[Hayase Yuuka cosplay] Blue Archive Cheongsam Yuuka studio photoshoot record

This shoot of Blue Archive Hayase Yuuka's cheongsam styling official photos put a lot of work into the costume details. The black modified cheongsam in the original design adopts a high-split design, and the fabric was specially chosen to have slight elasticity and a matte texture, so it won't reflect excessively under studio lighting while closely fitting the body shape. The front of the cheongsam is printed with golden vine and floral patterns, and the collar is adorned with golden flower and leaf accessories. To restore the layering of the outer coat, I chose a wide long robe with a white outer lining and bright blue inner lining, deliberately letting the coat slip halfway down the arms, paired with a blue lanyard and an employee badge printed with the 77 logo, giving the overall styling both a modern feel and the charm of traditional tailoring.
The scene setup leans towards a Chinese retro style, where wooden screens, antique bookshelves, warm yellow lanterns, and the intense red floral art in the background form a strong color contrast. This kind of ambient light easily engulfs the character's skin tone and the costume's texture, so we experimented for a long time with lighting. The key light used a large softbox to ensure the clarity of facial details, while a rim light with a blue gel was added at the rear-side to outline the body shape and hair edges. Black stockings and glossy high heels under this kind of lighting can present a great skin-transparency feel and glossiness, allowing the leg lines to get a better visual extension.
In the hair and makeup part, the dark blue long hair was styled into a half-updo, leaving a few strands of hair to modify the face shape, and the floating blue halo on top of the head was handmade by bending acrylic material, keeping it as lightweight as possible. The makeup focused on portraying the red-brown smudging of the eye area, matched with a natural-toned lipstick, trying to present the character's unique temperament of being introverted yet slightly confident. During the shoot, adjusting poses was crucial. To make the high-split cheongsam more visually tensioned, I tried different postures such as hands on hips, looking back sideways, and sitting on a white fur cushion with legs crossed. Every posture was an effort to find the best balance between body lines and cheongsam tailoring, while also ensuring that the action of hanging the employee badge didn't look rigid.
During the lighting adjustment stage, we specifically focused on how to make the texture of the Black stockings naturally show in the frame. The alternation of matte and semi-transparency, set against the dark background, can well present the three-dimensional sense of the leg lines. In addition to the placement of the main light source, we also added some small fill lights specifically to brighten the golden prints on the skirt hem and the blue inner lining of the coat, preventing these details from becoming blurred due to being in shadow. The posture of hands on hips plus the half-slipped coat naturally places the visual center of gravity on the employee badge hanging on the chest and the slender figure. In the group of photos with the sitting posture, the crossing of the legs matched with the high-split skirt hem can both showcase the match of stockings and high heels, and form a material contrast with the fluffy cushion in the background, making the frame more layered. To maintain the temperament that fits the character, an upright posture and a slightly cold gaze needed to be maintained throughout, which was also a test of physical strength and energy, but seeing the original images in the camera made all preparations feel worthwhile. This set of official photos preserves the light-and-shadow sculpting feel unique to studio photography, trying to showcase the combination point of costume and character from every angle. From preparation to the finished photos, the team put a lot of effort into props and lighting. The high split of the black cheongsam paired with black stockings is both sexy and not overly deliberate. From the uprightness of the standing posture to the relaxation of the sitting posture, every shot tried to capture different emotional states. This studio photoshoot is not only a restoration of the character's styling, but also a practice of my own lens expression, and I hope everyone can feel the detailed design of this outfit through these photos.