top of page
Portfolio
Click on the photos to learn more about each series and see all the photos within it. For the most up to date selection of my photography see my Instagram page, @bells.psd
National Gallery Shoot
(From Instagram post)
If you’ve been watching my account you’ve probably noticed I’ve become utterly obsessed with going into DC and the fact that there are just so many?? free museums near me?? And, being myself, I couldn’t exist near all these museums and not take pictures there. I spend a lot of time in the Smithsonians, but, on a trip to the Smithsonian art museum(s) Maya and I got lost and ended up in the National Gallery. Lots of very confused wandering later we realized we were, in fact, in the wrong museum. Anyways, I loved the art there which led to a group photoshoot adventure with her and our other friend, Sierra — the two of them win eternal brownie points for putting up with my photoshoot naggering and they did an absolutely phenomenal job modeling/putting up with my inability to verbalize my ideas (there’s a reason I usually shoot self portraits).
If you’ve been watching my account you’ve probably noticed I’ve become utterly obsessed with going into DC and the fact that there are just so many?? free museums near me?? And, being myself, I couldn’t exist near all these museums and not take pictures there. I spend a lot of time in the Smithsonians, but, on a trip to the Smithsonian art museum(s) Maya and I got lost and ended up in the National Gallery. Lots of very confused wandering later we realized we were, in fact, in the wrong museum. Anyways, I loved the art there which led to a group photoshoot adventure with her and our other friend, Sierra — the two of them win eternal brownie points for putting up with my photoshoot naggering and they did an absolutely phenomenal job modeling/putting up with my inability to verbalize my ideas (there’s a reason I usually shoot self portraits).
Outer Banks (2024) Shoot
(From Instagram post)
“Any solitary pleasure that was sorrow in disguise”
So I’m a bit crazy when it comes to music (my minutes listened on Spotify was 222,792 last year and I am quite proud of it) and Hozier is my favorite artist, thus, I couldn’t not take photos when he released new songs. I’ve wanted to do music-related photos for my AP Photo project for a while now, and this seemed as good a time as any. (My project is about escapism and, unsurprisingly, music is one of my go to forms of escapism — I think my airpods spend more time in my ears than in their case.) Also, I was at the beach for spring break and it’s become something of a tradition to take photos there every year, so I figured why not take music photos on the beach. I would’ve liked to put song lyrics on these, but I don’t have Photoshop access when I’m not at school and I didn’t have the patience to fight with Photopea. All that to say go listen to Hozier, you won’t regret it.
“Any solitary pleasure that was sorrow in disguise”
So I’m a bit crazy when it comes to music (my minutes listened on Spotify was 222,792 last year and I am quite proud of it) and Hozier is my favorite artist, thus, I couldn’t not take photos when he released new songs. I’ve wanted to do music-related photos for my AP Photo project for a while now, and this seemed as good a time as any. (My project is about escapism and, unsurprisingly, music is one of my go to forms of escapism — I think my airpods spend more time in my ears than in their case.) Also, I was at the beach for spring break and it’s become something of a tradition to take photos there every year, so I figured why not take music photos on the beach. I would’ve liked to put song lyrics on these, but I don’t have Photoshop access when I’m not at school and I didn’t have the patience to fight with Photopea. All that to say go listen to Hozier, you won’t regret it.
Time Traveler Shoot
(From Instagram post)
“How could he explain to them his prayer / That nature, not art, might usurp the canvas?”
These might be my favorite photos I’ve done in a while, and shout out to August-me’s decision to make my “sustained investigation” prompt for AP photo really broad ‘cause I have no clue how I could’ve fit this idea into a narrower prompt. (For those who know how AP art classes work, my sustained investigation is “How can I portray the feeling of escapism through photography” and my guiding question for this shoot specifically was “How can I demonstrate the escapist element of creativity/creation.”) The idea for these came the day I got my wisdom teeth out, which was really inconvenient given self-portraits aren’t really an option when your face is still swollen to twice it’s size (wisdom teeth removal: 0/5 stars, would not recommend). But it ended up working well because it forced me to take time to think through the idea, instead of just going with the half-thought I started with. I’m really not sure what my next shoot will be — usually I start thinking about it as soon as I finish a shoot, but I realized I hadn’t done any of the reflections/journal/etc. stuff I need to do for my photo class in months, so I’ve been busy tryna get that all done. Anywho, I hope y’all like these, and if you don’t, well, too bad, I think they’re pretty cool.
