My first photo is of my roommate Abby. She is often in this position on her bed, which is why I chose to photograph her here. I decided to have her blanket be in focus and have her be out of focus in the background for several reasons. The first is that Abby is not too fond of having her picture taken and also does not like the way people place so much emphasis on physical appearances. The second is that though we are close friends, we are quite different people that lead very different lifestyles. Our mentalities could not be any more different and I’m sure she wonders what’s going on in my head as often as I wonder what’s going on in hers. Thus I chose to have her out of focus as a way of conveying the confusion and mystery of our friendship.
My second photo is of my best friend from home, Sami, who came to visit me at school. I chose to photograph her in front of graffiti because we always do art together and plan to graffiti an alley together in the future (it’s on our bucket list). I chose to make the photo HDR to exaggerate the colors and shapes because Sami is always up for adventure and has brought so much happiness in to my life. Furthermore, the HDR effect brings out the background more, detracting our attention from the main subject of the photo. I chose to do this because not only is Sami very laid back and unobtrusive, but she also likes to get lost in her surroundings.
My third photo is of my friend Vamika. I chose to edit the photo using a fisheye effect because Vamika is from Dubai and has lived in several exotic countries throughout her lifetime, giving her a very vast and unique perspective of the world. Furthermore, since she comes from a foreign country, she is very different from myself and our other friends. She uses different sayings and phrases, and I often find myself in awe when she tells me about life in Dubai because I cannot even fathom it. Thus, I used this effect to convey Vamika’s otherworldly-ness.
My fourth photo is of my friend Sarah. I chose this photo because it truly captures Sarah’s essence and personality. Sarah is so fun to be around and is just such a good-natured person, so I chose this photo with the banana in her mouth because it is fun and humorous as well. Sarah is also very pure and innocent so the banana is also very ironic. I chose to edit the photo very subtly, only messing with lighting to make everything look brighter and more picturesque, like something you would find in an old photo album from your childhood, because Sarah is so full of life and so real. I wanted to convey her pure nature and her honesty through the absence of distracting effects.
My fifth photo is of my friend Sydney. I chose to have her smoking in the photo because I think of her as edgy and badass. I chose to create a contrast in lighting only one side of her face to convey a sense of mystery and darkness. I edited the photo by messing with the lighting, saturation and temperature. I wanted the photo to have a vintage look to it, like a photo from the 1960s/1970s because Sydney and I share an obsession with that time period. I also liked the way the smoke stands out against the other colors in this lighting.
My sixth photo is of my friend Kerry. I chose to take a picture of her writing because I always write poetry with her. I chose to make the photo slightly overexposed because I wanted the focus to be on general features and outlines rather than on small details. I used the holgaart effect because Kerry is a very versatile and has various different sides to her so I wanted her to appear in layers.
My seventh photo is of my friend Schuyler, and I chose to make it a close up because he is very confident and sure of himself and I wanted him to be the one and only focus of the picture. I messed with the saturation to really bring out the green in his eyes and to exaggerate the contrasts in colors. This is because Schuyler is a very vibrant person that always makes his presence known.
My eighth photo is of my friend Olivia. People are often intimidated by Olivia when they first meet her, which is why I had her pose with her back to the camera and not very close up. I chose to lower the exposure to create an eerie, darker lighting effect because Olivia always appears in my dreams as negative, antagonistic character and it’s really ironic because she’s not at all this way in real life, but I wanted her darker side to be depicted in the photo.
My ninth photo is of my friend Victoria. When Victoria and I get together, we always act crazy and embarrassing, which is why I chose this photo of her in a strange position making a goofy face. I decided to edit the photo to make it all blue and white because I wanted to make everything very defined and for the photo to stand out as different from the rest. I wanted it to come across as bold and two-dimensional.
My tenth photo is of my friend Elena. Elena is my best friend’s younger sister, which is how I became friends with her. Her sister is studying abroad this semester, which is why I chose to photograph her looking out the window. I also wanted the sun to be the only thing illuminating her because she loves warm weather and the great outdoors. I chose to use the sepia effect because it’s hard to get to know Elena and it takes a while for her true colors to come out. Though she doesn’t really like to talk about serious or personal things all the time, she’s really a very deep and insightful person.
I chose to photograph ten of my friends who are all so different from each other but that I love just the same. I wanted to show how diverse my group of friends is, which is why I chose to make the photos all so different from each other in every possible way.
dragonthedragon 