[Shenhe cosplay] Shooting Genshin Impact Shenhe fanart photoset at a Japanese-style café after the rain

This time, the Shenhe fanart cosplay was chosen to be shot at a Japanese-style café. The whole shooting process was quite interesting, but there were also some minor regrets that need a review.
I especially love the design of this outfit: a blue and white color-matched high-slit long dress paired with a white knitted cardigan, which has both a celestial vibe and a casual everyday feel. The tailoring of the skirt hem highlights the leg lines very well when walking. The wig is an ice-blue braided style, topped with a red scissor-shaped hair accessory, and the red tassel earrings on the ears add a visual focal point. Makeup artist Yinglei put a lot of effort into the eye makeup, using red eyeshadow for a large-area smudging, which, paired with blue contact lenses, captured Shenhe's cold yet slightly sharp temperament remarkably well. As for props, we prepared a black bamboo-patterned folding fan and a white oiled-paper umbrella. The silver-white bamboo leaf pattern on the folding fan is exquisite, and using it to block the face or as a foreground makes it very photogenic.
For the scene, we picked a Japanese-style café with wooden doors and windows and courtyard greenery. We originally planned to arrive in the morning because the morning sunlight angle is better and can cast mottled light and shadows through the leaves onto the wooden floor. But plans couldn't keep up with changes, and shooting officially started in the afternoon, causing the sunlight to be completely blocked by the tree canopy in the courtyard. The light was much softer than expected, lacking that strong light and shadow contrast. However, post-processor Yiyan adjusted the overall tone toward cool colors when processing the raw photos, which instead neutralized the saturation of the greenery very well, strengthening the atmospheric feel of the frame.
During the shoot, we mainly framed the shots outside the shop near the small wooden table, bench, and door frame. For the shot sitting sideways on the bench holding the folding fan, I intentionally stretched my legs toward the edge of the frame, utilizing the perspective sense of the wide-angle lens to lengthen the visual proportions, and the high-slit skirt hem showcases the leg lines wonderfully. For the shot standing in front of the door holding an umbrella, Yiyan asked me to turn my back to the lens first and then look back, keeping hand movements relaxed without holding the umbrella handle too tightly, so that the posture appears natural and not rigid. The half-body shot holding the fan near the indoor door frame has a relatively shallow depth of field, with the background nicely blurred; coupled with the black plaque and wooden grids above the door, the texture stands out prominently.
The experience of appearing in this shoot was great. My only suggestion is that next time if shooting this kind of courtyard exterior, be sure to check the sun's angle and blockage conditions. The light around 10:00 to 11:00 in the morning is definitely prime time. Although the lighting was insufficient this time, it can also be counted as an attempt at a different style. We did more color separation and tone compression in post-processing to make the picture look more translucent. Walking on the stone bricks in white high heels is actually a bit hard to keep balance, but for the sake of the overall styling unity, I persisted.
Cosplayer: Yinzi
Makeup Artist: Yinglei
Post-processor: Yiyan
This sharing of the Shenhe fanart creation ends here. If everyone shoots similar scenes, you can also try using the greenery in the environment as a foreground to increase the layering of the frame, which will yield unexpected effects.