Today's makeup and styling are mainly built around the style of The Apothecary Diaries. I've always wanted to try this kind of clothing that blends traditional Eastern elements with a touch of fantasy, and I finally got around to it this time.
The layers of the costume are very rich. The outer layer is an off-white wide-sleeved outer robe, while the inner layer is made of fabric intertwining dark green and black. This contrasting color design packs quite a visual punch. The red silk ribbon at the waist can be considered the finishing touch, and the embedded large green gemstone accessory adds a lot of gorgeousness. However, wearing this kind of multi-layered Han-element clothing for outdoor shooting indeed requires a bit of physical stamina. When walking, you need to pay special attention to the folds and hem of the clothes, trying your best to maintain a draping feel because there is quite a lot of fabric. If it's not organized well, it tends to look bulky in photos. The material of the outer sheer gauze looks best when a breeze blows through, so during the shoot, we also captured some fleeting moments of the fabric fluttering.
The wig is dark green. I trimmed the bangs and sideburns and styled it into a bun with a somewhat traditional Chinese feel. The hair accessories weren't chosen to be overly exaggerated; just a few small beads were used for embellishment, which happen to echo the color of the costume. To match the hair color, the eye makeup used some reddish-orange eyeshadow for brightening, and the colored contact lenses were chosen to be blue-green, so that the gaze appears more spirited under the sunlight and fits the ACG setting closer. The blush is applied relatively lightly, mainly highlighting the contour of the eye area. The lip makeup chose a true red color, which plays a role in enhancing the complexion amidst the overall cool-toned clothing and hair color.
During the shoot, the light and shadow were fantastic. Sunlight filtered through the gaps in the tree leaves, forming wonderful natural light spots, so in post-processing, the color grading didn't undergo overly exaggerated adjustments. It mainly preserved this mottled texture, slightly increasing the green tone in the dark areas to make the overall atmosphere fit the forest environment better. The background blur brought by the large aperture completely concentrated the focus of the frame on the character and costume details, blurring the background leaves into dots of light with clear layers.
In terms of props, I held a pure black folding fan. In this styling, the fan is not only a decoration, but can also be used to assist in posing. For example, a half-face-covered posture, or holding the fan while turning slightly sideways, can make the frame look more story-driven. The curvature of the fingers when holding the fan also needs attention; you shouldn't pinch it too tightly, and it should look elegant, with the wrists maintaining a certain flexibility.
The choice of the shooting location is also very important. A dense forest can provide a great background blur effect to highlight the subject. During the shoot, the photographer guided me to make some lazy or slightly mysterious body movements, such as a slightly curved finger-down posture, to match that atmosphere of intertwined suspense and classic style from the original work. We tried different angles in composition; besides frontal close-ups, we also shot some profile and high-angle overhead frames, utilizing the wide sleeves as foreground or background to enrich the frame elements. I am very satisfied with the texture of the final photos; this feeling of showcasing costume details amidst natural light and shadows is truly wonderful. In the process of shooting this set of pictures, I also realized that the fluttering feel presented by this outfit in motion is far richer than when standing statically. Although this outfit combination is cumbersome, its expressive power in front of the lens is indeed outstanding.