Category: 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.

Make sure to keep checking this space, follow me on Instagram, or subscribe to my YouTube channel for updates on my blog posts.

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5th-8th Assignments at GCC

12/7/2025

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It's been a while since I've updated this space on the photo assignments I've been working on in my advanced lighting class at Glendale Community College!

These photos haven't been my favorite I've produced for the class & I don't think they're my best work, but I want to share the process of what I've been learning & the attempts I've been making to further improve & elevate my photography skills. Not everything I share will always be perfect & polished, but even after nearly 20 years doing photography, I'm still always in a constant state of practicing & learning, & I just want to share this for anyone who's ever feeling discouraged, anyone who's new to photography, or might be considering getting into it.

Below, I am sharing assignments 5-8, with the top being the most recent assignments. All photos were made with my Nikon ZF & a 24-70mm lens.

Click any image below to enlarge!

Assignment 8:
Inside Out/ Favorite Window

We learnt how to use flash fill for lighting interiors with windows, without washing out the ambient light coming in from the windows! Of course, I chose the hardest room in our house to photograph: our bathroom. It very small & cramped for all the photography & lighting equipment, making it very difficult to control the light. However, my instructor said considering how small the room was & the risk I had of light bouncing off the tiles, he said I did a decent job of not making the photo look over-lit! I used one Paul C. Buff strobe with a grid attached.

He also asked us to show what the photos looked like when we bracketed with the shutter speed, so that's shown below in the little screenshot thumbnail gallery I made from Lightroom.

And for those of you who don't know, I'm obsessed with the documentary series Never Too Small (NTS). Haha! More on this again later.

Assignment 7:
Blur/Sharp

We learnt how to light the background with continuous lighting & strobe for the model (or subject matter). For the background, I used an old shower curtain, which was not quite high contrast enough. I used a red gel on a continuous light to light the background, plus a ProFoto strobe.

The background lighting on the first 2 aren't quite right, so I doubled up the red gel & added a neutral density (ND) grey gel to make the red more intense.

I used a long exposure & added movement to the photos to create the blur effects as the stobe fired. Shoutout to my classmate, Ani, for being a stellar model. :)

Assignment 6:
Flashlight Portrait

Introducing our old ass teddy bear, Grandpa Bear, AKA GB or Gorilla Biscuits. Instead of using a person as my model, poor GB was subject to another one of our games, haha! I photographed this at a long exposure on bulb, I think for 10 seconds. My partner, AKA best assistant in the world, used a white bike light to light GB, then I went in with a red bike light to create the lasso effect. When I'd done this assignment, we were just in the process of rewatching Titans on HBO, & I was feeling inspired by Wonder Girl's lasso!

Assignment 5:
Flash Fill with Portrait

We were prompted to create this series of portraits, documenting the different effects of strobe lighting at different angles, using white fill cards to add fill to the model, or using a second strobe to add additional fill. Can you spot the differences?

I used Paul C. Buff strobes for these.

Shoutout to our class teaching assistant for modeling for me & also giving me pointers during the session!

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Dia de los Muertos at Heritage Square Museum

11/7/2025

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If you're reading this: Congratulations! You made it to Friday & survived another week of this capitalist hellscape & arbitrary white supremacy culture... We did it. 🥲

I'm up late trying to finish this photo blog. Shout out to all my creatives who stay up late working on their art, while having a day job in the morning that they need to report to in order to survive & support their creative practice... It's not easy to balance both. I've struggled with it a lot in the past & found that my creative practice always has to take a back seat to wage labor & surviving capitalism. It's hard not to be depressed knowing that is just reality & there's nothing you can really do about it, but oh well, I guess.

Anyways, here's some photos from Heritage Square Museum's Dia de los Muertos event last weekend. It was our first time visiting Heritage Square Museum (despite living in Northeast LA for over 10 years!) & it was really interesting. We would love to go back another time when there isn't a massive event going on & actually check out the historic homes and other sites on the property.

