Middle Ground. //Portfolio

I shot this image with a long exposure to capture Jaden and Isay posing for a photo while everything else remains in motion. It captures the fleeting feeling of time standing still when one becomes a subject of a photograph.

The rule of thirds is used as a guide to center the image in its right vertical line, and a blue-orange color correction is applied to emphasize the warmth of the camera flash — further isolating the still faces from their motion-heavy background.

The challenging part was shooting the image live, I had to ensure that I'm steady for a few seconds to make it work.

Another captured moment, the pose executed by Riann and Isay in this image was natural. I find the color and texture of cemented path walk and the greens provide a strong enough contrast to produce the curves of the image that is easy for the eyes to follow. It starts with Riann and Isay and ends with the white car perfectly centered between two poles on the top right of the image. 

A distinct grain is applied to present the image closely similar to a shot from a film camera, with the purpose of evoking a sense of nostalgia and warmth.

Vintage style paired with a vintage camera. 

Aside from color correction with a green tint and a square crop, I edited the image in Adobe Photoshop to remove some frizz in Jaden's hair. I also added a feathered exposure mask on the eyes to make it subtly pop out. Finally, a distinct film grain is added since this is a photo depicting the classic analog.

Modern fashion meets the modern camera.

A fairly straightforward image, aside from minimal color correction, the image is cropped in a square composition to focus on the camera and its accompanying clothing. 

I enjoy the juxtaposition in poses between this image and the previous photo. The poses employed by Jaden and Riann (the subject of this image) were from the prompt, "hold the camera in a way that represents your personality." The personality of the former (film) evokes reservation and acts as a strong visual contrast with the bombastic personality of this photo.

An image with a letterbox composition and edited with a "red only filter" using Capture One 23. 

I used a letterbox composition to emphasize the horizontal shape of the statue and crop it exactly at its end on the far right side to visually present it as a long tunnel.

My favorite part of this image is the captured movement of Daphne (girl with umbrella), positioned exactly in the blank space where there are no shadows being cast by the statue — further highlighting the interplay between Daphne and the portrayed red tunnel.

The story in this image is a fun one. 

I was telling the people I'm with how nice the grass looks and how great it would be to capture it in a photo. Without hesitation, CB (the man) laid himself down on the grass and presented a face depicting an expression worn by dead bodies in a post-mortem examination. I rolled with the idea and then proceed to shoot this image.

Aside from color correction, I added film grain to highlight the texture and employ a more grainy cinematic feel. I also added a reverse vignette for aesthetic reasons and for variation in the color of the grass.

Robbie (the man) wanted this image to be inspired by director Wes Anderson's symmetry but given his unnatural pose, I decided to edit this image (blue-tinted monochrome) in a way that depicts an uncanny story — reflecting the visual aesthetics of the film Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children.

A letterbox crop and grain are used for cinematic presentation.

Another photo taken with the same mindset as the photo above, I wanted to showcase the difference in height between Kath (the lady) and the tree. 

There are multiple horizontal directions in this image, in order to properly straighten it, I decided to use the horizontal line of the roof (which is also the same reason why I ended the crop there and not the top of the tree, for visual attention from the audience).

Employing a square crop, I positioned the eyes of Porsche (the subject) at the center of the frame for strong emphasis. I also decided to apply a monochrome effect to the image after seeing how the colors did not matter as much in the RAW version.

I wanted to apply grain on the image itself that's why I raised the ISO to a high degree but I also added additional grain in post-processing. In retrospect, however, I should have taken the image clearly (lower ISO) and then add all the grain later in post for more flexibility.

I edited this image in Adobe Photoshop, removing any lines in the background using the clone stamp tool and the removed some frizz in Porsche's hair.

This is the only image in the list that is not from the F2F session of the Pilot Group.

I shot this image with an extremely fast shutter speed to capture a crisp rendition of the subjects while as they're constantly moving. I prefer using this method than deliberately asking the subjects to take the pose as I find the end result to be more dynamic. However, I could have also achieved this effect with a slightly lower shutter speed.

For the post-processing, I edited this photo to have a monochrome effect with a high blue filter, resulting in the subjects having a strong contrast against the blue sky.