[Kusuriyubi Cosplay] Outdoor Autumn Chinese-Style ACG Photoshoot

This shoot features the character Kusuriyubi, set in a park with lawns, fallen leaves, and stone steps. Wanting to capture a cool, ethereal, and fairy-like feeling, we chose the afternoon backlight period. The sunlight filtered through the tree shadows onto the grass, making the texture under natural light look incredibly soft.

The overall outfit coordination is a dark green modified cheongsam (qipao), presenting a distinct Chinese-style ACG flavor that grounds the frame beautifully. Combined with a white lantern-sleeve blouse and a black bow tie at the collar, the collision of large color blocks is highly photogenic in the outdoor environment. Two white bows are tied on my head, beautifully echoing the white of the sleeves from top to bottom.

For the makeup, I didn't layer too many complex colors, mainly using a delicate eyeliner to elongate my eyes. The lip color is an orange-red with a hint of red-brown, which not only brightens my skin tone but also creates a subtle visual connection with the red tassel on the prop wooden sword. Under outdoor light, a matte texture for the base makeup is critical, otherwise it easily reflects sunlight and looks unnatural.

For hand-held props, I prepared three items this time: a wooden sword with a red tassel, a red-and-white beaded bracelet, and two yellow paper charms. The addition of these small items keeps the ancient style outfit from looking plain, while adding a touch of fantasy.

During the shoot, to showcase Kusuriyubi's agile yet slightly proud state, we kept the movements as crisp as possible. For example, when holding the sword, my wrist rotated slightly inward so that the blade and arm formed a natural angle; when handing out the paper charms, I extended my arm forward as much as possible, which, combined with lens perspective, enhanced the interactive feel of the frame. Several shots were taken from a low-angle looking up on the grass, which elongated the leg lines and made the relationship between the white socks and the dark green skirt hem much clearer.

On set, we intentionally used a fog machine to add some smoke in the background of several shots. Especially in the sitting poses, the smoke just drifted over my ankles and the lawn, creating a hazy sense of layering with the backlight. In the shot by the pond, the water reflection combined with the shroud of smoke made the entire atmosphere look even more serene.

The photographer's composition mainly utilized medium shots and close-ups, using a wide aperture to blur the background trees and light into soft patches of color. While shooting this set, I paid close attention to my posture when sitting. Since the modified cheongsam is quite form-fitting, I had to prevent the skirt hem from piling upward when sitting down, which required slightly engaging my waist to support the curves of my body.

The white over-the-knee socks also played a very important transitional role in this outfit. They have a slight reflection under the light, which beautifully shapes the calves and makes the visual proportions of the lower body look more balanced. The white shoes also perfectly echoed the color scheme of the outfit.

We didn't do many complex effects in post-processing, mainly preserving the warm tones of the raw photos and applying just the right amount of atmospheric color grading. The entire shoot went very smoothly, with the weather cooperating perfectly, and the captured rim light falling exactly on the white bows and sleeves. Although preparing the props and adjusting the outfit beforehand took quite some time, seeing that natural yet slightly mysterious temperament presented in the final photos gave me a great sense of accomplishment. This outdoor photography and cosplay sharing is definitely one of my most satisfying logs recently.