Quote by “The Painter” by John Ashbery
“How could he explain to them his prayer / That nature, not art, might usurp the canvas?”
These might be my favorite photos I’ve done in a while, and shout out to August-me’s decision to make my “sustained investigation” prompt for AP photo really broad ‘cause I have no clue how I could’ve fit this idea into a narrower prompt. (For those who know how AP art classes work, my sustained investigation is “How can I portray the feeling of escapism through photography” and my guiding question for this shoot specifically was “How can I demonstrate the escapist element of creativity/creation.”) The idea for these came the day I got my wisdom teeth out, which was really inconvenient given self-portraits aren’t really an option when your face is still swollen to twice it’s size (wisdom teeth removal: 0/5 stars, would not recommend). But it ended up working well because it forced me to take time to think through the idea, instead of just going with the half-thought I started with. I’m really not sure what my next shoot will be — usually I start thinking about it as soon as I finish a shoot, but I realized I hadn’t done any of the reflections/journal/etc. stuff I need to do for my photo class in months, so I’ve been busy tryna get that all done. Anywho, I hope y’all like these, and if you don’t, well, too bad, I think they’re pretty cool.
Quote by “The Painter” by John Ashbery
Experimentation with Color Shoot
(From Instagram post)
These photos were a lot of experimentation and hoping for the best, but, for the most part, I like how they turned out. I wanted to play around with color and movement and I think I was successful on that front at least. The biggest issue was my overestimating how well I could extend the background in post and having to get really creative in trying to fix that. In unrelated news I got my wisdoms teeth out a few days ago and would really like to be able to eat normally.
These photos were a lot of experimentation and hoping for the best, but, for the most part, I like how they turned out. I wanted to play around with color and movement and I think I was successful on that front at least. The biggest issue was my overestimating how well I could extend the background in post and having to get really creative in trying to fix that. In unrelated news I got my wisdoms teeth out a few days ago and would really like to be able to eat normally.
Smithsonian Art Museum Shoot
(From Instagram post)
This isn’t my usual stuff, but I was in D.C. and ended up taking a LOT (like, several hundred) of photos, some of which turned out really cool
This isn’t my usual stuff, but I was in D.C. and ended up taking a LOT (like, several hundred) of photos, some of which turned out really cool
Thriller Aesthetics Shoot
(From Instagram post)
“For there is no explorer so intrepid or daring that he would dare to walk the road to hell—no matter how it may be paved.”
I’ve gotten into frigid water fully dressed for the sake of photos twice in the past six months — you’d think i’d’ve learned my lesson the first time, but clearly not. This is the second shoot I’ve done for my AP photo project and it went far better than the first. The goal for this one was to convey a sense of eeriness and fear; for those curious, my “guiding question” for this shoot was “How does genre — in this case, thriller — impact the feeling of escapism?” I don’t usually do photos for one series in multiple locations, but I’m glad I did because I was able to do so much more with it (shocking). I also tried new editing/formatting techniques, namely the blurring and overextension, and I think it worked well, so I’ll try to do that more in the future.
Quotes from Leigh Bardugo's "Ninth House"
“For there is no explorer so intrepid or daring that he would dare to walk the road to hell—no matter how it may be paved.”
I’ve gotten into frigid water fully dressed for the sake of photos twice in the past six months — you’d think i’d’ve learned my lesson the first time, but clearly not. This is the second shoot I’ve done for my AP photo project and it went far better than the first. The goal for this one was to convey a sense of eeriness and fear; for those curious, my “guiding question” for this shoot was “How does genre — in this case, thriller — impact the feeling of escapism?” I don’t usually do photos for one series in multiple locations, but I’m glad I did because I was able to do so much more with it (shocking). I also tried new editing/formatting techniques, namely the blurring and overextension, and I think it worked well, so I’ll try to do that more in the future.
