Good-Bye

Original Image
*Not Edited

Our theme for this week was "goodbye". I had a handful of ideas in mind for our final self portrait, but so many ideas so little props. I didn't want to go with the obvious idea of walking away or walking out the door, but in the end I'm kind of glad I did since it turned out to be my favorite self-portrait I've taken. I tried this picture from a few angles; I originally wanted full body but I really didn't have much room to achieve my vision. I had tried to even put the tripod on my bed but I was way to nervous about it falling. I broke out my mini tripod and set it on the floor and played with perspective, and this is what I achieved. With a little editing it came out to be a personal favorite of mine

[Self-Portrait #10]

[Self-Portrait #9]

In 5 years I will be... [Self-Portrait #8]

In five years, I will be....

Original Image
*Not Edited

• Camera: Nikon D5100
• Lens: 18-55mm
• F-stop: f/3.5
• Exposure: 1 sec
• ISO speed: ISO3200
• shot in RAW

Who knows where I'll be in five years. nothing is guaranteed, nothing is promised. Will I even still be alive, or will I be dead? Will I have a career, or will I be that homeless person on the street asking for money? Married with or without kids, or still living the "single life"? All I can say for sure is that I will be 25 years old this time in five years, the rest is a mystery. Which is what I tried to convey in this image.

I attempted going for a silhouette, something I have never tried before in my photography career. Save to say, first time didn't work out very well. I realized later I should have had my room A LOT darker (and cleaner) for the shot to work. I tried many different shots, some with my back to the camera, some with my face to the camera. Ultimately, this was the shot I chose. I brought it into photoshop and did major editing to do the best I could to manipulate the shot to what I had in mind. Not my favorite self portrait, but not my least favorite either.

Childhood Memories [Self Portrait #7]

I had a hard time with this week. I had a better idea in mind, and was very excited for it, up until I realized the props I needed were not here, rather at my Grandmother's house in the Bronx. So I chose not so much one memory, but a place that holds a lot of memories for me, Santa Maria School. I used a year book from my very first year there, 1997-1998. Multiple memories are stored in that school, some great ones that make me smile and others that don't make me feel all that great. But overall, it's where I did more half of my growing up; spent 10 of my 20 years of life there.

[S-P 6]

*Original,
Not Edited

• Camera: Nikon D5100
• Lens: 18-55mm
• F-stop: f/5.6
• Exposure: 1/60sec
• ISO speed: ISO2800
• shot in RAW 

For this week's self portrait, we didn't have any guidelines, free range. I took this week to be very simple; I decided to go for a mirror picture. I know my camera has editing options build in, so I curiously took it for a test run and put it to use. Like I said, went very simple this week and I think it paid off! I missed playing with my picture in Photoshop, but still very proud of the results.

[S-P 5]

original Photo
*unedited

[artist statement coming soon]

[S-P #4]

There is no victory, there are only battles.
And in the end, the best you can hope for
is to find a place to make your stand.
And if you're very lucky, you find
someone willing to stand with you

 

 

• Camera: Nikon D5100
• Lens: 18-55mm
• F-stop: f/5.6
• Exposure: 1/60sec
• ISO speed: ISO 1250
• shot in RAW

Runner up image
*Not edited

This week for our self portrait, we had to theme it around points that our classmates learned about us. Things about me that my classmates learned that I chose to bring across in this photo were that I have small handwriting, dream of being left handed, and that I love the television show Castle.

I got across my small handwriting by showing my small handwriting, my dream of being left handed by putting the pen in my left hand, and my love for Castle by using a quote from Castle. I also used a point that was not mentioned; the fact that my favor color is blue (which can be found in the fact that I used blue ink.)

[S-P #3]

• Camera: Nikon D5100
• Lens: 18-55mm
• F-stop: f/4
• Exposure: 1/30sec
• ISO speed: ISO2800
• shot in RAW 

Original final image
before editing

For this shot, I originally had planned to attempt the face symmetry theory (example). But had a difficult time in editing to make it look right or believable. So I backed away from Photoshop for a moment, and thought. I came back with the idea to give my image a mirror effect by reversing the image on one layer, and having them both conjoin somewhere in the middle. Also, I enhanced the lighting in photoshop, since it was dark to begin with.
I liked the outcome, and it keeps the possible theme of not exposing my entire face in one image.

Wrist wear. [S-P #2]

 

• Camera: Nikon D5100
• Lens: 18-55mm
• F-stop: f/3.5
• Exposure: 1/60sec
• ISO speed: ISO450

Original final image,
before editing.

A lot of people have what they call their signature; their make up style. The hat they wear. Their lucky charm, whatever it may be. And I'm no exception. I like to think of my wrist wear as my signature. I wear these items every day, and if something is missing... I feel pretty much uncomfortable and incomplete in my day.

*if you're further curious about the bracelets, be sure to read the long paragraph at the bottom!

As we can see, I'm  keeping up the mystery of not exposing my entire face in the final image. Will it be a lasting theme? I have no idea. I'm finding it tough to get the camera angled correctly for self portraits. And coming up with ideas with each new assignment. But practice makes perfect with these things, and I'm looking foreword to the challenge.

The runner up image
*not edited

On my right wrist, you can see the White and Black bracelet, which reads ROCK*STAR, which I got from my first Jordan Knight solo concert back in March of 2012. My love for New Kids On The Block is something my mom and I both share (2nd Generation Blockhead!), so being able to see her favorite band member live was a great experience and a lot of fun.
On the same wrist, is a white bracelet with white lettering, which reads LEGALIZE LOVE. I believe love is love, and it's not cool that not everybody can be married to the person they love because they just happen to be the same gender.
On the left wrist, the watch is a cheap-type version of a watch my favorite character from my favorite television show wears; Detective Kate Beckett from ABC's Castle.
The other two bracelets on my left wrist have to do with one of my best friends. We both had bracelets on our minds for each other's Christmas gifts. She made me the blue and white one, choosing said colors since they are my favorite (also Yankee colors!). The other bracelet I brought one for each of us, I wear one with her favorite colors and she with mine. It read TWINSALWAYS, which holds a very special meaning between us and our friendship.

Yankees [S-P #1]

• Camera: Nikon D5100
• Lens: 18-55mm
• F-stop: f/3.5
• Exposure: 1/60sec
• ISO speed: ISO 170
• shot in RAW

Original final image
*Before Editing

Runner up image
*not edited

Runner up image
not edited*

I wanted to take a self portrait dedicated to the team I love most, the New York Yankees, since Spring training is pretty much right around the block. This was the first time I ever  attempted a self portrait with a purpose, so it was a challenge. I did it in my room, just me and my camera. Some questions that ran through my mind in the process were if I was in the frame enough, if the lens was zoomed in too much or not, if I set up the self timer and the burst capture correctly, and questions along those lines. There were many photos taken, many of which failed because I was too much in the frame or not in it enough, or because the lens was zoomed in a little too much, or because the self timer/burst capture wasn't enough. Once the pictures were all taken and narrowed, there were three final pictures that I was very torn between and had a horrible time narrowing it down to the final picture. The one thing that made this final image stand out from the other two was my face. My face was hidden in both of the other ones. In this one, I loved how my hat casted a shadow over my eyes. Then i took this picture into photoshop, dropping the exposure of the entire photo, with the exception of the Yankee jersey and my arms.