PHO 102B - Photoshop I - Final/Series
This series was captured over a four-month period, from August to December 2024, and it all began unexpectedly—by simply living my daily life and finding inspiration in the people around me. Over the past two years, I found myself in a dark place, questioning my worth and facing loss, sadness, heartache, and a general sense of confusion about my true purpose. During this time, I often took for granted the incredible people who supported me and wanted to see me thrive. Instead, I sought temporary fixes—seeking thrills, fleeting happiness, and coping with pain through alcohol, substance abuse, and material things. None of it brought lasting peace.
When I re-enrolled at CSN (College of Southern Nevada) and shifted my major from Computer Technician to Commercial Photography, I finally began to rediscover the path to happiness and fulfillment. Photography has always held a special place in my heart because it captures the precious, candid moments we often take for granted—the fun, the silly, and the unforgettable times that we can reflect on, even long after they’ve passed. The loss of friends, family, and loved ones over the past two years made me realize how important it is to give back to my community through the art of photography.
This series marks the start of my journey to embrace gratitude for the people, places, and experiences that inspire me. I knew I needed to capture these moments, not only to honor them but to show others the power of photography—the ability to relive memories in our hearts, minds, and souls.
The photos in this series begin with a black-and-white portrait of myself, symbolizing how I felt so alone even in the presence of those who loved me. It’s a reminder that sometimes the external appearance doesn’t reflect the internal reality. Despite the smiles, I felt empty inside. But through this photo, I also wanted to convey that, even when I lost hope in finding happiness, my faith in something greater—represented by the cross in my haircut and the dove tattoo on my neck—was a constant reminder not to give up.
Though darkness often overshadowed me, I realized that the love and support from the people in my life were the colors that could bring light back into my world. This series is dedicated to the seven special people I encountered throughout my Fall 2024 semester, who reminded me to appreciate what I have and stop dwelling on the trauma, negativity, and the feelings of inadequacy that once held me back from finding true happiness.
“Self-Realization”
I took this photo with my iPhone 14 Pro Max’s front camera using Adobe Lightroom. In this photo I started in Bridge to crop the photo to zoom more in on me looking away from the camera to emphasize hiding my feelings and emotions before learning how to face reality and “adding color” to my life through my loved ones in the series. Also in Bridge I made some basic edits to turn it black-and-white, added some texture to my hair through selective edits, selective edits on the front of my face to help take away the little bit of overexposure, added a brush mask to my neck tattoo to help bring out the solid black more, and gave it some basic globalized lighting edits. I added a light black vignette to lead the focus more on me to work with before moving to Photoshop. I used localized edit to darken the overexposed walls a little more with a brightness/contrast layer. I made another layer to use localized linear burn to my neck tattoo to bring out the detail further. I used a brush layer to darken the sweater I was wearing more. I did not remove the lint from the sweater because I thought it added more natural detail to it since it is not always easy to keep our clothes lint free, especially having indoor dogs.
"Victor the Barber"
This photo was taken of my good friend and barber Vic at his birthday lunch with my iPhone 14 Pro Max using the Adobe Lightroom. Victor is a great friend and barber; I always feel so good hanging out with him while he cuts my hair. We always chit chat about life and everything in between. This photo is part of one of the times we got to hangout one on one outside of cutting hair to enjoy a birthday lunch for him.
"My Birthday Twin"
This is a photo taken with my birthday Twin Oscar; we have the same birthday but born different years. We took this on Halloween this year by setting the phone up with a self-timer on my iPhone 14 Pro Max. Oscar is a great person overall, always making me laugh, and we both are comfortable to confine in each other and talk about everything and anything. We also play sand volleyball together at Sunset Park and he is always helpful in giving me tips and advice how to play better. We have had the blessing to celebrate our birthday 2 years in a row and hoping for more in the future.
"Great Cook & Friend"
This is a photo I took on my iPhone 14 Pro Max on Thanksgiving this year of my good friend Armaine that I met 6 years ago when I first moved to Las Vegas. We have always been good friends but over the past year our friendship has grown a lot stronger and closer. Armaine is always including me in hanging with her and her friend group; at first, I was always shy, but she would still always send me an invite. She usually always cooks something delicious to eat when I come over to hang out and this year at Thanksgiving was nothing short of her usual yummy food.
“Business Savvy”
This is a photo I took on my Canon EOS Rebel SL3 of my best friend Derek on the left and his business partner Justin on the right. Derek and I are working on documenting our own series for his new dental practice he is opening, location in the photo. We are documenting everything from before it is opened, to the grand opening, ribbon cutting, and throughout the year as the business makes more improvements. I took this photo of them talking business and really like just the overall look of them working hard to open another successful business practice. Derek and I became best friends this year in 2024 and I just overall love how he business savvy, kind, loving, and been supportive on my photography journey. The amount of faith and trust he is putting in me makes me so thankful to get this opportunity to grow more as a photographer.
“Cousin Love”
This photo I got an opportunity to sneak my cousin Mireya in for my final! We been talking about her being in my final possibly if she was able to make it down to Las Vegas from Phoenix, AZ – my hometown. I have not had the opportunity to make it down there so I just been hoping some of my family would make it down to visit during the holiday seasons that are coming to end quicker then it took to get here. We re-met as adults back in May 2024, the last time I seen her she was about 3 years old, and she literally has grown so much into a beautiful young woman.
“Ron & Eevee”
This photo was taken with my Canon EOS Rebel SL3 when I went to go visit my friend Ron and his dog Eevee before they went back to Scottsdale, AZ. This area was the dog area that was permitted for them to use the restroom in. Silly Eevee was just walking around I think she just wanted to get out the hotel room and smell the fresh cold air. This is the best photo I could get of Ron because he does not like to take photos, but I needed to include him in my series because he has been a huge influence on my life. I met Ron back in Phoenix, AZ and lived with him for a few years between 2016 to 2018 before moving out to Las Vegas. I was struggling a lot with the beginning of my divorce, and I was abusing alcohol and marijuana to “help me cope” with the situation. He pointed out to me several times that I did not need to go down that road to feel better and that I had more power than I knew. Every time I look back, I am forever thankful for those wise words that I remember so vividly because they helped me more than I realized back then. Eevee and I have had similar relationship as my dog Loki that I needed to earn their love and trust first before they would willingly give it to me.
“Daniel”
This is one of my first photos of the semester with my best friend Daniel. Daniel is the most special of all my friends because I have only known him for 1 year and 3 months, out of the 6 years I have been in Las Vegas he is my closest friend. I always tell him he reminds me so much of my parents because they are almost the same age, Daniel will be 45 in March 2025, 3 years younger then my parents. Our friendship came so naturally we were first cordial, started to hangout at volleyball, go to a couple bars, and before I knew it he became my best friend. I look up to Daniel because he is one of the strongest people I know in my life that is teaching me to be strong too. He has such a goofy and funny personality we can laugh and joke around all day if we spent a whole day together. He is so loyal, down to earth, and overall, a beautiful soul inside and out. This was taken on my iPhone 14 Pro Max after we had gone down to Whataburger on the Las Vegas Blvd. which is new restaurant that we are familiar from for me from Arizona and for him from Texas.
