[Castorice Cosplay] Honkai: Star Rail — Light, Shadow, and Reborn Butterfly on an Industrial Rooftop

The vine details and flower accessories of this costume are most effective in close-up shots. Choosing a rooftop for this Castorice cosplay event photoshoot was due to the strong contrast between the industrial environment and the magical feel. During the actual shoot, searching for a venue took quite some time on the first day. This rooftop's giant exhaust fans and metal pipes provided exactly that cold, hard, and closed-off atmosphere, while the character's white and purple vine tone belongs to a very soft direction. Mixing the two creates an interesting sense of story.

The biggest challenge during the shooting process was cooperating with the photographer, Ziyang_Recon. Because the rooftop space is very open, but the wind is also not small, especially the wig and skirt hem, which easily get messy due to the strong wind. The standing pose in the picture was actually completed by resisting the wind. The weight of the Scythe prop was also much larger than expected; to hold it in hand and maintain that light, casual feeling, I needed to repeatedly find angles and rest my wrist every few shots. The giant dragon prop behind gave the image a strong visual focus, but in actual interaction, to ensure eyes and movements were in place, I also had to adjust my stride at any time to avoid standing positions conflicting with the giant beast's limbs.

The overall materials of the costume are very rich. The main skirt hem not only has multiple layers of white and purple fabric, but the flower ornaments on the waist and chest prevent the entire dress from looking thin due to pale colors. The crown structure on the head is complex, and I needed to be careful to fix it at all times during shooting, because turning too hard would cause it to go crooked. The White pantyhose paired with same-color shoes looks very refreshing visually and makes the full-body proportion more coordinated. When squatting or leaning over, the sole design just fits the rooftop's non-slip floor, so moving around is more reassuring.

A high-angle perspective elongates the body lines well and makes the moon and flying butterfly special effects in the background more prominent in this image. To cooperate with the direction of the light during shooting, we waited on the rooftop from afternoon until late evening, just catching that soft natural light diffused between buildings. After adding those purple light spots, glowing butterflies, and drifting light dust in post-production, the originally desolate industrial rooftop gained a surreal dreamy layer.

Emotional management was also important when producing this look, because the character itself has a cold and reserved temperament, so eyes cannot be too aggressive, nor are over-the-top expressions needed. Micro-relaxing, fixing sight in the distance, can present this quiet and indifferent feeling in the picture. Although the wind on the rooftop was cold, and wearing this costume made it easy for knees to get cold, seeing these combinations of light and shadow in the end, I feel that various preparations and rubbing with weather conditions were still very worthwhile. This was a very complete experience combining studio and real-scene photography. If there are opportunities in the future, I also want to try some night scenes or indoor lighting techniques to enrich the presentation of this character.