Shooting with Ashleigh and Deena

I like to put my time into researching for my photo shoots. I like to take my time to think of poses, think of outfits, locations or anything else that goes into them. For this shoot with Ashleigh and Deena, I was less prepared than I thought I needed to be. For the photos asked for, I did know enough, but to take some more photos beyond that I needed to be more prepared. 

This photo shoot still came out amazing. It's important to be able to think on your feet and be able to work off of what you have. And even more, since then I have been preparing myself more for my shoots.

 These shots were for Deena, she styled and did the makeup on Ashleigh. The theme for it is pretty obvious, Black Swan. This has to be one of my favorites from the shoot. The lighting in between the trees came out just right. The bokeh in the back also came out perfect, curving in the edges of the photos. 

By no means am I going to act like we knew the correct way to pose her, but we tried our best. I picked this spot in between the trees to begin because of the lighting. By shooting into the light I avoid hatsh whites in my photos and add rim lighting to my subjects.

The photo on top is a pretty good example of the difference in lighting. On the left is the shade, which is what you get with backlit and on the right are the highlights. I like this one because it covers both the white and the black.

After almost finishing up for the day, we decided to take photos at another part of the park. The lighting here was just as good, but with different surroundings. Because the grass was so low, we decided to take some sitting down. The trees in the back also added some good bokeh.

Final shot of Deena

Location

Natural Bridges State Beach

Model

Ashleigh

MUA

Deena

Shooting With Ariel

There are a few places that I have been that have made it difficult for me to take photos. One of those locations was Pfeiffer Beach in Big Sur. The heavy winds on the beach caused sand to fly all over, making it difficult for me to see and change lenses without being afraid of sand getting inside. Another location was at Burnie Falls in Northern California. The heavy amounts of water caused a lot of mist to fly on my lens. In order to take photos I had to cover up my lens in between shots. 

One location I did not think about have a problem taking photos at was here in San Francisco. A couple weeks ago I took photos of Ariel at the Conservatory of Flowers in San Francisco. Going to the conservatory, I knew that it would have a high level of humidity. I did not realize that this would affect the photos I would take because of the condensation on my lenses.  

The humidity was much lower in the second room we stepped in(I didn't post any from the first room). All the plants made it easy to shoot throughs something. In the one above, I liked how the rail leads up to where she was and the opening in the plants. 

We got some shots against the shelves with small flowers on them. I got much closer with these photos and was also able to add some foreground with the plants that were sticking out. The one below was my favorite of them.

The conservatory is split up into 5 different sections. The first was the most humid and donut shaped in the middle. Two more sections branch off from the center ones and then one more from each. The lighting in the conservatory was amazing: it was soft because of the panels but still had some direction so she didn't look flat. 

The next room had a large pond in the middle. I was not able to get any good photos using the reflection from the pond. The longest lens I had on me was an 85 and the pond was long enough for me to not fill the frame. I managed to take photos alongside the pond instead. There is a lot of chromatic aberration from the 85mm I was using. 

We moved back over to the other side of the conservatory after finishing with the pond. The humidity was almost as bad as the first room but not enough to have me constantly clean my lens. This room had a small circular window that I have seen many people shoot before. We ended up taking the most shots here. As the day progressed, the conservatory got busier making it more difficult to take photos without people in the back. We took our time and waited for people to walk out of the frame for us to take our photos.

This was one of the locations that I have been wanting to shoot at for a while now and I'm glad Ariel reached out to shoot here. The hardest part about editing these was getting the greens just right with some purple to add contrast. I tried a few different edits on some of the photos but overall the dark and green ones ended up being my favorites. 

Last shot of the day

Location

San Francisco Conservatory of Flowers

Model

Ariel 

The Self Portrait Project

It's pretty rare for me to talk about myself, even more, to have my photo take. Over the past year, I have continued to take self-portraits of myself. It really grew with one that I took at the end of last year, but isn't something that I haven't done in the past. I guess I can also add a whole bunch of stuff about myself. In that case, this blog will contain more about me than you probably care to know. 

I can start with a few common questions I get a lot since I'll probably start there anyways. 

When did you start taking photos? Was it something you always did or something gradual?

I started taking photos in high school. In my sophomore year of high school(2009-2010) I took a photo class, which sucked. My first camera was a Nikon Coolpix p100, which was the best camera I oculd buy at the time. I didn't really get into photography at that time, I was decent and cared more than half the people in that class but it was still just a class for me. 

