greg

the final portfolio is split into three parts: mandatories, additional personal submissions, and electives. mandatories consists of all the assignments we have learned throughout the program and shots with technical rules we have to follow. APS is pretty much whatever we want to shoot and electives is in between.

this is one of the mandatory assignments, "PR shot & alternative". we have to shoot the subject in their business attire and then bring out their personality in the alternative shot:




if i had to choose, i would've used this for my portfolio:

greg imitating obama, haha.

(shot with the Mamiya 645AFD II medium format camera with the Leaf Aptus 22 Digital Back, 3 soft boxes and a hair light. obama photo from my ultimate idol: peteryang.com)

jill

a few weeks ago, when i did a photo shoot with battle for my "low key male portrait" assignment, not only did he come with his sister, britney (and his brother!), he also came to the studio with his best friend, jill. i finally had time to edit some of the shots tonight.

i was thinking of using one of these for the APS (additional personal submissions) part of the final portfolio:






(shot with the Canon 5D and two softboxes.)

mario

another addition to the "my escape" personal project:

"my room represents my character, my likes & loves of my life. it's basically me on four walls." - mario a. santillan jr., 7-26-85, 23

(shot with the Canon 5D and two portable strobes with an umbrella. thanks to the santillan family for cooking the best ecuadorian food!)

something random

today, i turn 24 years old.

brian smith, an award winning editorial photographer, came to lecture at our school tonight. only 20 students names were drawn out of a hat for a private portfolio review by him. my name was announced second.

out of my collection so far, this was one of his favorite shots (including "my escape" personal project):


(shot with the Mamiya 645AFD II medium format camera with the Leaf Aptus 22 Digital Back and 3 soft boxes. thanks to greg for modeling and brian smith for taking the time to look at my work.)

jerrell

during my shoot with battle for my "low key male portrait" assignment, i was introduced to his sister, britney. she told me her son's birthday was coming up and asked me to photograph him. coincidently, i have a "child portrait" assignment in my final portfolio.

i just shot these tonight. here are some shots i just briefly edited:


this is my ultimate favorite:












i usually don't like photographing kids, but i loved working with him.

for a 2-year old, his expressions were so mature.

(shot with the Canon 5D and 4 soft boxes. thanks to britney & jerrell sr. for driving all the way from springfield!)

battle

phase four is already in progress, the most important and final phase in the program. we have a month and a half to complete 28 assignments.

last night i did a photo shoot for my "low key male portrait" assignment. i usually save the editing part of my assignments for last, but i couldn't help it and just started messing around with some of the shots tonight:




(shot with the Canon 5D, one background light, and one softbox.)