>EDIT 7/13/14<

Hello everyone,

You might know her, you might not. She touched many lives and I am just revisiting my blog post in honor of her life and everything that she meant to me. She was a close friend. She was successful, talented, so young with so much potential.

I feel like I could pick up the phone and call you. Ask about your trip, talk about our future plans.. We were thinking about doing something in winter together. When are we going to double date again? I was so close to jumping on a plane just to see you and Karthik after I graduated, but I couldn’t work it out. You were beautiful inside and out. You worked so hard, your heart was so full, your humor priceless. There was a determination in you that I always admired. A sweet, carefree spirit that lit up the room. Always up for anything. You were my friend and a great leader, without trying. You touched many hearts and lives, including mine. Now I’m left gripping onto what memories I had with you, what moments I still missed we could have again, and what things I wanted to talk to you about. You were so loved. And even when you let me photograph you, i couldn’t capture your beauty. Words and photographs do not do you justice. I wish I could give you more. I pray for you, Karthik and your family. May you rest in peace, Nrithya. You will forever live on in our hearts. ~Jacinta

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1/20/13

Hello readers. I’m starting this blog mostly for capturing moments when I travel abroad to Europe this spring. However, in anticipation of my travel plans I decided to test out my shooting skills after more than a year. I didn’t realize how rough basic skills can get from out of practice, but fortunately my main instincts have yet to fail. I will warn you that this shoot isn’t a great example of my skills because the focus was off in quite a few pics and the framing, too.

So as soon as school was back in session I was able to ask a good and trusting friend, Nrithya Sundararaman to let me shoot her. She was pretty trusting for never having seen any of my work but it was also her first time ever modeling. The process of shooting was really refreshing especially with a good friend. It is a fun opportunity to be girly and to really bring out another person’s beauty. Nrithya is a very talented volleyball player and I always made fun of how she never has any pictures not in uniform or gym gear, so I really aimed to keep this feminine, light, and pretty. She is also a senior, so I kept these casual for if she wanted to use them as senior pictures to send to her family.

I originally planned to go to Vizcaya museum, but with it’s early closing time we had to change locations. After some research online, I found a small but beautiful park, the Coral Gables Entrance Park. Nrith did her own make-up and together with our combined clothes we were able to assemble about 5-6 outfits. I selected the photos that came out the best and also demonstrate the experience a bit.

This was one of the first shots we took in what I call the “cold” period (idk what other photographers call it), but basically in the beginning of any shoot the model and photographer aren’t quite comfortable yet (especially unprofessional ones like me and her) so it usually results in a ton a awkward laughter and nervous poses lol. It’s great because it relieves the nerves a bit by laughing it off. We started with some simple poses and it really started developing from there.

One of my favorite tasks of shooting is finding the “perfect” angle, but that doesn’t mean someone’s “good side,” it is more like finding a beautiful moment of a person. This is when their charm really shows. Typically, I encourage them to work with certain things in the environment which would make them more comfortable or try to think about something they like or find funny. I think this photo really captured Nrithya’s beauty with her laughter and gentle grace.

Moving along, we tried more planned poses. I think this is the opposite of the “perfect” angle of someone’s natural beauty. This is usually more directed and if the model has not tried it before, it can prove to be very difficult. However, Nrith really took on my guidance with a natural touch, and she made this beautiful photo.

Another simple yet great thing about taking photos I think is the power of movement where something as simple as walking can really bring out the model. In this photo my favorite part is the light, the lines, the color and how every element of the photo falls into place, including Nrith. The framing isn’t perfect but I think it really works out.

 

(Haha I can’t help but want to edit this into some sort of Urban Outfitters ad)
I was trying something new by asking her to do a certain pose that I wasn’t sure was going to work out just to see how she would pull it off. After just three shots, Nrith brought girly and edgy together in this great shot!

Last but not least, this one is my favorite. Throughout the shoot I was guiding her on how to “make love” to the camera (aka smiling with your eyes). It is very hard I think because you have to look at the camera as if you were looking deep into someone’s eyes seducing their thoughts. We shot for just 2 hours, time flew. In the last series of shots, she really learned to get into it and I was able to catch this amazing look. It’s always fun to create photoshoots, but getting to shoot my friend and capturing something awesome makes it that much better.

I had such a great time and I just wanted to share this. I’m not professional so this is really just a blog through my lens as an amateur photographer. Thanks for reading this far!