Heading out with my electric guitar and instrument case, the ginkgo trees happened to be at their most golden peak. The gentle autumn sunlight matched Kaname Rana's free-spirited and spontaneous vibe perfectly, so we found a leaf-carpeted street to shoot a few sets of Ginkgo portrait photography. For this Kaname Rana cosplay, I chose her hoodie featuring black-and-white color blocking with a bright yellow lining. After all, her signature outfit has a sporty touch, especially when styled as a slouch socks outfit in gray paired with thigh harness straps. Under the autumn backlighting, both the overall silhouette and leg lines showed great dimension.
A lot of thought went into the props. Carrying this electric guitar was quite heavy, but holding it in hand truly brings out the soul of a musician character. The wheeled black guitar case was another practical prop—crouching beside it or standing up to strum the strings gave the poses depth. My friend used a Sony A7R5 paired with a 50-150mm GM lens this time; the spatial compression from the telephoto focal length combined with large-aperture bokeh turned the golden ginkgo leaves into a gorgeous background tone, creating a relaxed yet subtly cool ambiance. During the shoot, I even looked up to catch a falling ginkgo leaf—natural interactions like this make the photos feel less staged and more like a candid afternoon moment.
The playful caption 'the cat was picked up on the road' is quite funny because during a break between shots, we actually met a stray cat at the street corner. It affectionately rubbed against the guitar case, seeming to claim its own spot in this musical scene. When recreating the world of BanG Dream! It's MyGO!!!!!, I paid special attention to capturing the authentic slice-of-life feel unique to a band girl. So beyond holding the instrument, I also sat down at an outdoor cafe to enjoy some ice cream, echoing the character's love for sweets.
This set didn't chase complex lighting setups; almost everything was shot under natural light. The color rendition of the Sony body and the resolving power of the lens faithfully preserved the velvety texture of the hoodie, the silvery-white sheen of the wig, and the knit details of the leg straps and slouch socks outfit. The great thing about autumn outdoor location shoots is that minimal environmental tweaking is needed to get great shots with clean composition. To avoid stylistic monotony, we also included indoor shots by the floor-to-ceiling windows featuring desserts and interactions with the guitar case. This way, everyone can see that cosplay isn't just about recreating costumes and lines, but genuinely experiencing another dimension of a character's everyday life and passions.