Growing up in Los Angeles, Dia de los Muertos has always been one of my favorite celebrations. In the Philippines we know it as Undas. I've always had a fascination with death. I'm not uncomfortable talking about it — it's just part of life & sadly it's just been around me a lot. In fact, I had a few near-death encounters in my early 20s myself...

Everywhere I've lived as an adult, I've always had an altar in my house to honor the ancestors & invite the spirits for protection & good energy. This is not a practice I grew up with, as I was not raised religious or spiritual in any way, but something I learnt to practice on my own. The good part about not having religion or spirituality forced on me was, I had the freedom to explore different beliefs & study them on my own.

Day of the Dead is something I look forward to every year. And if you know me, you know I've produced a few programs centering the occasion myself.

If you're ever interested, one of my favorite photography books I own is Death on the Altar (La Muerte En Al Altar) by Tómas Casademunt. This beautiful photography series documents altars in homes all around Mexico. This book is no longer in print, but if you ever find an affordable copy, make sure to snag it! I would love to do something similar centering funeral altars in the Philippines someday.

These photos below were created with my Nikon ZF & Pocket Dispo lens.

For clarity, I was not paid for these photos. I went to this event & did photography for fun. If you want to hire me for event photography, please get in touch!

View from a computer for the full experience. Click a photo to enlarge.

Some of you know I love vintage public transportation. 🤓

Northeast Los Angeles Car Club

Live painting by @samanthafriedart (right).

Make sure to keep checking this space, follow me on Instagram, or subscribe to my YouTube channel for updates on my blog posts.

If you've read this far, thank you! Please feel free to share your thoughts or any questions in the comments.

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Mindanao Part 2 of 2: Bukidnon & Kaamulan

4/10/2025

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Kaamulan Fest

Aside from reconnecting with friends & exploring the island, Kaamulan is the main reason why I wanted to come to Mindanao this time! I was really hoping to experience the grand entry & hopefully see some performances or Native games, but we weren't able to this time. Hopefully next time if I'm ever able to visit again! Nonetheless, it was great to connect, experience the art, view how different their art styles are, but also draw connections as well. While the cultures of the Northern & Southern Philippines can greatly vary, I hope people can also realise the similarities we share with our relatives in the south.

The Kaamulan Festival is a large month-long cultural gathering of the ethnic tribes of the Bukidnon province in Mindanao. Held in the provincial capital of Malaybalay, it is a special time for the seven tribes to unite. I was told the festival has been going on for a little over 50 years, but some believe it may have been celebrated even farther back.

Although I didn't get to experience any music or performances this time, I got to leave the festival dripping in brass jewellery — something I was hoping to leave with. Throughout the Northern & Southern Philippines, brass is used to make musical instruments & accessories. Brass instruments are played for an array of uses such as communication, ceremony, or celebration. As accessories, brass is worn to ward off bad energies & spirits.

All photos below are from my Nikon ZF using a Pocket Dispo lens. The women portrayed below consented to me photographing them.

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

Abbey of Transfiguration

We had the unique opportunity to stay at an accommodation in Malaybalay that was near the Abbey of Transfiguration. Nestled among acres of banana & cacao trees, the abbey is a Catholic monastery that has a pyramid-shaped church, as well as a coffee plantation that is farmed, harvested, & roasted by the monks that live in the monastery. Make sure to grab a bag of their Monk's Blend coffee beans at their gift shop! If you are interested in going inside the church, please note that they do have a dress code, just like the Vatican in Rome & now the Basilica de Santo Niño in Cebu.

And that concludes my 9-day trip to Mindanao. 9 days was not enough, but I'm so happy & grateful I got to experience it at least once. I hope this is not the last time I will be in Mindanao. I just know there's still so much to see & experience here. And while I know these don't seem like a lot of photos, I was honestly just trying to be there & be immersed in it all.

Eternally grateful to my friend's Nikki & RM for taking the time to show me around Mindanao, & also dealing with some of the unnecessary qualms I came with. 😅 Thank you for everything! Please check out their newest project that is currently underway, Balay Kasamtangan. If you have the means to, please redistribute your wealth & support their one of a kind project!

