Nyasa hit me up after seeing Azalia’s graduation invitation photos, which I shared on Facebook, and I was so honoured that she liked the photos enough to trust me to photograph her graduation invitation photos as well!
It was forecasted to rain on the day of our shoot, so we planned to do most of our shoot indoors, specifically in Carpenter Library and the Quita Woodward Room. But we lucked out and it didn’t end up raining, so we were able to shoot a bit outside too! I think I’m pretty reliable when shooting outdoors with natural lighting, but I was really nervous about shooting indoors. I’ve seriously got to learn all the manual settings on my camera.
The indoor part of our shoot proved difficult for me, but I really like how that second photo turned out with the orange tones and the blue glow in the background; I love orange and blue. I also like how soft that photo is. And then the two photos under that feel a little more bold but also cool and relaxed, which I like too; I just wish that the colours and lighting worked out better!
Nyasa and I didn’t plan anything before the shoot, but upon meeting, we established that we wanted to capture her in spaces on campus that she spends a lot of time at, and we wanted to keep it happy and energetic — all the good vibes for graduation! So of course, we had to take a shot with the books!
And finally, we’re outdoors! I love the energy from the photos above. Unfortunately the sun was shining right behind her, but I tried my best to fix it through post-processing. Usually I prefer to shoot in the mornings when the sun is softer, but seeing as it’s later in the year, I figured that shooting in the afternoon wouldn’t be too bad because the days are shorter/start later and end earlier. I really gotta figure out my manual settings man.
SHE’S GLOWINGGG. I just. Literally glowing!!
It’s been awhile since I’ve seen Nyasa. We first met during a program the week before college started, but other than seeing her a few times around our freshman dorm, I hadn’t seen her much since, albeit I haven’t seen most Mawrters for a long time since I’m almost never on campus (I’m always at Haverford instead of Bryn Mawr). But I remember that my first impression of her was that she’s so strong and so well-spoken and I wanted to give snaps to everything she said (if I knew how to snap properly). I met so many amazing women (and men) during that program, and it got me psyched for my four years at Bryn Mawr.
It definitely feels really special that my photography was able to reconnect us for the briefest moment. I think my blog and my photography has opened a lot of connections for me in real life. People get to see a part of me that they don’t get to see when we’re all stressed out and rushing around campus. They get to see how I see things. And some share the way they see things with me, and I do my best to capture it — all the strong, soft, and beautiful things.
If you’re a Mawrter reading this and looking to hire a photographer in the spring semester, hit me up! You can check out more of my photoshoots here.