La Vida Bonita Photography
WORK BY YADIRA BARRERA
Violet
In this photo, Violet Ollague served as my model. I’ve always had this idea of taking photos in Downtown Bakersfield but nobody was ever willing to act as my model. Violet helped me carry out this plan in multiple locations around the area. These pictures were intended for my portfolio from the beginning. Ollague was happy with the outcome of these photos and I was as well.
My idea for these photos were simple and, thanks to my model, I was able to see my ideas come to life. It is hard to shake off a plan once you’re set to completing it. I feel that this photoshoot was one of my most successful ones and I’m incredibly proud of these shots. I do think that I can work on making the subjects look straighter instead of at an angle. The time these photos were taken was well thought out for lighting purposes and the locations chosen turned out to be beautiful. These photos earned their way into my portfolio.
Modern Little Red
The objective of this project was to create 5 scenes inspired by fairy tales. I chose to take photos inspired by Little Red Riding Hood. My outline was a lot different than the final product but that's okay. I don't believe i have accomplished the goal but I did end up with photos that i was beyond happy with. I tried to go for a Modern Little Red type of photo shoot and I think these pictures came out pretty great.
Little Red Riding hood obviously needs the recognizable red hood. I was not able to find one, however, leaving me to be a little more creative. I think the the little throw actually gave it a bit more of a modern feel. The location was actually the part I was the most proud of. I chose to take these pictures in front of Derrel's Mini Storage on the side of a busy street. I think these pictures did a pretty good job of turning something so simple into something so beautiful. If I was given a second chance to take these photos I would really like to incorporate more of the original fairy tale into the photos. All in all, i love the photos and i think it does a good job of showing my style of photography.
Tribute
This is one of my closest friends. Karely Leon. I have photographed her in numerous photo shoots and I have had the privilege in being able to see her confidence in front of a camera grow. This photo was taken the same day I was shooting a tribute to Selena Quintanilla.
I included this photo because of the greenery in the background and the sunlight hitting the leaves and of course because of my model. She has happiness in her eyes and confidence in her stance. I think that this gives of empowerment at a small level
Sunset Beach
Every year, my family takes a trip back home to the bay area so that my parents can do their taxes. For them to be able to de-stress, we go to the beach and enjoy the day. I thought this would be the perfect time to take photos. Here I have some of of my favorite nature shots from that day.
I decided to include these photos because they make me feel at peace and eager to explore the outside world. I hope that anyone viewing these two photos get at least a small sense of that. I love the contrasting colors of the tree stump in the yellow flower meadow. The picture of the bird just amazes me because every little detail is visible.
Puppy Pit 2018
I took a crazy amount of photos of these dogs. Not only was I excited to be able to document this amazing day, I was happy to see everyone with genuine joy on their face. The picture on the left was one of my favorites along with my photo on the right.
I love genuine emotions so naturally when I saw the photo of the girl holding a puppy with a smile on her face I knew I had to add it to my portfolio. I also added the photo of the dog on the right because i was happy about the fact that i was able to keep that puppy still, long enough to be able to take the photo.
Cheese
This adorable little girl is my youngest cousin Roselynn Bree. I was visiting my grandma and she asked me to take photos of the baby. I get a lot of good shots this day but this one caught my attention because of the seriousness of her face.
Roselynn was fascinated with the camera, making it easy for me to take photos of her. Overall, i had a lot of fun taking these pictures and Cheese was loving the attention.
Yellow
The picture of the balloons was actually part of a much larger personal project. My goal here was to practice and experiment with color theory. The color yellow is supposed to represent: cheerfulness, joy, and friendliness. I thought using yellow balloons work perfectly for this. Unfortunately this photo shoot wasn’t entirely a success. This was the only picture I was actually able to enjoy. I kept this photo because I like the contrast between the green of the Pines and the yellow balloons.
I took this photo a couple of months after I bought my camera. It was my dog, Luna, who I first took detailed photos of without the camera set on auto. After seeing the first good picture I took on “Manual Mode”, I was encouraged and motivated to keep going. I took several photos of Luna throughout the first year of her life and this is still my favorite.
