Category: Artist Portraits

Final Assignment at GCC

12/14/2025

To see a full roundup of the photo assignments I submitted for my recent time at Glendale Community College, visit the Nica Goes [Back] to College tag! Start at the bottom of the series to see my progress in the order they happened. 🥹

For our final assignment, we were given 2 choices: either create a magazine spread with a front-center-back cover spread, or 3 images for an Instagram takeover for a photo account you follow. I decided to go with the magazine spread.

At the beginning of the semester, we were asked to share a magazine we liked that uses lighting in the photography, but wasn't specifically a photo magazine. I submitted Never Too Small's magazine for my entry. I am obsessed with their documentary series! I LOVE architecture & interior design, & it's so relaxing for me to watch.

For the final, we were asked to create a spread as if we were submitting photography for the fav magazine we submitted at the beginning of the semester (or another magazine). Instead of making a pseudo-photo submission for Never Too Small, I decided to make up my own pretend magazine called SMALL SPACE STILLS. Hell, I night even make this into an actual series one day?!

Featured in my photographs are my artist neighbors, Clare & Andres of Cypress Park's Arvia Projects (plus their soon-to-be little one). The focus on my pretend magazine was to photograph working class artists within their homes, particularly small, modest homes. Unlike the Never too Small series, I didn't want to focus on homes that were overly curated by interior designers & architects for people who have money to blow on those types of services. I wanted to focus on home spaces by artists that were decorated & designed by them. I didn't want "aesthetic" homes or the perception of wealth — just regular creatives in their spaces.

Here was my submission for the front cover, center spread & back cover. All photos were created with my Nikon ZF & 24-70mm lens. All photos used Paul C. Buff strobes.

Click any image below to enlarge. View from a computer for the full experience.

Front cover, center spread, back cover composite:

Cover Photo with & without Text + BTS (for Fun):

For this photo I used 1 Paul C. Buff strobe with a softbox attachment, another strobe for foreground fill with a 20 grid attached, & 1 white fill card camera right (which I just bought from the $1 Tree!).

Center Spread Collaged with back cover detail:

Similar lighting technique with the cover photo: 1 strobe with a softbox attachment + another strobe for foreground fill with a 20 grid attached.

Center spread main photo by itself + full back cover photo:

Back cover photo used 1 strobe with a softbox attachment. This one was particularly hard to light because not only was I trying to light a window so the ambient light wasn't blown out, using the strobe only for fill, but the room was small & I was limited on where I could place the strobe. The limitation in space also made it harder for me to control the light. Even with the strobe set at the lowest power, the light was just bouncing off every surface. Even though I didn't get any particular feedback on this during our critique, I personally feel that the photo is over lit, but I did my best with what I had. I'm still learning, after all. Architectural & interior design photographers truly make it look so effortless & easy! I hope I get to that point someday.

In the end, I got great feedback on my final, aside from some minor lighting adjustments in the center spread, that I was advised to just edit out in Lightroom this time, but definitely be more mindful of in the future. Of course we can fix anything in post these days, but the idea is that we are learning to practice these lighting exercises & create the best images possible on-camera. I guess I just get a little nervous when I'm working with models because I'm still so slow & I feel bad taking up all their time. 😅

Overall, I can't believe this is the end of my advanced lighting class at GCC! I also found out my instructor was retiring from teaching & I feel fortunate for the timing for me to be able to take this class. He was a photographer I got to work with during our time working together at Metro Art. Back then he told me he taught lighting at GCC, but with full time work on my hands at the time, I wasn't able to take it. Currently being underemployed gave me the flexibility to pursue more of my creative growth this year, & while it has been so difficult to regain stability again, I am so happy for everything I've learnt & accomplished this year with my photography. I've truly never felt more motivated & accomplished in a very long time.

And with everything I've learnt in this lighting class over just 1 semester, I'm pissed at the thousands of dollars I wasted on a photo degree at art school, where I learnt fuck all in 4 years. (To be fair, I was too immature to attend college at the time & I was not ready at all. I wished waiting until I was older were an option.) Aside from simple studio lighting techniques we learnt at art school, we did not learn anything I learnt in just these 16 weeks alone at community college. Art school was the biggest scam of the 2010s & sometimes I wish I didn't go to college, but that's a rant for another day...

If you made it this far, thank you for checking out my blog! I don't know if anyone actually reads this or cares, but it's nice to have a space of my own & thank you for sharing it with me. Please feel free to share your thoughts or any questions in the comments.

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A Fort Held Together by Spit & Prayers: Clarisse Abelarde, Summer 2024 Artist in Residence at Arts at Blue Roof

8/21/2024

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***CONTENT WARNING***
Some adult imagery below. Scroll with caution!

This summer, I was invited to be a mentor to Arts at Blue Roof's summer artist in residence, Clarisse Abelarde, an emerging oil painter from the Philippines. I had the privilege to witness Clarisse's creative process & explore her new body of work, which is now culminating as her solo exhibition A Fort Held Together by Spit & Prayers. Please join us at the opening reception, as we celebrate her creativity & hard work over the summer. No RSVP required to join the opening.

OPENING RECEPTION:
A Fort Held Together by Spit & Prayers
by Clarisse Abelarde
Saturday, August 24, 2024
6-9PM

Arts at Blue Roof
7329 S. Broadway Ave.
South Central LA, CA 90003

Viewable 08/24-09/21/24

SCHEDULE VIEWING

Here's some behind-the-scenes photos of Clarisse at her summer studio at Arts at Blue Roof. Photos by me on my Nikon ZF with 24-70mm lens. 🙂

View from computer for the full experience.

I never really experimented with off-camera flash for personal work, especially not with colored gels. While I continue to practice my digital photography & portraiture skills, I want to keep pushing myself to try new gear & techniques I haven't used for personal work in the past.

Thank you, Clarisse, for allowing me to experiment with my new Lightpix Labs Flashq Q20ii! And thanks to my homie Art Bueno for recommending this flash unit & for always encouraging me to push my photography boundaries even further.

Fair warning, the first photo with the red gel was a complete accident, but we both agreed we really liked it. 🤣 Hopefully one day I can figure out how to replicate this look on purpose! (For someone who's done photography for nearly 20 years, I've got the photography skills of Britta Perry.)

Rare admin reveal – me on the bottom right. 😉
I'm usually the one behind the camera, not in front of it. It took us a good 5 mins to figure out how to find the self-timer on my camera, too. 💀

If you've never been, Arts at Blue Roof is a unique art space that looks like it inhabits a former church. For those of you who are close to me, you know that one of my dreams has been to buy an old church in the Philippines & convert it to an art gallery & studio. Walking through Blue Roof was big inspo. 🙌🏽 During my time living in England, I was inspired by all the former churches that were converted to secular housing, while still maintaining the integrity of the original architecture. Why not convert more of these structures to community spaces, like Blue Roof has done?

Here's some pics of the cool lounge area at Blue Roof!

Pics of the exhibition installation to come! Stay tuned & make sure to follow me on Instagram @nica_aquino for updates.

Click "READ MORE" below if you're interested in hiring me for photo work!