[A2 Cosplay] NieR:Automata, Chilling Daily Memories of White Hair and Armor

Posting this inventory shot, some A2 cosplay convention photos taken back during Meng 18. Time flies, and in the blink of an eye, I'm already warming up for Meng 20. Finding this image while free, I thought the lighting was quite interesting, so I'm sharing it for everyone to see. The shooting location back then was a rather spacious indoor exhibition hall, and that rugged industrial-style venue paired perfectly with A2's own cold-toned texture.

I arrived at the venue very early that morning. To capture the gloss of this black leather texture, we searched for the lighting positions for a long time. Since they are cosplay convention photos, with many tourists and booths around, the shooting conditions can't compare to a studio. However, the advantage is that the atmosphere of a real exhibition is incredibly strong, giving the raw photo a strong sense of storytelling. My photographer buddy was also amazing, taking his camera to look for light sources with me everywhere, finally choosing this angle combining backlighting and top lighting, which just happened to hit the silver-white hair to create that crystal-clear, translucent look.

The prop was that carefully polished sword hilt from back then; although it's not fully sharp metal, it still feels substantial in hand. Wearing this leather outfit is actually quite hot, and after shooting for just a few minutes, I had to quickly stand in front of a fan. However, to capture that sharp and somewhat aggressive feel, I had to maintain a tense state throughout. In this picture you see, the metal truss structure behind me and the densely packed scattered ceiling lights give the entire frame a great sense of depth.

Regarding the character A2, anyone familiar with the NieR game knows she possesses a resilient yet lonely temperament. When portraying this character, I didn't want to deliberately strike soft, elegant poses, but preferred to capture that chilling aura with a hint of tsundere. Especially the gaze—it needs to look down at the camera just right with a sense of scrutiny, which is my personal understanding of this character. The wig was also specially given a layered trim to find plenty of styling references for that effect where it flows when the wind blows but remains smooth when hanging down.

The charm of convention photos probably lies right here: even if the surroundings are noisy, the moment captured in the lens can be very pure. Under that light, the wrinkles on the black top and the reflection of the asymmetrical leather boots on the right leg make the overall black, white, and gray visual look extremely hardcore.

Recently, I've also been gearing up to prepare equipment for Meng 20, seeing if I can pull off some new tricks. If any friends want to meet up and shoot something together on the day of Meng 20, you are very welcome to find me at the scene for a time-for-print collab. We can exchange shooting techniques or look for interesting spots together. I think that state of random snapshots often brings quite a few surprises.

This photo will serve as a preview for Meng 20; I'm already quite satisfied with this level of completion for convention photos. Doing cosplay is always a joyful thing, not just for the sake of restoration, but also to bring my favorite characters to life in three dimensions through my own understanding.

#2D Vision Project #Convention photos