The worst part about this picture was the process behind it. Luna was a very hyper puppy and getting her to settle was not easy. After playing with her for a while she finally sat still long enough for me photograph her. It was the first photo, using my DSLR camera, that I was proud of. The colors are even, not too dark and not too bright, and the detail of her guy really stand out. It’s one of my best pictures.
This photo was taken while in the process of a completely different project. I looked over at my friend and saw the perfect looking shadows casting over her face. The picture was not planned at all. The way the sun and the shadows were playing on her face just caught my eye and I felt the need to take a picture. The way the sky looked was an added bonus.
The overall shot came out amazing. I was very pleased with the outcome although I was able to see areas in which I could improve. The subject’s face does seem a little dark but the light coming through the hat seems to compensate for that. Because of that light shining onto her face, the light and dark aspect of the photo is what I like the most. I chose to include this photo in my portfolio because not only was this picture captured without intent, it is also simple and beautiful.
This photo was taken for a project called “Psyphotology”. The point of this picture is to try and figure out what kind of person you are using both photography and psychology. This project was a bit hard because the picture that was taken of ourselves was taken by a person other than ourselves. We didn’t have any control. According to Photographer Steve Hurley, the way a person reacts to having a camera pointed at them can say a lot about them.
The hardest part of this assignment was having to have my own portrait taken and then having to use that photo in the final project. This piece really made me think hard about what kind of person I am and I quickly came to the conclusion that I don’t know who I am. I’m still finding myself. In the two days that I sat thinking about what kind of person I am, I made a lot of self discoveries. I am a person who is quiet but my mind is as loud as a beating drum.
I grew up in Santa Cruz County CA. When I went on a visit back to Santa Cruz my intention was to capture dozens of photos to take pieces of my hometown back with me. I took over 100 photos in the few hours I was at the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk but, this was instantly my favorite. My goal was to capture photos that appeared effortless, colorful, and peaceful all at once. When I saw this picture I felt the freeing feeling of being in the air. That’s what I wanted to capture.
I like how this photo turned out. It was a bit difficult trying to find the right settings to shoot on this day. The sky was bright and yet really cloudy. I was extremely happy when I went through my photos and found this. Even though the sky is very bright, it doesn’t take away from the colorful pieces of the Seaside Swings. It’s liberating. I chose to include this photo because it makes me feel closer to home.
Manny the praying mantis was an unplanned photo. I was carrying him around for awhile when I realized that I could use this as a photo opportunity. I couldn’t decide where to take his photos until I sat him down on our willow tree. I wanted to capture a photo that you had to stare at for a while. I photographed nature on nature.
If i could go back and improve anything, I’d take the out-of-focus leaf and and move is so that it wouldn’t distract the viewer. I am happy with the contrast between the background and the praying mantis. The brightness of the background makes the details in the foreground pop. Overall, I feel that this is one of my best pictures because, even though it was difficult to capture, I was able to come through and photograph natural beauty.
Self portraits are my least favorite photos to take. If it were up to me, I’d never take them. This photo was only taken because it was assigned. The objective was this: Create something that portrayed how i felt this past year. I felt a little incomplete but towards the end it was as if i found most of myself. The photo actually means something to me.
I tried to make this photo hard to decipher. One can’t just look at a small portion of the photo but the entirety of it all. The photo could have been better if i was farther from the camera but i had to work with what I had. My face is hardly visible but that is okay because I am shy and that could portray that side of me. This photo earned it’s right to be here because when i look at it I know what it’s saying. It makes me feel.
My little sister Lailany modeled for me during this mini photo session. The objective of this project was to shoot in the styles of professional/ Master photographers. I chose : Philippe Halsman, Jessica Kobeissi, Brandon Woelfel, and Jerry Maestas. She and I both had a lot fun during this photoshoot and I was pretty happy with the outcome.
I feel that the photo I attempted to take in the style of Brandon Woelfel still needs a lot of work. I could’ve improved that by waiting until the day got a little darker before i took the picture. Over all I really loved the photo i captured of Lailany jumping as we tried to create a photo similar to those of Philippe Halsman. This Photo is in my portfolio because I hope that anyone who sees this photo will take a look and just smile. It makes me happy and I’d hope that others would be able to sense her happiness through the photo.