Quotes from Leigh Bardugo's "Ninth House"
Magic of Books Shoot
(From Instagram post)
AP Photo project one is done (hallelujah). Sometimes I do a shoot and it’s the easiest thing ever. This was not one of those times. I was really excited about the idea initially, but I started actually working on the project and stopped liking it, then was editing and half the photos didn’t turn out at all like I had intended so I ended up cutting them from the series.
I’m enjoying having this long term “guiding question” type thing, though. My photos the rest of this year will probably all be for my AP Photo project (but, because of the subject I chose, they won’t be all that different from my usual stuff). I started planning my next shoot and I’m excited about that—I may do a mini shoot for halloween/as part of it, so I might post one of those on the spam account next week
AP Photo project one is done (hallelujah). Sometimes I do a shoot and it’s the easiest thing ever. This was not one of those times. I was really excited about the idea initially, but I started actually working on the project and stopped liking it, then was editing and half the photos didn’t turn out at all like I had intended so I ended up cutting them from the series.
I’m enjoying having this long term “guiding question” type thing, though. My photos the rest of this year will probably all be for my AP Photo project (but, because of the subject I chose, they won’t be all that different from my usual stuff). I started planning my next shoot and I’m excited about that—I may do a mini shoot for halloween/as part of it, so I might post one of those on the spam account next week
The Raven Cycle Shoot
(From Instagram post)
Well, it’s been a minute, but I finally got to shoot again, which (because I get Photoshop through my school) may be the only good thing about school starting again.
Thus far senior year has been…a lot. College applications and essays and forms are like a living nightmare and I’m ready to be done already. BUT. I’m in AP Photo this year, which means working on a yearlong project, and mine is about visual escapism and storytelling, which I’m really excited about. This series wasn’t intended for that project, but it’ll likely be included because it’s heavily influenced by a book ("The Raven Cycle").
I had a lot of fun with this project, and hopefully school won’t entirely overwhelm me so I can keep doing fun things like this
All quotes from Maggie Stiefvater's "The Raven Cycle"
Well, it’s been a minute, but I finally got to shoot again, which (because I get Photoshop through my school) may be the only good thing about school starting again.
Thus far senior year has been…a lot. College applications and essays and forms are like a living nightmare and I’m ready to be done already. BUT. I’m in AP Photo this year, which means working on a yearlong project, and mine is about visual escapism and storytelling, which I’m really excited about. This series wasn’t intended for that project, but it’ll likely be included because it’s heavily influenced by a book ("The Raven Cycle").
I had a lot of fun with this project, and hopefully school won’t entirely overwhelm me so I can keep doing fun things like this
All quotes from Maggie Stiefvater's "The Raven Cycle"
Teenage Summer Shoot
(From Instagram post)
“i chased summer, an endless sea of wildflower meadows and warm memories” - angie weiland crosby
by some miracle it is finally summer. for two months there are no more tests, textbook readings, 2am study sessions, or days running on a handful of cheerios and three hours of sleep.
this is my last summer as a true high schooler, and, with college applications looming, it won’t be entirely school-free, but i wanted to shoot something that captured a piece of what a teenage summer feels like.
i’ll be working/out of town for a lot of the summer so i probably won’t get to work on anything new for a bit (and, because i get photoshop through my school, i’m limited in terms of editing), but hopefully i’ll get to do at least one more shoot. in the meantime, happy summer! congratulations to anyone who just graduated, and to everyone else, congrats on making it through another year!
“i chased summer, an endless sea of wildflower meadows and warm memories” - angie weiland crosby
by some miracle it is finally summer. for two months there are no more tests, textbook readings, 2am study sessions, or days running on a handful of cheerios and three hours of sleep.
this is my last summer as a true high schooler, and, with college applications looming, it won’t be entirely school-free, but i wanted to shoot something that captured a piece of what a teenage summer feels like.
i’ll be working/out of town for a lot of the summer so i probably won’t get to work on anything new for a bit (and, because i get photoshop through my school, i’m limited in terms of editing), but hopefully i’ll get to do at least one more shoot. in the meantime, happy summer! congratulations to anyone who just graduated, and to everyone else, congrats on making it through another year!
