I have found a new favorite hobby in photography. Art has been a big part of my life, and before photography, I took multiple 3D art classes and a commercial art class. I've always had an interest, especially after watching my sister as a school newspaper photographer. She was a part of the photography program at my high school her junior and senior year, and I decided to follow in her footsteps. I saw what amazing images she and her classmates created, and wanted to be able to do the same. My best friend, who is the current newspaper photographer for our school, and I signed up for the introduction our junior year as a half year course, where we worked with 35mm cameras and real film. We learned how to manipulate the camera's settings such as ISO, aperture, and f-stop to create some really astounding images. Then, our teacher taught us how to properly develop a load of film, cast the pictures onto photo paper using an enlarger, and create stunning prints. It created the groundworks for how to operate a camera, and gave me some practice on thinking outside the box. Photography is all about thinking differently and seeing your subjects in different lights and angles.

This year, I've signed up for the advanced photography full year course, and it is by far my favorite class in my entire schedule. We are working with film and digital cameras, practicing different lightings and different subject matters. My teacher has reinforced the ideas of manipulating the camera's settings, whether on film or digital. We are learning how to use the lighting sources to portray a message, and how to really work creatively. This year, my teacher will help me enhance my Photoshopping skills and attempt new projects, such as Cubisms. My class is made up of some very talented photographers, and we all challenge each other to think outside the box. We will be going on field trips to places like Eastern State Penitentiary and just recently went to Longwood Gardens to practice capturing still life, as well as using techniques like Rule of Thirds and natural framing. Here are some pictures from that trip:

We will do in-class photo shoots as well, and try new subjects for each shoot. One shoot we did towards the beginning of the year was flour photography, as pictured below:

Photography is a hobby I want to continue throughout my high school and college career, because it challenges my artistic skills and is just so relaxing. I encourage everyone to try something new and find a hobby that really interests you like photography- it gives you a sense of accomplishment and once you start, you never want to stop.

Links to more of my work:

Longwood Gardens

Portraits

Flour Photography