Taking advantage of the relatively stable signal on the high-speed rail, I'm posting this set of photos edited after staying up late last night. This time it was shot in a White studio photography using a Canon, and the lighting was rendered very transparent. The overall lighting setup used a main light plus a softbox, with a side backlight outlining the edge of the hair strands, so that even if the background is solid color, the subject can look three-dimensional. The styling adopts the Little Devil route, wearing a red-and-black plaid Gothic maid headband on the head, with black bat wing accessories added on both sides. The wig is in twin tails, paired with a deliberately dotted tear mole at the corner of the eye and reddish eye makeup, which firmly establishes the overall atmosphere. The chosen outfit is a gray high-neck knit sweater paired with a red-and-black plaid suspender skirt, featuring a teardrop-shaped cutout on the chest, plus black straps and a bow. Gray knit sleeve covers are worn on the arms, featuring crisscross straps that echo the choker around the neck. The lower skirt hem features a three-layer ruffle, with white script printed on the apron. The legs are dressed in black over-the-knee tube socks, with a heart-shaped metal buckle on the left sock cuff, paired with a pair of black platform crepe shoes adorned with rhinestones on the upper, visually elongating the lower body proportions.
During the shoot, I picked up some props to enhance the interactivity of the frame. Holding a red apple and handing it towards the lens, or holding a black leather whip, along with a half-face mask and a light-colored small mirrorless camera. These props made posing much more natural, without leaving hands nowhere to put. The White studio photography background is very clean, and the overall color tone is controlled within three colors: red, black, and gray. Therefore, during post-processing retouching, the focus was placed on preserving the details of the clothing's plaid and skin texture. Red-and-black plaid can easily look dark and dull, so while color grading, I slightly raised the lightness of red while darkening the background to make the character subject stand out more. The highlights of the eyes are preserved completely, and the eye light makes the whole person look more spirited.
During color grading, I deliberately added some cool tones to the shadows and warm tones to the highlights in the color balance, creating a contrast between warm and cool. To avoid the frame looking too stuffy, the curve in the red channel was raised slightly to make the plaid look more vibrant and energetic. Regarding skin texture, I didn't use heavy skin smoothing, but instead carried out light and shadow transitions through curves, retaining a bit of texture so that it looks more like a real person without a masked feeling. Another set of actions is a squatting posture; when squatting, attention must be paid to the fold direction of the skirt hem without looking bulky. Supporting the chin with one hand or cupping the face with both hands can well focus on facial expressions. Although the White studio photography background is simple, it places higher demands on the character's form and expression because there is no environment to help tell a story, so every gaze and body movement must convey the playful yet slightly dangerous feeling of the Little Devil.
Retouching photos on the high-speed rail really tests eyesight as carriage lighting changes fast. I deliberately turned the screen brightness up to the maximum and carefully checked the exposure and color banding of each image. Watching the red-and-black plaid texture gradually clear up on the screen in the editing software made staying up late last night feel worth it. My personal conception for this set of photos was to fuse a bit of Gothic darkness and the obedience of a maid, making minor adjustments in makeup and props. Hopefully, after this journey ends, I'll have time to properly organize the remaining behind-the-scenes footage. Arriving at the station soon, I'll post these few first, and pack my things to get ready to disembark.