[Cyrene Cosplay] Meeting Wheat Fields and Doves in the World of Honkai: Star Rail

Standing waist-deep in a wheat field holding an old book, with backlighting dyeing the edges of my hair golden-red—this was one of my favorite moments from this Cyrene shoot. This photo set was another collaboration with a photographer I know very well, who also handled all the post-processing himself. This sense of familiarity allowed us to quickly hit the right mood on location.

As beautiful as the backlighting looks in the photos, it was actually very windy on the day of the shoot. The wheat stalks in the field were blown all over the place, making it quite a test of composure on site. But the strong wind had its advantages too: it fluttered my hair and the hem of my dress, giving the images a sense of breathing and vitality. To capture the exact moment the white dove took flight, we tried several times back and forth—ensuring the bird didn't fly out of frame while maintaining that turning-around smile, aiming to convey a sense of serenity while balancing dynamic visual tension.

This outfit actually has a lot of intricate details, which I focused on recreating during makeup and styling. The wig is a light pink with a gradient effect, and I specifically braided the sides to give the hairstyle more depth and layers. The white wing ornaments on the side of the head needed to be secured very firmly, as they could easily skew in the wind. The outfit's jacket features an off-the-shoulder cut, with sleeves made of black leather texture accented by white bows and gold rune ribbons. If these accessories aren't arranged properly, they can easily look cluttered, so I spent every break between shots adjusting the dress straps and the pink ribbon around my waist.

For props, I chose a vintage-looking old book, which gave my free hand something to hold and helped me relax overall. In fact, standing still and turning around to look back is actually harder to balance body coordination-wise than running or dynamic poses, because it's easy for the shoulders to look stiff or the back to look too rigid from this angle. I tried shifting my center of gravity to relax slightly, leaning near the edge of the wheat field, looking straight ahead, and focusing my gaze on a point just outside the lens, so that my eyes would appear soft and natural on camera.

Regarding the handling of light and shadows, I specifically communicated with the photographer to get that look of the sun just breaking through the clouds—a warm golden glow shining on the waves of wheat, creating layers of golden reflections. Combining these highlights with subtle post-processing color adjustments brought out the dreamy feeling of the entire image. Accompanied by floating wheat grains and white doves in the frame, the scene felt more complete and aligned with the character's intrinsic traits.

Although the shooting process was quite hard work—walking back and forth in the wheat field against the wind, with wheat stalks sometimes scratching my legs—every time I look through the returned photos and see the angle of my hair blown by the wind, the texture of the outfit under sunlight, and that natural posture holding the book, I feel all the preparation was worth it. Photography in real life is often like this: random natural elements can sometimes be much more compelling than meticulously staged poses. This shoot was not only a fresh attempt at the character, but also another seamless collaboration with my long-time photography partner, and I was completely immersed in the whole process.