This shoot featuring the Gymnastics uniform version of Iochi Mari cosplay from Blue Archive was styled with a sporty Campus style. For the outfit, a white short-sleeved T-shirt with navy-blue trim on the collar and cuffs was layered under a navy-blue track jacket with yellow and white stripes, paired with a navy-blue pleated skirt. To faithfully recreate the character, I wore an orange long straight wig with blunt bangs, secured animal-ear hair accessories with white inner ears on top, tied a white headband across my forehead, and put in bright blue contact lenses. An orange lanyard with a blue ID card holder was hung around my neck, and on my legs were white over-the-knee socks (White stockings) and black-and-white low-top canvas sneakers. For props, I prepared a blue, yellow, and white volleyball, along with a bottle of Pocari Sweat with its signature blue label.
The location was an indoor venue with wooden flooring, furnished with wooden classroom desks, chairs, and bookshelves filled with books, along with a cream cake topped with red strawberries specially prepared as background decoration. To highlight an athletic feel, we later moved to an area with metal racks and gray gym mats, featuring a signboard printed with the number 45.
In terms of action design, for the first set of photos, I sat directly on the wooden floor with crossed, bent legs, resting the volleyball beside my thigh, holding the water bottle in one hand, and leaning forward slightly toward the camera. This pose required keeping my back straight, while crossing my legs demanded steady core balance. For the second set, I transitioned to a side-sitting posture with one leg extended and the other bent, holding the bottle in one hand while gently touching the animal ears on my head with the other, relaxing my gaze to convey a languid, breathless post-workout state. To capture natural light and shadow, the photographer continually adjusted angles, utilizing natural light from the window to create contrast between the white outfit and the wooden floor.
Moving onto the gray mats for the third set, I curled one leg up, raised one hand high in a greeting gesture, and held the water bottle in the other with the volleyball placed beside my thigh. This pose required balance while ensuring the pleated skirt flared out naturally without looking stiff. The fourth set was kneeling on the wooden floor, twisting my upper body toward the back, resting my chin lightly on one hand while looking back into the lens, with the bottle and volleyball placed on a nearby chair. Kneeling put substantial pressure on my knees, but the details of the White stockings and canvas shoes were displayed with utmost clarity from this angle.
The entire shoot emphasized the display of bodily lines. The half-zipped track jacket revealed the white T-shirt underneath, adding depth. The pleated skirt spread out naturally when seated, and the white over-the-knee socks pulled just below the knees paired with canvas shoes perfectly complemented the athletic attributes of the Gymnastics uniform concept. The layering of the wig and the mounting of the animal ears were also focal points of repeated adjustments in pre-production to avoid any wardrobe malfunctions when nodding or turning my head. The length of the ID lanyard was measured to prevent it from obstructing my face or looking excessively long when seated.
During breaks, the photographer and I coordinated lighting angles, since the white garments could easily blow out under harsh light; we slightly lowered the exposure compensation while using a reflector for facial fill-light to keep skin tones translucent. The bookcase and cake in the classroom set enriched the everyday realism of the scene, while the metal racks and numbered sign in the gym area heightened the competitive sports atmosphere. Holding the volleyball, its surface texture combined with reflections on the wooden floor gave the frame tactile texture. As a recurring prop, the water bottle not only enriched hand interactions, but also articulated the post-exercise narrative.
The physical exertion during this shoot was quite demanding, as holding various seated and kneeling postures for extended periods while managing facial expressions and bodily extension was exhausting. Yet seeing the fabric folds, the snug fit of the White stockings, and the seamless harmony of light and shadow in the final shots, all the preparation and effort on set completely achieved our envisioned outcome.