfurling the scroll, everyone had to time the moment and angle precisely, while the neighboring Keqing cosplay had to manage leg posture to showcase the character's sleek lines in Black stockings as best as possible. Behind every single photo, everyone had to repeat takes multiple times, reminding each other about angles and expressions.
Because we were shooting outdoors beneath the red-pillared architecture, we took full advantage of frame-within-a-frame composition. When taking the full-squad group photo, the photographer had us position ourselves with alternating heights or foreground focus/background blur, deliberately avoiding being blocked by pillars at the edges, and made fine adjustments for weapon placement like scrolls, polearms, and bows. Everyone chatted and laughed throughout the shoot, creating a wonderful atmosphere.
During post-processing, to restore the visual feel of the moment as much as possible, the saturation of the blue sky and red pillars was deliberately boosted to make the embroidered textures on the costumes clearer while preserving authentic skin texture. Beyond showcasing individual character traits, this anniversary group shoot was more about documenting the journey of completing a creative project together at this special location. Although the entire shoot was exhausting, seeing the final photos made all the searching and sweat completely worthwhile.