Outer Banks (2023) Shoot
(From Instagram post)
“the blue seems eternal” - Virginia Woolf
If you’ve been around for a bit you might remember I did beach photos around this time last year. That time I got to do it with my friends which was a lot of fun; when we went back for spring break this year it was just my family so I did self portraits this time which were a lot of fun, though significantly more awkward given it was a public beach and I don’t think shooting in public—especially self portraits—will ever not be awkward. I will say that the weather was much nicer, I was absolutely frozen getting in the water but at least I wasn’t getting frostbite from the wind.
AP exams start this week which may be the end of my sanity but I’ve enjoyed working on these in between cramming psych vocab and causes of European wars into my head. I’m planning out another shoot as well and hopefully when exams are over I’ll get to do that one (and I think it’ll be another one with my friends which I haven’t done in a minute). For everyone else cramming for exams right now (especially seniors), I feel you, try to take care of yourself, don’t stay up too late (she says hypocritically), and you’ve got this!
“the blue seems eternal” - Virginia Woolf
If you’ve been around for a bit you might remember I did beach photos around this time last year. That time I got to do it with my friends which was a lot of fun; when we went back for spring break this year it was just my family so I did self portraits this time which were a lot of fun, though significantly more awkward given it was a public beach and I don’t think shooting in public—especially self portraits—will ever not be awkward. I will say that the weather was much nicer, I was absolutely frozen getting in the water but at least I wasn’t getting frostbite from the wind.
AP exams start this week which may be the end of my sanity but I’ve enjoyed working on these in between cramming psych vocab and causes of European wars into my head. I’m planning out another shoot as well and hopefully when exams are over I’ll get to do that one (and I think it’ll be another one with my friends which I haven’t done in a minute). For everyone else cramming for exams right now (especially seniors), I feel you, try to take care of yourself, don’t stay up too late (she says hypocritically), and you’ve got this!
Shadow & Bone Shoot
(From Instagram post)
"When I was a child I was afraid of the dark. When I got older I learned that darkness is a place and it's full of monsters." - Shadow & Bone S1E1
The quality of these is all over the place because I was on a bit of a time crunch (also the characters included are based on who I could come up with ideas for, not how much I like the characters, though these are all great characters). Anything by Leigh Bardugo is absolutely amazing and I’ve been impatiently waiting for season 2 of the Shadow & Bone show since season 1 released so I figured I had to do photos for the show. I have plans to binge the entire show this weekend and I don’t apologize for the person I’m about to become. If, for whatever reason, you haven’t read/watched anything from the Grishaverse or by Leigh Bardugo you should go do that, they’re all amazing.
"When I was a child I was afraid of the dark. When I got older I learned that darkness is a place and it's full of monsters." - Shadow & Bone S1E1
The quality of these is all over the place because I was on a bit of a time crunch (also the characters included are based on who I could come up with ideas for, not how much I like the characters, though these are all great characters). Anything by Leigh Bardugo is absolutely amazing and I’ve been impatiently waiting for season 2 of the Shadow & Bone show since season 1 released so I figured I had to do photos for the show. I have plans to binge the entire show this weekend and I don’t apologize for the person I’m about to become. If, for whatever reason, you haven’t read/watched anything from the Grishaverse or by Leigh Bardugo you should go do that, they’re all amazing.
