Portraits

Jungle Fever

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I realized when I posted these photos on my Instagram accounts that my photography Instagram (@vivianapodinaphotography) still says I’m participating (PROCRASTINATING) in the r/WeeklyPhotos 52 week challenge. However, I haven’t looked at that challenge since March. The year isn’t over yet and I’d really like to catch up and finish the challenge with everyone else, so in an effort to have no more “zero-days”, I’m going to challenge myself to finish this challenge.

That said, I didn’t go into these photos with the intent of them coming out how they did at all. I was simply happy with another great makeup look and wanted to capture it in photos.

I added freckles to my face with an eyebrow pencil, a makeup trend and trick that I feel adds more dimension to an overall look, but especially so in photography. One of my favorite photo aesthetics is that of Claire Luxton, who uses her Photoshop skills to hyper-intensify gorgeous details like freckles and gem-colored eyes to bring out her subjects. I used her photography as reference and inspiration while editing, and brought out my faux freckles in this series.

I watched a few of her videos on Youtube to see how she edits and I combined a couple new tricks from her style of editing with my own. I’m very pleased with how these photos turned out and I think I might have to do some Twitch streams again in the future of my photo-editing because this was honestly so much fun.

I use myself as my subject matter for portraits about 95% of the time, but I’d really like to expand that and test myself and my skills in bringing out other people’s personalities and stories through my photography.

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Ginger Hair, Ginger Life

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I had a brief dance with blonde for two weeks this month but alas, decided it wasn’t for me.

So I’m back to ginger in full force and my makeup game was STRONG yesterday so OBVIOUSLY that means I whipped out the camera and took some new shots.

Luci stopped by and “guarded” me while I was shooting, so I got a couple shots in with him too.

I particularly enjoy the last picture in this set, but it just reminds me that I really need to invest in a backdrop. The garage door is a great white canvas most of the time. But sometimes I really just want a plain, untextured background. It’s on my to do list.

Enjoy :)

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Week 8: Zoom Burst x Technical

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Definitely still playing catch up, but listen.

This zoom burst challenge really got me challenged. And I’m giving up on it. I know I’ve achieve it before – and you know what, I’ll include one of my favorite shots from that time at the end – but this time around? I cannot get it down. So I’m calling this one a wrap and moving on.

It’s not really an effect I try to achieve, like, ever, anyway.

And then, here’s an old selfie from 6 years ago! in Philadelphia, when Maria and experimented with our cameras one night. I think we got the zoom burst down that night.

Week 7: Fill the Frame x Composition

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There’s several elements about this week’s challenge I want to talk about.

Firstly, when I first read the theme, I was instantly excited. I LOVE close-up, frame-filling photography. In fact, often times I have to remind myself to pull back and capture more in the frame. So this week’s challenge was a bit like home.

Secondly, I’ve been wanting to recreate a photoshoot I did several years ago with ice cubes. So I did. It basically involves melting an ice cube in your mouth and letting the water be pulled by gravity to the ground. It’s messy, but it’s worth it.

Thirdly, I ordered a new wig and it came in as I was prepping for this shoot, so OBVIOUSLY I had to throw it in there.

Lastly, afterwards, as I was trying to figure out zoom bursts, I discovered aperture priority actually makes for amazing selfies.

Therefore, for this week’s challenge, I’m submitting THREE! photos and they all fill the frame. With my face. You’re welcome.

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f1.8 – 1/50 – 500 ISO

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f1.8 – 1/160 – 400 ISO

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f/1.8 – 1/160 – 400 ISO

Happy Thanksgiving!

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This year has absolutely flown by! Today is Thanksgiving and I have so many things to be thankful for this year.

Firstly, I’m thankful for all the people in my life who helped lift me up, believed in me and in turned helped me believe in myself, and pushed me to be the best version of myself.

I’m especially thankful for all the new people who’ve entered my life and shaped it in ways I didn’t know were possible. I’ve had incredible experiences with and because of you all and I am truly blessed to have the privilege of having you in my life.

I’m particularly thankful for my new work position. The sheer love, support, fun, and creativity I’ve been allowed to experience here is more than I could’ve hoped for. Knock on wood, but I’m happy to get up for work every morning and happy to bring my cheery ass in and spread positivity. It’s amazing what a supportive environment can do for your mental health.

That said, myself and Bullseye are wishing each and every one of you a wonderful Thanksgiving day!

Danielle x Pinup Portraits

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Today was pretty exciting creatively. I asked my coworker Danielle a while ago if she’d be interested in being my muse for a photography shoot and after seeing my recent pinup style pics, she said yes.

We both did her makeup, although she let me do the contouring and such. I enhanced contouring in Photoshop to give her face more of that pop! But to be honest, she didn’t really need it anyway. She has the right kind of planes and angles to be a proper model, IMO. Anyway, here’s a few shots from today.

I used my 50mm portrait lens, ISO 400, f 1.8, exposure range 50-80.

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Coral Mermaid

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Taking a break from my regularly schedule posting program to be a narcissist and show off my new hair.

I wasn’t happy about the way it looked after having it dyed dark ginger last month. I wanted something fresh and different from what I’ve done in the past, so I went with Pravana colors and had my stylist follow the color structure we had on my fire hair.

He dyed the top Pravana red, and the rest of the hair was bleached, to which he added Pravana red to the middle and it came out hot pink, and the bottom has Pravana Pastels coral. I’m relatively certain the coral will fade quickly. It didn’t take easily to my hair. BUT! during washing, I think the red will bleed into it well.

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