Week 46/52 : In dreams we enter a world that’s entirely our own

Ezra and Kurt took me to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter the other day. They have a year-pass to Universal Studios so they visit quite often. I’ve always wanted to see the place for myself so I was very happy that they decided to bring me there. Ezra even dressed me up as a Gryffindor so I could pretend that I belonged in that world. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to take any self portraits for my 52-week project while I was there since it was too crowded. I still wanted an HP-themed self portrait to commemorate the event, so I asked my mom to take some shots of me back home and whipped up this quick photomanipulation. It’s been a while since I last did one of these, so please forgive me if it isn’t perfect XD

Background stock : https://lindowyn-stock.deviantart.com/art/OMG-SNOW-EEEEE-71430524

(Title came from a quote from Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban)

Week 48/52 : If you remember me, then I don’t care if everyone else forgets

I really like how this photo turned out. I love how it looks like I shot this in a forest with lots of open space when in fact it was shot in our garage. I used my 50mm lens to try to create an extreme bokeh background but that’s really hard to do when you have very little space to work with, and no one to focus the camera for you. In the end I decided to shoot myself and the background separately and just put them together in Photoshop.

Obviously I’m wearing a wig in this photo. I found this dress in my sister’s closet and thought it would go nicely with red hair. I decided to wear a flower crown at the last minute because I seem to be obsessed with them this year. I think this is my 4th or 5th portrait this year with one.

One week left till the end of 2016 and I still have 4 self portraits to go! Eeeeek!

(Quote in the title is from Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami)

 

Week 36/52 : Sometimes it’s better not to look back

I haven’t done a photomanipulation in a while so forgive me if my work isn’t up to par. For several years now I’ve been doing photomanipulations for Halloween and I figured 2016 should be no different. I had a different idea in mind but I had a hard time executing it so I decided to do something simpler.

This was inspired by the creepy photos in Ms. Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children. I’m currently reading the first book and the images are quite haunting. I tried to capture the feel of the photos in my self portrait this week. The quote I used in the title also came from the book.

Happy Halloween everyone!

Week 26/52 : I’ll be your daydream, I’ll be your favorite things

We could be beautiful
Get drunk on the good life,
I’ll take you to paradise
Say you’ll never let me go

-Roses, The Chainsmokers

I’ve never really paid attention to the lyrics of this song until today. Now that I know what they are, I can relate to them and I like it even more. I especially love the first verse.

I took this photo right after Gilbert and Iyah’s wedding last month. I was a bridesmaid/secondary sponsor and this was my dress. Iyah gave us infinity dresses and the freedom to decide how we want to wear them. I went with the simplest style because I felt that it looked best on me. The dresses were really long (they were designed that way) and it made it quite hard for me to walk, but I love how it gave the illusion that I’m much taller than my actual height XD

Stock credits:

• Flower crown: http://prettyladyswag.deviantart.com/art/Flower-Crowns-PNG-399442119
• Background : http://sisterslaughter165.deviantart.com/art/Background-6-401796670
• Rose petals : http://starscoldnight.deviantart.com/art/Roses-petals-PNG-I-282884597 and http://frozenstocks.deviantart.com/art/Petal-Rain-02-463635710

Week 15/52 : As is a tale, so is life: not how long it is, but how good it is, is what matters

I’ve fallen behind on this project again, as well as on blogging. April is almost over and I haven’t gotten around to editing my March Instabits entry yet. Things have just been crazy these past two months. I had two uncles die, one month apart. My Tito Rey lost his battle with cancer last March 6, and my Ninong Rey (yes, they had the same name) died on April 17 due to a massive heart attack. These past two months have made me realize how short life really is, and how we should treasure every single moment. Of course we’re all very sad to have lost two great men in our lives, but we are comforted by the thought that their sufferings are over.

It’s pretty common tradition for family members to release white balloons during a loved one’s funeral, as a symbol of letting go. I suppose the balloons represent the deceased’s soul rising up to heaven, which was the inspiration behind this image. This may not be my best photomanipulation, and it looks very similar to some previous manips I’ve done in the past, but I would still like to dedicate it to my two uncles who are now watching over us. Goodbye Tito Rey and Ninong Rey. We miss you, but we will see each other again.

White balloon stock : http://freaky-stock.deviantart.com/art/Transparent-PNG-balloon-98480117

Quote in the title is by Seneca

Week 13/52 : The woods are lovely, dark and deep. But I have promises to keep.

I’ve started to fall a bit behind on my 52-week project. It’s still pretty early in the year for me to start slacking off so hopefully I’ll be able to catch up soon.

I shot and edited this last week, but as usual I forgot to post it. I bought the blank white mask last December with the intent of using it for a self portrait, but I never got the chance to do anything with it until now. I like the haunting effect it has so you’ll probably be seeing it pop up again in future self portraits.

Background stock : http://malleni-stock.deviantart.com/art/Fog-Stock-24-583529842

Quote in the title is from Robert Frost’s poem, Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening

Week 11/52 : Easter bunny

I was trying to come up with ideas for an Easter-related SP when I realized that I have my very own Easter bunny running around my room. I haven’t done a miniature photomanip in a while, so I decided to have a little fun this week. Mochi had a lot of fun too, it’s been a while since I let him run around the garden.

I didn’t realize how much Mochi has grown until I tried putting him in his harness yesterday. The last time he wore it was around Christmas and it fit him just fine, but I could barely close it yesterday! He’s gotten so fat that I had a hard time wrapping it around his body, lol. (You can’t see his harness in the photo because I edited it out.)

Not my best Photoshop work, but I rushed to finish everything today to make it in time for Easter 🙂

Week 9/52 : You don’t drown by falling in the water; you drown by staying there

This is my submission for 52 Weeks of 2016’s theme this week, which was “Water”. The group aims for members to eventually complete the four elements within the year. Hopefully I won’t get lazy and manage to participate in the weeks for the other three elements.

I haven’t done a proper photomanipulation for 2016 yet so I figured now was a good time to start. I’ve been seeing this premade background on deviantArt for a while and I’ve always wanted to use it but I never had the opportunity. So when I saw that the group decided to set “water” as the theme this week, I jumped at the chance.

Shameless self promotion: I recently made an Instagram account for my photography, please drop by and say hi if you have time. My username is garcia.carmi. You can visit my page by clicking HERE.

Premade background can be found here : Water Background. Photoshop brushes are by Obsidian Dawn.

(Quote in the title is by Edwin Louis Cole)

Week 7/52 : Love rain

I know Valentine’s Day is over but I still wanted to do a Valentine’s related SP for this year. The week leading up to Valentine’s Day was pretty busy so I didn’t have that much time to shoot (probably because I spent most of my free time at the UPLB Feb Fair).

I don’t know if you could tell, but I’m wearing a wig in this photo. It looks very similar to my actual hair, only a bit shorter. I actually bought the wig on eBay before I went to the salon because I wanted to see how I would look with short hair. However, it took a month to arrive at my house and by then I had already decided to just go short XD

Week 52/52 : If it doesn’t challenge you, it won’t change you

Ta-dah! Another 52-week project finished. Just in time too! Although I sort of cheated. I shot and edited this photo way back in October but I never got the chance to post it. Finally I decided that I would make it my final upload for 2015 since it seemed fitting. So much happened this past year! I look back at the start of 2015 and I can’t believe how much my life changed in a year. Some changes were bad, but most of them were good. I hope that 2016 will bring about many more awesome changes that will give me the chance to grow as an individual.

Butterflies are from here:
http://madetobeunique.deviantart.com/art/Monarch-Butterfly-Clipart-PNG-181725617