Portraits Vol. 3

For this set of portraits, I had the privilege of having my friend, Ara Arellano, in front of the lens. Since publishing my last set of portraits, Ara contacted me wanting to collaborate on this little passion project of mine. I was surprised and honored that she contacted me to take her portraits especially since she was doing as her last project before her eighteenth birthday!

On the onset, I knew it would be a great idea to showcase Ara's theatricality because of her involvement in the theatre scene within the university. For her more emotional portraits, I decided to shoot with a plain background and make the photographs black and white because I wanted to really highlight the emotions in each shot. I've always loved black and white portraits because I felt they were even more impactful and effective in drawing the emotion from both the subject and the audience.

There's a window past our department's hallway that caught my eye that afternoon we were taking portraits. Because of the rain, the sky was gloomy but just the right amount that the shadows on the window made it the perfect scene for the next set of portraits. I wanted to focus more on Ara's vulnerability rather than her emotions for these shots and the lighting was really in our favor that day. I kept the color for most of these photographs because the colors were just too beautiful to turn into blacks and whites.

I'm so grateful to have been able to work with Ara for her birthday portraits. It was a delight and an absolute honor collaborating with her for this birthday project of hers. Thank you, Ara, for doing this with me. Until our next collaboration!

Makeup and Modeling by Ara Arellano
Photography by Luis Abesamis

For collaborations, you can contact me at: whatdoesluissay@gmail.com

Houston

Last July, my family and I travelled to the United States for our summer vacation. Our three-week stay was a memorable one since we spent time with our family living in Houston, Texas whom we hadn't seen in years. As with many of my travels, I brought along my camera to take photographs of anything and everything that caught my eye. Two months later, I'm finally ready to share the collection of photographs from our trip.

Welcome to Houston, Texas.

August Favorites

We're nearly a third done with the year and I can't believe that I haven't done a favorites post yet! I love making these kinds of posts so I thought: why not bring them back? Before getting too far into September, I wanted to share all the things that I've been loving from the past month! There's a couple on my list for the month of August so let's get right to it!

1. West Side Story

Last month, I had the opportunity of watching the touring production of West Side Story at The Theatre at Solaire. If you know me, then you'd know that I absolutely love musicals so seeing a phenomenal show like West Side Story was a huge deal for me.

The production had me blown away the entire away. There's so many things I love about the show, but the thing that had me at the edge of my seat the entire time was the choreography. Each number was thrilling and exciting in that with each jump, glide, and lift across the stage, the choreography only seemed to get more beautiful.

Seeing West Side Story was such an experience. I loved every part of it and I would without a doubt watch it again. If you ever get the chance to watch a production of West Side Story, I most definitely recommend that you go see it!

2. Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt

Because my CW superhero shows are currently on break, I wanted to find a new series to watch and thank God I found this show. Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt is a Netflix series starring Ellie Kemper whose character, Kimmy, moves to New York and tries to live a normal life after being kept in a bunker for 15 years by a cult leader.

It's been awhile since I've watched a comedy series so this show was a breath of fresh air for me. This show had me laughing for hours. I'm so in love with the humor of the show. The comedy is well-written into the script with each episode funnier than the last. My only issue with this show is that since it's a Netflix series, there are only eight episodes per season. But thank God for Tina Fey for creating this show because this show has been amazing (and thank God for Tina Fey just because).

Netflix currently has all three seasons of Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt up. Go and watch it! It does not disappoint!

3. Amy Winehouse's Back to Black

Amy Winehouse is an amazing artist that I have loved for quite some time now. I absolutely love her vocal style and an entire album with her music is just heaven to me. Her album Back to Black is absolutely amazing but it was only last month that I've truly been able to appreciate it.

When I put the vinyl on the player, I found myself dancing to it in my room. Her songs are not exactly for dancing but it just had this vibe to it that I absolutely loved. Back to Black is such a beautiful record. I'm really happy Amy got the recognition that she deserved for it before she passed away. This album is probably one of my favorite albums now and if you have not listened to it yet, I recommend that you do immediately!

4. Pokémon Blue
Growing up, you could say that I was a huge Pokémon fan. I knew each Pokémon and how to beat and train them. I absolutely loved the anime and even collected the cards. But it was the Pokémon video games that I was very much invested in as a kid. The only set of games that I wasn't able to play were the first two generations of Pokémon games. When Nintendo released the original set of games up for download on the 3DS console, the Pokémon fan in me was shaking.

I've been playing Pokémon Blue for a couple of weeks now and I have been enjoying it a lot. I played the remakes FireRed and LeafGreen so I have an idea how to go about the game already. But in spite of that, it's been a joy being able to play the original Pokémon games. Those games were where the entire franchise started and it's been weirdly nostalgic seeing where it all began.

5. Pokémon Cards
On the theme of Pokémon, I have been treating myself these past few weeks to some Pokémon cards. As I mentioned, growing up, I collected the cards not to actually play the card game, but just to collect the cards and have, in a way, physical representations of my favorite Pokémon. Recently, the Pokémon company released this new expansion pack called Evolutions which, if I'm not mistaken, features more of the original set of Pokémon cards in the roster. These cards are much more expensive now than the last time I collected them, but I'm very happy with them.

For those of you interested in getting Pokémon cards, you can purchase them at Data Blitz for P160 each. Hobbes and Landes has more options for Pokémon cards but it is a bit more expensive priced at P200 each.

6. Table Tennis
For my PE class this semester, my friends and I are taking table tennis. Now, I'm not the most athletic person so physical activities really do stress me out. Thankfully, table tennis isn't a very physical sport so it's been very encouraging playing it each week. In fact, most my exhaustion is from squatting every minute and running around trying to get the ball.

We've only been learning the basics so far but I've been enjoying it a lot! It's great having a bit of physical activity within the week especially for someone like me who isn't very sporty or athletic. If you're looking for a sport to play, why not consider table tennis? It's a great and light exercise that you can squeeze in within the week as well as an opportunity to bond with friends and family.

Those are all the things that I've been loving from the month of August! What are some of your favorites from last month? Let me know in the comments below!