[Yixuan Cosplay] Zenless Zone Zero Master Arrives: Hokkaido Selfie & Retouching Showcase

Zenless Zone Zero Yixuan's Hokkaido selfie photos! This time I retouched these photos heavily, with the main focus on completely releasing the texture of this outfit and the separately purchased patent leather effect glossy stockings. When shooting cosplay, I am actually extremely particular about the reflective expression of the costume. This black patent leather battle armor has a highly sharp and crisp luster, but during indoor studio shoots or selfies, if it doesn't go through specific light-and-shadow processing, it can easily suffer from stray light or overexposed reflections. So these past two days of retouching have basically been about handling the highlight details on the clothes, striving to restore that exquisite "action figure seamless body" texture.

This pair of glossy oily-black stockings bought specially this time is truly the crowning touch; its echo with the patent leather material brings a great sense of layering. Look at the second picture's leg-lifting sitting composition, where the camera cuts upward from below along the body's central axis; you can clearly see the delicate reflection on the stocking surface, as well as the stitched back seam line. Such micro-details are often the key to making a cosplay outfit stand out. In the standing view composition, I intentionally shifted my body weight onto one leg, allowing the other leg to naturally move forward. Then, under the refraction of light, the grayscale differences among the patent leather, the white short pleated skirt, and the black stockings become exceptionally vivid.

While shooting, I not only had to balance the character's cold, detached aura but also pay special attention to the extension of body language. The character Yixuan possesses a highly valiant and crisp temperament in her appearance, so the hand gestures and movement intervals must be handled just right. Like that one-hand V-sign pose, my shoulders are slightly dropped, which allows me to use the drape of the black jacket to increase the overall continuity. When retouching this picture, I spent quite a bit of time smoothing out the waistline because patent leather material easily generates asymmetrical wrinkles around the waist during movement, so I spent a lot of time doing liquefaction adjustments in Photoshop to keep the outer silhouette smooth.

Let's talk about the shoes. The patent leather high heels are in the same color scheme as the clothes, both being black glossy surfaces, but under different light sources, the curvature of the heels displays alternating red and blue reflections in the images. I didn't deliberately correct these color casts; instead, I felt that these color changes brought by ambient light prevent the main black-white-gray theme from looking too stiff. For photographers and editors, controlling the reflection in highlight areas is a basic skill for this type of clothing. After finishing the retouch, I repeatedly looked back at these sets of photos, especially the leg-lifting one; in reality, maintaining this posture for a few seconds is a massive test for core strength, and the composure presented in the photo was actually traded for through repeated trial and error.

Additionally, when doing a selfie cosplay, I am used to retaining the original camera wide-angle distortion. Looking at the picture standing on the base, the slightly upward low-angle shot elongates the leg proportions, and paired with the texture of the patent leather effect glossy stockings, it generates an excellent sense of visual extension. Although the entire shooting and editing process was cumbersome, restoring every single fabric stitch line, the white border on the collar, and the indentation of the blue rose brooch to its proper place is the most satisfying part of cosplay self-expression. The silhouette of this outfit is quite compact, and to maintain a smooth exterior, the post-processing indeed required quite a bit of effort, but I am highly satisfied with this final result. That's all for this Hokkaido selfie retouching breakdown share; I hope this practical, texture-oriented real-combat analysis can bring a little reference to players who love hard-core gear-oriented cosplay.