Old Painting Shoot
(From Instagram post)
“do not weep, do not wail, i am coming home to you” - Thus Always to Tyrants by @theohhellos
usually there’s a whole thing i write here but the entire story behind them is that i discovered the oil paint filter and listened to the oh hellos a lot and now i have these photos (i also discovered the @backagainpodcast while i was shooting and it’s amazing so that definitely inspired some of these)
“do not weep, do not wail, i am coming home to you” - Thus Always to Tyrants by @theohhellos
usually there’s a whole thing i write here but the entire story behind them is that i discovered the oil paint filter and listened to the oh hellos a lot and now i have these photos (i also discovered the @backagainpodcast while i was shooting and it’s amazing so that definitely inspired some of these)
Surreal Shoot
(From Instagram post)
“the eyes are the windows to the soul”
i’m not really sure where the idea for these came from but i had a lot of fun working on them. i’ve never used a projector in my photos before so trying that was cool even though it was a bit trial/error. i also discovered the oil paint filter on photoshop and i’m a little bit obsessed. anyways, so long for now, i’m off to start another project (that may or may not be heavily inspired by my new love for the oil paint filter), have a wonderful day, go drink some water, eat some chocolate, and follow @bells.psd if you don’t already :)
“the eyes are the windows to the soul”
i’m not really sure where the idea for these came from but i had a lot of fun working on them. i’ve never used a projector in my photos before so trying that was cool even though it was a bit trial/error. i also discovered the oil paint filter on photoshop and i’m a little bit obsessed. anyways, so long for now, i’m off to start another project (that may or may not be heavily inspired by my new love for the oil paint filter), have a wonderful day, go drink some water, eat some chocolate, and follow @bells.psd if you don’t already :)
Radio Silence Shoot
I will be the first to admit that I spent I ridiculous amount of time on this project. While my friend and I shot these photos in August, because of school and other projects, I didn't edit them until December. Regardless, I think they turned out pretty cool. Over the summer I read "Radio Silence" by Alice Oseman multiple times and I fell in love with not just the book, but the podcast within it (to others who have read the book, please tell me I'm not the only one disappointed to learn the podcast doesn't actually exist). The aesthetic of that podcast are what led to this series; the posing and props were meant to be a loose representation of Radio, the host of this fictional podcast.
Ghost Shoot (2022)
I was so excited to do these photos again not just because they’re fun but because they hold a lot of personal value. Last year I made a video as a result of this trend that ended up doing really well and while I try not to be influenced by how many likes or follows I have, seeing people enjoy my content when I was just starting this account was incredibly rewarding and motivated me to keep going. I also submitted the photos I took last year to the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards and ended up winning a gold key at the regional and national levels which really showed me that I could do something with this whole photography thing and that people actually thought my work was good. All of that to say this trend is incredibly special to me and being able to see how I’ve improved since last year made it even better.
School of Magic Series
The idea behind these was of a “magic boarding school” with a very heavy purple theme and were largely inspired by me wanting to create photos similar to my early photography. Admittedly, I don’t love how they turned out but there’s definitely been improvement since last year which is exciting to see.
Magical Woods Series
Over the summer I ended up stuck in my room for a week because of COVID -- after the first few days I was mostly symptomless (but still testing positive) so I decided to make the most of my time and work on some new photos. There are some woods near my house so I walked there with half an idea and (7 hours of editing later) ended up with these. This is another of my favorite series, and was a fun done-in-a-day summer project.
Dreamy Shoot
I got up at the crack of dawn to take these just for the fog. While these photos are not nearly as technically complicated as most of my series they were a fun day project and I love how they turned out. Because I get Photoshop through my school I don’t have access to it over the summer so for the most of the editing I used mobile Lightroom to edit. I also wanted to use a couple overlays though which meant returning to my roots and using Photopea (essentially free, online photoshop that’s kinda sketchy and very glitchy) which was an adventure. While these are a lot simpler than most of my projects, and took significantly less time, I love the manic-pixie dream vibe.
These Violent Delights Shoot
To this date the photos from this shoot are some of my absolute favorites. After reading the second book in the These Violent Delights duology (Our Violent Ends) by Chloe Gong I had to take photos inspired by the books because the world and aesthetic were amazing. My friends and I went home early after our AP exam so, faced with a random afternoon off and lacking the thought capacity to be a functioning human I decided to do this shoot. It was my first self portrait series in several months and I was excited to be working within my comfort zone again. The cinematic feel to these photos, the color scheme, and the props make this series one I am really proud of.
Light Painting Shoot
These photos were absolute chaos to produce. My photo teacher challenged us to create photos using light painting. While it's not a style I plan to use much in the future it was a lot of fun to try out. Because of my general lack of knowledge in this style my friends and I spent the better portion of our Saturday working on these; we got some pretty funny photos out of it and, eventually, some really cool ones.
