The Yoimiya cosplay photoshoot at Wuhan GSCG went smoothly. Braving the strong wind to arrive early for the shoot was indeed a challenge, but it yielded unexpectedly fantastic results.
Before leaving, I was still worried about the weather, but once at the venue, I realized the wind was much stronger than expected. When shouting "5, 4, 3, 2, 1!", my voice was instantly blown away by the gust, feeling like it blew right back into my own ears—it was quite funny. The randomness of the wind actually made the shoot more relaxed; instead of forcing stiff poses, the moment the wind blew through the wig, the naturally flowing dynamic motion fit the character's personality perfectly.
As for the Anime-style makeup and styling, I put a lot of thought into the design. The base makeup was kept light to reveal natural skin texture without attempting to cover up every detail, as heavy base makeup looks fake under outdoor ambient light. For eye makeup, warm pink tones were swept across a large area, with special emphasis on lower eyelid blending and aegyo sal to make the eyes look full of vitality and energy, paired with custom yellow-green contact lenses to highlight the character's spirited charm. For lip makeup, a matte velvet texture was chosen so it wouldn't reflect glare under bright light and would be easy to touch up outdoors.
Styling the wig was the top priority of this look. The light golden wig itself is light, but to recreate the signature wispy strands and tied bun on top, sectioning and volumizing were done a day in advance. When adjusting on-site, the strong wind made me realize a slightly tousled look suited the character best, so I simply kept some wind-blown strands to evoke that free-spirited feeling of running through battlefields and summer days. Additionally, the red leather choker with a gold butterfly pendant at the neck served as the visual focal point of the character's design; choosing higher-quality metal and leather yielded great reflections under convention lights, making the entire look exceptionally refined. The fabric prints on the shoulder, translucent red mesh on the left arm, and tattoo stickers were small yet indispensable details for character accuracy. To match the overall "summer fireworks" theme, I incorporated lively and playful hand gestures into my pose design—like making circle shapes or doing funny poses beside my cheek—paired with black gloves for a sense of power and crispness.
Shooting at an anime convention is completely different from studio sessions. Though the background is cluttered and lighting isn't perfect, requiring instinct to dodge crowd traffic, the convention atmosphere and glances from passersby actually helped me relax and immerse deeper into character. This immersive convention experience made me feel like it was part of the character's life rather than forced posing. During the shoot, we picked a relatively elevated spot with a clean backdrop, composing with a slightly high-angle shot to dodge white walls and wires commonly seen at conventions, while using natural light to sculpt facial contours.
In post-processing, I restrained the urge for heavy editing, making only basic corrections to color temperature and tonal balance to remove unnecessary clutter while retaining authentic skin textures and wig layering. Light quality is tricky to control at convention sites, especially in windy conditions, but fortunately my photographer and I had great synergy, capturing several moments with just the right light. The entire shoot was immensely joyful; I found deep resonance with this character in both personality and external expression, continuously integrating my own understanding. For upcoming local conventions in Wuhan, I think I'll prepare even more thoroughly to handle various unexpected weather conditions.