2024 Submissions
Split
In my sustained investigation focused on shadows, I took a picture of my dad holding a lightsaber in the middle of his face. I wanted to create the illusion that the darkness behind him was engulfing him to the point where only the lightsaber was the only source of light illuminating him and the picture itself.
Action Photo
I went to my high school football game and I took some photos on the sidelines. I tried my best to take some shots with ball in frame or player to player action.
The Dynamic Dons
The Dynamic Dons was created at a volleyball game during the 2023/24 season. The night were the Dons needed to win to make it to playoffs. And with a hard fought battle all the way to the end, the Dons pulled out on top. Through the hurt and tears, the pure emotions flowed out from not only the players, but the students and families that were attending the game. The electric energy from everyone there, made the building shake. The Dynamic Dons was an emotional and electric moment.
Reflection
This photo was for a school project. It's one of my favorites, I love how the photo came out and It's always fun to take mirrored photos
tiny people
I took this photo during a school trip to coastal Oregon. I had never been before, so I was so excited to bring my camera and take photos! On the last day of the trip, we went to Multnomah Falls to see the Benson Footbridge, a popular destination. Though the bridge was beautiful, I was fascinated more by the view while standing on it and looking down. I shot this photo on my 85mm prime lens, so there the view from up top is “zoomed in” in my photo; in reality, everything below was even smaller. As both a photographer and environmentalist, seeing different people at peace in nature gave me a sense of immense joy: my motivation to take this photo. Every time I look at this photo, I pause as my mind runs wild, inventing backstories for each tiny person—visor-lady on the bench, the brown-jacketed person standing alone very far back, the family of hikers, and others. I hope this photo encourages others to have fun doing the same!
Snowy Summer Mountains
Creativity isn’t something you can force on yourself but rather something that your subconscious mind sees that you don’t. It is within nature that you begin to notice the small details such as the light, plants, and animals that roam around you. Within nature photographs, a journey takes place in which the artist walks for hours to find a perfect view of nature and scenery. Waiting for the right moment for an animal to show up and to complete the puzzle. Throughout the hike with the exhaustion involved the top is the only thing you can focus on reaching. Not even caring about the low water supply you have just have a feeling to make it to the top and see what was hidden. I’ve been searching for the right photo to snap a photo and on this trip to Sequoia it took three days just to find this view. In the middle of the forest, only the birds chirp hearing only your breath as you walk up the hills.
Lightning Man
I first used light painting to draw something that resembles lightning and I then adjusted it in photoshop and then I used the AI in photoshop to enhance this image.
Sugar
I took this image after burning a pie. I liked the way the melted sugar created highlights, and the abstract nature of the depth created by the lattice. My process consists of noticing a detail I like and then finding a way to frame it. Despite the burnt sugar, the pie was quite good.
Road Back to Nature
In this photo, I attempted to capture the duality between human adventurousness and nature's raw beauty. While walking back to my car from a hike, I witnessed this beautiful moment in which a thin blanket of clouds, vibrantly lit up by the setting sun, seemed to be flying over this valley. Knowing that this ethereal sight would be gone forever in just a few minutes, I took out my camera and began photographing it. Each click of the shutter felt like a preservation of time, freezing the ephemeral beauty of the clouds dancing above the landscape. As the sun dipped lower on the horizon, I became more attuned to the nuances of light and shadow. The scene became a visual dialogue between the untamed wilderness and the adventurous spirit of the human observer. Amidst the various perspectives I explored, it was the worm's eye view that resonated most profoundly with the essence of the moment. Crouching down, I framed the scene from the ground up, capturing the convergence of earth and sky. The juxtaposition of the rough, textured ground against the smooth, celestial expanse added an additional layer of depth to the composition. It was as if the very fabric of the natural world unfolded before me, inviting contemplation on the intricate balance between the tangible and the intangible.
In Time
This photo is a wildlife landscape taken at Seal Rocks Beach. Many times, we get caught up on the beauty of "Golden Hour," that we forget about the small window of time where the sky burns purple and pink. Through this long exposure, I captured the beauty of this brief, fleeting period of sunset before the sun fully dips below the horizon.
Azucena’s Flower
This photograph was taken for my digital photography class for a creative portrait project. My model is my now 13 year old cousin who was happy to collaborate with me. My idea behind this was to create a kind of old timey styled photo that had a sense of mystery and mischievous. I wanted to use red as the “pop” in the photo to show a sense of scandal, and I wanted to enforce that with the classic red lip.
Shadows of Friendship
This was originally an assignment for my photography class but then my teacher mentioned this competition and I thought I would enter. It's a picture of me and one of my friends shadows making a heart with our hands.
Companion
While spending a month over the summer at a ranch in Wyoming, not only was I blessed with the beautiful nature but the bonds that I found. While walking the ranch every afternoon I would always see the same two horses practically conjoined at the hip. I noticed them everyday for the whole time I stayed there wondering what they two think of each other. I immediately thought of my best friend who is now in college, imagining that we would act the same way if we were those horses, feeling free in a wide open field with nothing to worry about but time itself.
Words That Mean Beautiful
We caught the sun at a time that made her shine. She is a loving person but has a very stern face.
No Flying
I was looking to shoot a thing in motion for practice for fast shutter speed photography. I came upon this crow that was still on the ground and with that and the sign next to it, I had a thought of luring the bird up to the sign which would make for a good shot as it would catch it flying and almost at its landing.
Joy Through Rust
I recently went on a camping trip with some friends out in Copperopolis. I brought my school camera and a zoom lens with the hopes of taking some nice pictures of my friends. We ended up exploring during golden hour in an awesome golden field. I saw the car as seen in the photo and instantly felt drawn to it. It was run down, rusty, and clearly used for shooting practice at it was riddled with bullet holes. I knew I wanted to shoot using it as a key component to the composition, although worn down, I figured it would contrast well with my friend wearing similar tones to both the car and the background. The exultation he conveys contrasts with the nature of the car and I think it makes the piece whole.
Mid-flight
This photograph was taken while a seagull is flying around on Albany High School's campus. Flying around from building to building, this photo was captured right as it took off from the rooftop of the Albany High gym. Several were taken, but ultimately this displayed the most facial and physical features of the bird in a enhancing matter.