How can I use color and lighting to alter the perception of a portrait? Throughout my four years as a photo student, I have always had an interest in studio photography. More specifically using color gels and lighting techniques to transform portraits and make them more interesting. As I gained more knowledge of the color wheel, I used complimentary and monochromatic colors, as seen in Images 10, 3, 4, and 5, to create emotion in simple portraits. I also learned that simple portraits and using one color, as seen in images 1, 2, 7, and 12, can be just as powerful.

Throughout my portfolio, I worked with the same models over the course of the year in many shoots for at least an hour each time to practice different techniques and see what worked well for me. For every shoot, I would take around 100-150 photos and I would choose only around 5 and try out many different editing styles. The more I worked in the studio, the more I experimented with color and lighting to make my portraits more interesting. Later on, I would return to the same setup and revise what I previously did to expand my portfolio, like in works 7 and 12.

Selected Works