[Exusiai the New Covenant cosplay] The Pure White Geometric Combat Angel in Arknights

This set of Exusiai the New Covenant photos has actually been in conception for a long time. Compared to the original Exusiai, the New Covenant design features a lot of asymmetry and techwear-style cuts in the costume, so when I received the outfit, my primary consideration was that the location shouldn't be too conventional. Pure white, minimalist buildings with geometric lines were the effect I wanted most. The visual impact of that large area of negative space combined with the red-and-black color scheme fits her contradictory identity as an angel yet possessing combat attributes exceptionally well.

Regarding photography equipment, our main camera this time was the R6ii. The lenses used were primarily the RF 35mm f1.4 VCM and the RF 28-70mm f2.8 STM. The 35mm prime lens was truly a pleasant surprise; the focusing speed of its VCM motor almost never missed a beat during my dynamic candid shots, especially in those shots of me walking and turning in the shallow pool. The atmosphere brought by the f1.4 large aperture was exceptionally strong, and the edge image quality didn't break down at all, handling the relationship between such grand scenes and the subject with ease. Meanwhile, the RF 28-70mm f2.8 STM handled most of the close-ups and half-body compositions. The flexibility of a standard zoom is so crucial when shooting official sets that require frequent composition switching, and the f2.8 aperture guaranteed exposure and facial highlight details in backlit environments with high color fidelity, requiring almost no color grading in post-processing.

The weather on the shooting day was actually quite changeable. In the afternoon, the sunlight was intense, and we utilized the pool's reflection for many reflection compositions. When the water surface wasn't calm, the ripples instead added a sense of randomness. By evening, which are those sunset backlit shots everyone sees, the halo hit the edges of the red hair and the black coat, creating an exceptionally gorgeous texture. The night shooting portion was actually the most exhausting. In the absence of external strobe lights, to highlight the warm glow of the vintage kerosene lamp in my hand, we had to rely on the cool tones of the blue hour sky to darken the environment. This was when the high-ISO performance and dynamic range of the 35mm lens truly shone, controlling shadow noise quite well.

In terms of posture and expression, I intentionally amplified the confident, capable, yet slightly flamboyant traits of Exusiai the New Covenant. The firearm props were relatively heavy, and posing with them in hand was quite a test of core strength, but paired with this neat short outfit and over-the-knee White stockings, along with the tactical leg straps on my thighs, the tension of that combat girl truly emerged. The splashes kicked up by the boots stepping in the shallow water also became great props, adding dynamism to the frame. In reality, when shooting photos with such large areas of pure white backgrounds, the biggest fear is the subject blending into the background. Therefore, the color clash between the black coat and the red hair is not only a characteristic of the character herself, but also an anchor point for the composition. Through these changes in light and shadow and focal length switching, the three-dimensionality of this character was successfully presented in full.