[Shimoe Koharu cosplay] Blue Archive: A new sitting posture for not having to attend remedial classes

Today, shooting this set of Shimoe Koharu photos, the biggest source of inspiration was actually that metal folding chair. Previously, when shooting sitting poses, it was mostly sitting upright or crossing legs sideways, but this time, thinking about Koharu's setting, I suddenly felt we could do something a bit different. I put one leg over the other, with a black bow tied around my ankle, and the white over-the-knee socks just squeezed out a bit of absolute territory. Leaning against the transparent chair back, my hands resting lightly on the edge of the chair back, the moment I turned sideways to look at the lens, it felt like the light and shadow fell along the pink twin-tails, and the state was just right.

For this set of photos, a lot of thought went into the preliminary makeup styling. The pink wig was specially made to be fluffy, and the pink halo prop on top of the head and the black-and-blue feather hair accessories on both sides were custom-made in advance. The eye makeup used purple-pink contact lenses, with a large area of pink blush brushed under the eyes, creating an innocent yet slightly sly temperament unique to Koharu. The upper body is a black halter neck hollow-out bodysuit; the metal buckle at the neckline and the crisscross straps on the chest carry a bit of restriction, but I specially chose a pink lace inner layer to neutralize the dullness of the black, layered with fluffy white arm warmers on the outside, and wore several strands of fine bracelets and bangles on my hands to add some layering in details.

When shooting, I really liked sitting low and leveling my gaze with the lens, which gives the perspective a very natural interactive feel. Like the action in the photo of pointing both index fingers at my cheeks, when doing it, I felt it fit Koharu's silly yet clever vibe so well. Not having to go to remedial classes felt like truly clearing out all the worries in my brain, and the whole person entered a very relaxed shooting state. I tried a few different sitting postures in front of the lens; at first, I placed both hands on top of the transparent chair back, a pose that showcases the hollow-out design on the chest of the top very well, but the body's center of gravity needs to lean forward slightly. Later, I tried holding the chair with one hand while letting the other hand hang down naturally or lift slightly, an asymmetrical composition that makes the frame more dynamic. Finally, there's the double-finger cheek-pointing action, which requires eye coordination—eyes opened a bit wider, wearing a slightly playful smile. After zooming in, the visual focus is completely concentrated on the facial makeup and the clothing details of the upper body.

This time, the studio photoshoot used a pure white background with soft light. The lighting was very even, so I didn't need to deliberately twist my body to find shadows. The transparent chair back and silver frame of the metal folding chair actually have a very modern feel, colliding with the 2D costume to create a rather wonderful contrast. While shooting, I kept adjusting the angles of my body, sitting on the chair while trying to stretch my shoulder and neck lines, because a rigid material chair will make the output look stiff if the posture is too slouchy. Later, I tried crossing my legs, revealing the white over-the-knee socks and the ankle straps; this angle has a great modification effect on the leg shape, visually lengthening the proportions.

For this shoot, I also communicated with the photographer for a long time regarding the coordination of costumes and props. For example, the plush material of the arm warmers would look fluffier under strong light, so to prevent the overall colors from being top-heavy, subtraction was done on the pairing of white over-the-knee socks and black shoes. The whole process went quite smoothly; there was no running or jumping with big movements, mostly subtle shifts in sitting posture and hand actions. During post-processing color grading, the translucent pink-and-white tone was also retained without excessive skin smoothing, trying to preserve the texture of the makeup as much as possible. This set of photos can be considered to have captured that clever yet not applying it to studying kind of vibe.