If you've read this far, thank you! Please feel free to share your thoughts or any questions in the comments.

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Mindanao Part 1 of 2: Bai Ming's World & Iligan

4/9/2025

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First, & hopefully not last, trip to the island of Mindanao in the Philippines! Despite several generalisations about Mindanao, I've never been influenced by these misconceptions, & it has always been a place I've wanted to visit. I've always been enamored by their gorgeous art aesthetics, music, culture, & admire them for their colonial resistance. So glad I finally got to visit, esp with the guidance of brilliant creatives & friends, but I hope I'm able to make it back again to further explore the island & culture!

Iligan City in the northern Mindanaon province of Lanao Del Norte was the first stop on our 9-day visit. The main languages spoken here are Bisaya, Tagalog, & English is also commonly spoken throughout the islands.

Lanao del Norte & the region surrounding Lake Lanao is the ancestral land of the Maranao, a predominantly Muslim ethnic group in Mindanao. They are one of the largest Islamic groups in the so-called Philippines.

Below are photos of Bai Ming, a Maranao matriarch, who invited me to peek into her world. Her & her family import or create all the goods sold in her shop, Ming's Collection. She consented to me photographing her, & in return I'd love to share about her business! You can find them here on Facebook (if you've got an account), or look them up on Google Maps.

All photos below are from my Nikon ZF. Also first time using my Pocket Dispo lens, gifted to me by my friend & photography collague, Noah B! The lens is great & love the softer texture it creates, but it's def not for everything. It was fun to take it out on a spin for the first time on this trip tho, & hopefully I can find some good use out of it again in the future.

My film photos from this trip will probably come later this year!

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

MISC ILIGAN...

Here's some more photos exploring Iligan City! Starting with the amazing view from Fat Pauly's. The photo of the lighthouse almost looks like a postcard images & the swirl of the clouds during sunset were unbelievable.

Paseo de Santiago

If you're into Spanish historic destinations, check out Paseo de Santiago. This park is a paid tourist attraction along the ocean, & is named after Spanish "explorer", Santiago de la Cruz, who is credited for "discovering" the Iligan Bay in the 16th Century. While this is considered a historic destination, I've read that the park itself is a newer tourist attraction. Aside from the park & lush scenery, they also have food vendors, occasionally host events & offer rentals. This park has paid admission & honors senior discounts.

"LAPU LAPU — He is the first famous person written in our history that bravely and gallantly defended our land and our race against foreign invaders on April 2, 1521 known as the "Battle of Mactan" that resulted to the death of Ferdinand Magellan and the defeat of his Spanish and Portuguese forces."

Tambo Public Market

My mother came with me on this trip to Mindanao this time. I can't stress enough how I'm at the point now where I'm starting to feel like the parent, haha! Anyways, before our trip, she said she hadn't been to Mindanao since the 1970's. And she mentioned one thing she really wanted to bring back to La Union was dried fish, claiming that is a really nice cuisine they have there. My friend was kind enough to bring us to Tambo Public Market, where she was able to buy dried pusit (squid), & other fish. These are typically fried & served with garlic rice, eggs & some sort of veggie side dish for breakfast. 🦑

I'm sure some of you can tell that these interior photos in the market are dark inside. I had to use quite a high ISO. Once bringing them into Lightroom, they were very noisy. I do not recommend Lightroom's AI noise removal tool, as it makes the photos look way too fake. Instead, use the option to manually reduce the noise. They won't be perfect & noise-free, but the tool does help, in moderation.

Beadwork Workshop at Espasyo Creative HUb

Got to peel off for a day to take an introductory beadwork workshop at Espasyo Creative Hub. Not only do they occasionally host creative workshops, they also have a restaurant & a storefront where they sell local handmade goods, crafts, art & even some sweet treats hehe.

As you can see, the Pocket Dispo lens is not great for close-ups. So that's something to keep in mind when using this lens. It is a lot like a disposable camera in this way! For those of us who are old enough to remember using disposable cameras in our youth... haha!

