Category: Inspiration

Of all the upcoming events beyond the end of high school, the one I’m likely most excited for is starting studying film at the California College of the Arts, a school which I have remarked feels like a scaled-up version of Freestyle Academy! This photo was created by request of my mother for her to announce my commitment to the school. It was taken before striking the set from the narrative, and I used Photoshop to separate myself and the acceptance packet from the environment through colorizing myself and leaving the rest monochrome.

Looking to capture the warm coziness of the morning, I staged this shot with a soft, wrinkled tablecloth, a bread basket, a glass vase, and a cutting board to show off a variety of my favorite toast spreads, based on a line from my personal essay. I quite enjoy the softness of this particular shot in the lighting, focus, and even subjects.

While not exactly “current” anymore, I wanted a chance to use this shot taken during the viewing of last year’s solar eclipse at Stanford University. The partial blocking of the sun made the backlighting softer and the orange haze was just a wonderful touch to this view.

Since I have already used our piano for photographs before, I thought I’d pick a somewhat rarer instrument: the kalimba. The most difficult part was keeping the camera steady enough to have a sharp enough focus, as I had not yet set up the tripod.

This is one of my most simple photographs, and I feel that lends itself to its appeal, being quite cute. We tried painting another miniature van silver to match the look of the large van, but it didn’t turn out as I’d hoped, so I used a different toy pickup and only used the wheel of the car, which I feel may work better.

While quite macabre, I think this image properly illustrates an exit, THE exit, where most people end their journeys and, depending on one’s beliefs, begin a new journey. This photo was taken at the Golden Gate National Cemetery as I was volunteering to place US flags on military graves before memorial day.

I figured the best way to tell a lie with a photograph was an optical illusion, so I set up a prop I had created for my explorations film, a miniature flying taxi, so that it hung from the arch of our garden on fishing line, in a way that it looked like a full-sized taxi coming in for a landing.

To me, serenity can either mean being cozied up indoors on a cold evening, or relaxing outdoors in the shade. As it was a lovely day out, I chose to depict the latter, capturing the sunlight peeking through the leaves of a tree in our side yard as I sat on the rope swing attached to said tree.

For this no-limits assignment, I photographed a globe and decorative suitcase, as I love traveling and wanted to represent that in a photo. As per this week’s rules, I shot this as flat as possible with no white balance changes or color touchups.

I thought that a computer mouse was appropriate for this week, to represent online anonymity. On the internet, there is a separation from how one would act in real life. The screen gives a sort of barrier which makes people feel protected and more willing to act maliciously.