Outer Banks Shoot (2022)
Some of my favorite photos (of my own) are from this series. Because of the location (I needed to wait until spring break), schoolwork, and Photoshop being uncooperative this shoot took nearly five months from planning to completion. We also had to do these twice because of weather and various other technical difficulties (my poor planning skills). Regardless I had a lot of fun with these and, as always, loved being able to shoot with my friends.
Spiderman Shoot
Contrary to what this series implies I am not a Marvel fan. My friends have been trying to get me into the movies for about a year now and have been unsuccessful, in fact, I think I've slept through almost all of them. I am, however, a Spiderman fan (the Andrew Garfield ones), mostly because of the absolutely beautiful cinematography. While I don't particularly enjoy videography myself, I love watching what other people can do with it. This shoot was a lot of fun to do because I got to run around taking fun photos of my friends. Some of the final photos I still love, while others not so much, but most of all this series taught me a lot about Photoshop and what I could do with it which has been beneficial for my overall skill. It was also my first series with my own camera (a Nikon D5600) which was very exciting.
Caroline's Series
Rather than being a portrait series this originated from a project for my photo class where I had to take pictures of my town. Not wanting to go alone I asked my friend, Caroline, if they’d come with me. Originally I said he wasn’t going to be in the photos, the project being about the town not my friend, but I started taking pictures (of him) as a joke and it ended up being a lot of fun because they would just keep doing whatever they were doing (before I took the photo) which led to a lot of really cool, mostly candid photos. I love how these turned out and I'm still thankful to Caroline for putting up with my nonsense.
Maya's Series
I don't entirely remember what prompted this shoot other than that it was for my photo class but I continue to be thankful to my friends for indulging me, in this case my best friend for a decade and a half, Maya. While these aren't my best photos I still quite like them. They were also the first time I really shot in public, these photos being taken on spots along the "major" roads in our area which remains a little awkward but gives me far greater opportunities in regards to background/shoot location options.
Snow Day Series
Unlike many of my projects this was almost entirely unplanned, prompted simply by my excitement for it to have snowed and my (at the time) recent acquisition of a crown. I had a lot of fun with this one, though I had to go inside several times to defrost and the frigid weather officially ended the functionality of the already struggling camera I had been using up to this point. The joy in running around in the snow and wearing fun clothes, along with the ability to create fantasy-like worlds from my surroundings really encompass my favorite parts of photography.
Ghost Shoot (2021)
This is one of the few early projects I can truly say I'm proud of. The photos themselves mark a pretty significant improvement in my style and editing skill but they have led to my general photography success in a lot of other ways as well. They forced me to learn to photograph other people- thus, learn to communicate my ideas with others, something I don't need to do when I'm my own model. It was also because of these photos that my Instagram account gained a bit of a following; a reel I posted inspired by this shoot brought nearly 700 new followers which gave me confidence in my photography I didn't have before. Perhaps the biggest outcome of this shoot, however, came several months later when, at the prompting of my photo teacher, I submitted a few of these photos (along with several others) to the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards. I have more about this competition under the "Scholastic Awards" tab, but, in short, a triptych of these photos I submitted won a national award. All of this taught me that this hobby I had could actually be something I was good at and encouraged me to keep learning and keep trying.
Early Photos
My first few months of photography were a lot of trial and error (in all honesty this remains the case, however, I choose to believe my current attempts are more successful). Though I don't like most of these photos they remain on my Instagram page and several of them are here because an embarrassment I feel over them is outweighed by my desire to show that we all start somewhere. While I wouldn't say I'm proud of these photos, I'm proud of the progress they show.
First Photo Series
These are the very first photos I posted on my Instagram account and one of the few series from my first few months of photography to get their own space on here because these are the photos that got me into photography. I still think these are some of the coolest photos I've taken, despite being some of my simplest projects, both shooting and editing done through the basic iPhone camera app. While I have certainly improved greatly since taking these they mark the start of my foray into photography.
bottom of page