I first took serious interest in photography in high school. I went to an excelled school as a kid that provided me with the opportunity to take more classes than your average high schooler.
In addition to the surplus of credits available, we were offered a multitude of classes, all ranging in genre. There were elective math classes, science, history, digital design, and arts. Me being more of a creative mind, chose to go with mostly art electives. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve always loved taking pictures and I’ve found myself generally good at capturing moments, but I wanted to learn all the technical elements that go into making a professional photograph.
So I signed up for Photography 1.
All summer I did research on photography, growing quite excited for the class itself. Once the school year rolled around again, I was introduced to my teacher Ms. Marigold. She was a young woman in her mid twenties recently graduated from a local college. I knew she was a relatively new teacher because I had never seen her around in the three years I had been at my school. The first day of the class we did a project to get to know one another. We had to find a photograph within our camera rolls and online to come up with a collage that represented who we were on the inside, not simply the outside.
I ended up picking a few pictures I had taken myself over the past few months. One was of me at my job, working with animals. It had come to impact me and the person I was. Another was me laughing as I played piano due to messing up a song I was playing because my friend had walked in screaming. I felt this represented my free soul and my love for music. The final picture I chose to go into my collage was a picture of me hiking at a local park. I loved adventuring and being outdoors, it was my favorite place to be. This activity brought out a soft side in many of the students and it helped us build a strong relationship foundation. Throughout the year we learned all about one another as well as the perfect positions for taking the best photograph. Ms. Marigold taught us how to use Photoshop to “enhance not change” our photos.
It was truly the least stressful class I had and I was always excited to find out what new projects we would be taking on every month. Halfway through the year, my parents noticed how excited I was getting about my photographs and learning more about photography. On Christmas they surprised me with a brand new high end camera. I was overjoyed. I was able to take photos any time I wanted and I began to make it one of the most important parts of my day. Ms. Marigold put the joy of photography in my heart and it has stayed with me to this day when I now make a living off of it.
Photography still brings joy to my heart and I love capturing all the important moments in life.