Hello again! I hope everybody is staying well and productive. I’ve been really lazy these days unfortunately. -_-;;

I wanted to share another photo that I took of Chloe. This picture was taken in San Marcos before we took a trip to San Antonio. The reason I’m showcasing this work is because I’ve recently been studying a lot of different techniques in Photoshop that can really take my photography to the next level. The style of photos that you see in the covers of magazines and publications is what I’m trying to shoot for here. I want to try and create a more artistic look, as if the photo were to be painted onto a canvas. I’m now practicing on improving facial features of the subject too. One thing I refuse to do is change the shape or body of a subject. God blessed each of us with our bodies and gave each of us our own distinct look. One thing that I don’t believe he exactly blessed us with are temporary dermatological defects such as acne, scars, rashes, etc. Features like these don’t help a photo, which is why I’m more than willing to remove them. Amazingly enough, Chloe has incredibly clear skin and I did not need to retouch it. The only thing I did was darken her makeup to make it appear more bold, made her lips slightly more pink, and gave her hair a brown tint to match her outfit. Basically it was just a play on colors. There’s no way that I could make her more vibrant than she already is and I love it! It took an extremely long time to clean up the cement and give it a uniform look, but the result speaks for itself. Hopefully my pictures will continue to improve over time, so cross your fingers!! Tell me what you think! ;)

The title of this picture is called “Exit.” Sometimes I feel that my life can be somewhat of a maze from time to time. Whenever I get stuck in a situation, it can be hard to find a solution or the proper way out. Nonetheless, if I stay strong and keep telling myself to work hard enough, I will eventually find the proper exit out of it. With this photo in mind, I hope that everybody can find the solutions to the problems that they have in life, so that they can find their proper way out. :)

Chloe and I visited the Tower of the Americas during our weekend trip. We watched the sun set over the city as it began to brightly light up. Afterwards, we visited her neighborhood and she gave me a guided tour of her high school. The school was pretty darn big, roughly 1.5x the size of Killeen High School. It was a great experience to have her show me around and tell me about her cherished high school memories and experiences. In the background of this photo is an aerial view the San Antonio Alamodome, the place where Chloe graduated from Judson Senior High School on Wednesday, June 4, 2008. I hope this picture serves as a reminder of how far she’s come since her high school graduation and that she continues to go even further! :)

Click to enlarge

So… Can I plant the seed to your heart? ;)

Just in case you didn’t know, the plant was not Photoshopped. Each picture was hand drawn with a LED multi-color flashlight while being captured by the camera. You can tell I’m not a good artist, I had a hard time drawing the heart correctly! :(

Currently Listening To: DeVotchKa – The Winner Is

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(Click image for a larger view) I was browsing through my image archive and decided to edit a few photos. After editing about six photos, I found that this one stood out the best. The color of the building on the right was orange. I decided to focus on that color and create a mood with it. The color scheme of the photo could possibly represent a few random things: heat, fatigue, or  anger just to name a few. The subject of the photo has her head pointed toward the ground and is carrying her shirt in her hand, both signs that she may be tired from walking a long distance. It reminds me of the journey Phoenix Jackson traveled in  “A Worn Path” by Eudora Welty. The way I see this photo, it represents the path that we all have to travel through in life and the hardships we have to go though to get there.

This work can also be found on my deviantART.

Model: Jasmin | Jasmin’s Blog |@jasminthegreat

EDIT: OH SNAP. I forgot to mention that it’s Jasmin’s birthday. Happy Birthday Double J! :]