My photos back then were art based, and weren't as tamed as the ones I post now. Photos with dutch angles, black and white and poor composition. But looking at them now, they are interesting to look at. Looking through my photos with that camera, I saw a gradual progression in my work, maybe from the class or maybe from practice, but they did get better. From the photos I did save, I see that I took more after the class was over than I did when I was in it. And from the ones I did take after the class, it looked like it was more relaxed than I am even now. Chasing the sunset didn't involve driving an hour to Russian Ridge, just riding my board to the park. 

Camera balanced on bag. Self timer

Camera on a tripod. Self Timer

What camera do you use? Why?

My first camera as I mentioned was a Nikon Coolpix p100. I don't think there was a specific reason why I was attracted to Nikon over Canon, which everyone had then and have now. But nevertheless, the trend continued and I got my next camera in 2012, a Nikon d3200. I remember the day because it was Independence Day. I remember driving to the store and walking up to the counter and asking for it. I also remember spending that night at the church on a hill trying to capture some fireworks(and failing). I've had that camera and used it up until this year, so it has been through a lot. And then finally the d7200 which I got this year to replace my d3200. Since its been more of a hobby than a job up until this point, I didn't spend much on it, but it was a much needed upgrade. 

Used a mirror

Camera on a small tripod. Self timer

What is your favorite lens? What lens do you use the most?

My newest one at the time. The one I need the most is the one I need. I used the kit lens for a long time, a lot longer than I would have wanted to. The newest lens is always going to be my favorite because of it being new, a new view. There isn't a lens that I consciously use the most. I don't use a lens just to use it, I use it to get the job done. 

Camera balanced on my bag. Interval timer shooting

Have you always been into portraits?

No, only this year. Up until this year, I have been shooting landscapes. You can only do so much of the same before wanting to move on. One thing that I tell people is that there is only so much you can do when the weather isn't right for a landscape. At least with a model you always have a subject to work with, you can't really change unfavorable weather conditions. 

But I was interested in portraits before too. I used to do a lot of drawings, almost exclusively portraits. 2013 was my first year in college, so my photography didn't really have much of an impact on my life yet. My feed in 2014 involved a lot of drawings. Then 2015 I posted a photo every single day, which was easier to do with landscapes. It was difficult to keep up but it was not the hardest challenge I have attempted. 2016 I wanted to start a stranger challenge on my Instagram, but decided against it. It had to be the year I was least active since I started my account, I didn't have much of a direction to move it towards. 

Used a tripod. Used a ruler to click the button to take the photo

What are you in school for?

At this time, I am going into my fifth year at San Jose State University as a mechanical engineering major. Not exactly what anyone ever expects. I don't plan on every "making it" in photography. I like doing it for the art. Like drawing, when you start focusing too much on the money and business side of it, you lose the freedom to do it how you want. I do think at some point it comes back, but everything molds who you become, even if its just a little. 

Camera on tripod. Used interval timer shooting

That's about all the questions that I can think about. But there is still more that I have to say. 

I am an introverted person. I don't mind being alone and talking o new people is painful for me. I started the year off with a stranger portrait project that ended up going really bad. I only made it 15 days before giving up. I have a lot of trouble talking to new people, which can make being a portrait photographer really difficult. Even now, sometimes I have my finger hovering over the send button for a whole day when requesting to shoot. Mostly only when shooting with new people, but it also happens occasionally when shooting with people I'm already familiar with. 

I'm happy to have met a lot the people I have met. Since I started taking portraits this year I have met a lot of new people. I've met more people in the 6 months Ive been taking portraits than in the 3 years I did drawings or langscape photos. 

Camera on tripod, used self timer

Its easy to tell from these portraits what my style is: colorful nature portraits. I've found that once you find your place, you manage to grow a lot more and a lot faster. There wasn't really a point where I decided to do nature portraits, it might come from shooting landscapes and being more familiar with these places. 

Camera on tripod, used my phone to take the photo and focus.

Even though I've met all these people, I would still rather have myself take all these portraits of me. There's really just one simple reason behind it: the creative process. It's the same reason why I edit the portraits I take or pose the people in the way that I do. I think the photo is a combination of every part, from the photo is being set up, to the final product edited and everything. These photos are 100% me by me. I picked the outfit, location, lens, focus, composition, and edit. If you really want to know my style, look at my self portraits. 

Camera on tripod. Self timer. 

My most recent self portrait.