Jeepneys of Iligan

Some of you know I'm a public transportation nerd & love riding/exploring on foot/public transit anywhere I go. It was nice to get a break from riding Grab (the Philippines' rideshare service in major cities) & driving, & actually getting to ride around in one of their jeeps!

I've only visited 3 Philippine islands so far & have noticed a difference in their jeeps & public transit. The last island I visited last year was Cebu, & I noticed their jeeps were mostly the Japanese models, & tricycles were also bawal (forbidden). In addition to the jeeps in La Union (on the island of Luzon), you see tricycles everywhere & it's actually my favorite way to get around (when not driving — we also don't have Grab in La Union). And in Luzon, our jeeps are mostly Mercedes or BMW (what I like to call the n*zi models, LOL). However, in Mindanao, I noticed their jeepneys were a mix of n*zi models & also the Japanese models (I mostly saw Isuzu & Mitsubishi, & probably others). Here's a few jeeps in motion while getting to ride in one! They also didn't have tricycles, but they had Bajaj 3-wheelers which are typically ridden for shorter distances. Didn't get any photos of any, but you can look them up here, if you're curious.

Butterflies

These photos are all out of sequence, but I wanted to share this image last. After exploring Iligan with friends for the day, they brought me to a malongan, a shop that sells malongs. For a long time, I've been drawn to butterflies, & I immediately spotted a malong with a butterfly pattern. My friend & I both agreed we'd never seen a malong with butterflies on it. Of course I had to get it. After some shopping, we stepped out to end up at the Tubod River (I think this is the one).

Upon stepping out to the river, we noticed a black butterfly landed on my arm & flew away. When my dad passed away years ago, I remember a black butterfly staying on the ceiling above his casket for days during the week-long wake. Not sure exactly who was communicating with me this time, but could feel this was a messenger from the spirit world making sure we were protected on this trip.

Part 2 of my Mindanao trip is forthcoming, followed by a special announcement on why I'm in the Philippines again for TWO months!

If you've read this far, thank you! 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!

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Final Assignment at GCC

Front cover, center spread, back cover composite:

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

Center Spread Collaged with back cover detail:

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

5th-8th Assignments at GCC

Assignment 8:
Inside Out/ Favorite Window

Assignment 7:
Blur/Sharp

Assignment 6:
Flashlight Portrait

Assignment 5:
Flash Fill with Portrait

Dia de los Muertos at Heritage Square Museum

Mindanao Part 2 of 2: Bukidnon & Kaamulan

Kaamulan Fest

Abbey of Transfiguration

Mindanao Part 1 of 2: Bai Ming's World & Iligan

MISC ILIGAN...

Paseo de Santiago

Tambo Public Market

Beadwork Workshop at Espasyo Creative HUb

Jeepneys of Iligan

Butterflies

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

NICA AQUINO

Archives

Categories

Final Assignment at GCC

Front cover, center spread, back cover composite:

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

Center Spread Collaged with back cover detail:

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

5th-8th Assignments at GCC

Assignment 8:​Inside Out/ Favorite Window

Assignment 7:​Blur/Sharp

Assignment 6:​Flashlight Portrait

Assignment 5:​Flash Fill with Portrait

Dia de los Muertos at Heritage Square Museum

Mindanao Part 2 of 2: Bukidnon & Kaamulan

Kaamulan Fest

​Abbey of Transfiguration

Mindanao Part 1 of 2: Bai Ming's World & Iligan

MISC ILIGAN...

Paseo de Santiago

Tambo Public Market

Beadwork Workshop at Espasyo Creative HUb

​Jeepneys of Iligan

Butterflies

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

NICA AQUINO

Archives

Categories

Assignment 8:
Inside Out/ Favorite Window

Assignment 7:
Blur/Sharp

Assignment 6:
Flashlight Portrait

Assignment 5:
Flash Fill with Portrait

Abbey of Transfiguration

Jeepneys of Iligan