The photos taken outside convention venues this year more or less mirror the shift in my mindset during this period. Throughout the first half of the year, I was trapped in a stubborn fixation—I always thought shooting outside the halls was just fooling around rather than serious creative work, and I was obsessed with shooting moody, high-concept cinematic sets inside the convention. In the end, getting crushed inside the Poly World Trade Center during CICF completely shattered my creative illusions, forcing me to realize that traditional convention photography setups just weren't my calling. Later in the year, seeing veterans like Tata and Yunyan shoot stunning sets at conventions without elaborate multi-light arrays, alongside good friends who captured genuinely compelling work outdoors, gradually cured my urge to compete in the lighting arms race. Once that obsession cooled down, I actually rediscovered the fun. To be frank, failing every single convention free-pass application this year felt downright unlucky, like losing a lottery every time. Occasionally, skill anxiety crept in and made me doubt myself, but seeing cosplayers get approved for countless free passes using my photos brought immense peace of mind. As it turns out, there's no need to beat yourself up over not producing epic masterpieces; as long as the model loves the photos and I feel that spark of joy the moment I catch great light, that is more than enough. These days when going to conventions, I mainly hunt for clever little spots, pack a couple of compact lights, and focus on natural light photography paired with minimal fill setups. This approach certainly has a gacha lottery element to it, since lighting quality depends almost entirely on luck. In this series, there is dusk backlighting, cool tones bouncing off rain-slicked pavement reflections, and that waterside set—which happened purely because we stumbled across that shimmering, sparkling water surface. This unpredictable shooting style is far more enjoyable than setting up stationary light stands for rigid, fixed poses, and the frozen moments often feel vastly more authentic. I will definitely keep attending the Firefly ACG Expo, sticking with this blend of natural light and compact lights rather than hauling heavy arrays, keeping that delightful serendipity of capturing beautiful, fleeting moments alive.