This photo was taken during sunset in 2023. I had just gotten my driver's license and my brother and I came across two large boats heading towards the horizon. My brother and I ran out of the car, and took a picture of him pointing to the boats. This picture is special to me because it marks a good memory spending time with my younger brother on a spontaneous drive together. The image encaptures the stillness of the evening and the mystery of the boats moving into the horizon. During this same outing, I took a picture of the Golden Gate Bride with the fences and locks. When returning to class with these images, I expiermeneted by morphing the two together. Making the two images into one image adds creativity and uniqueness and drama to the image.

I love this photo because is a great representation of childhood and coming of age. My childhood bestfriend was in town visiting and we decided to go on a little adventure to point reyes. When we were there we found an abandoned barn and decided to explore further. My friend Darby, with adventurous spirit within her decided to climb on the roof. As we continued to look around the barn I found this window and asked if she could hang her feet within the frame. I think this image is visually compelling and represents a great coming of age narrative, as my friend and I have also grown up together but grown apart when she moved. Nature can connect people in ways nothing else can and bring back memories from the past that you wish to hold forever. This image depicts the harsh realities of growing up, when often we get to busy focusing on things we can't control. This image demonstrates that it is ok to take a step back an enjoy the little moments life bring us. Sometimes you just need to let your inner child come out.

This is a self portrait I created earlier this year. It was taken by the tunnel in the Berkeley Rose Garden, just before the sunset, where the lights from the tunnel created a beautiful outward glow. I wanted to convey a sense of mystery, making the viewer wonder what was creating the strange glow. I tried to convey this through my posture as I was posing, as well as during the editing process.

My Image is of a Seagull on the beach looking at its reflection, but turned sideways it looks like a heart. My image can be perceived by people differently. I like to make my viewers think and wonder about my work, and let them decide what my picture resembles to them. My friend thought it was just a seagull on the beach, but another said it looked like a heart and it reminded them of their grandpa who is scared of seagulls. To me I see a really pretty heart made of a seagull and its reflection. But when I see this photo it also reminds me of when I took it. I was on the beach with my family and friends. I had brought my camera but the sky was really dark and cloudy so I was disappointed I didn't get any cool photos. We were packing up and I was tying my shoes while they started walking towards the exit of the beach, so stopped tying my shoes and started running towards them but then my shoes got sand in them, and the chair on my back fell to my side, so I yelled at my mom to wait for me and she yelled back we'll be by the car. And so I sat down to tie my shoe and when I looked up, there was this weird seagull just looking at itself in the water so I pulled out my camera and started photographing it.

This photo was one of my first self portraits. Originally assigned to me at school, self portraiture was not something I was initially drawn to. Though a bit apprehensive at first, I tried to have fun with it and decided to use it as an opportunity to experiment more with lighting. Cramped into the corner of my room, I made this set up using my tripod, an LED light, a sock, a clothing hanger, and an extra birthday candle. I really wanted the photo to be interesting and have more than just a gradient of colors, so while the lighting is the most striking part of the photo, I decided to express bits of myself through the subtle choices in clothing and accessories.

It's my most innovative artwork so far.

This piece is a reflection of self doubt. It's demonstrating how your own thoughts can be the most detrimental, and the feeling of being surrounded by your own mind. I took this picture in my schools theater as it's the darkest place in my school. I had my friend pose as the model because I felt she could create what I pictured.

I am Areyto P.A., and in 2022, I captured my photograph titled "Diaphanous" using a Pentax K1000 with Portra 400 film. The name "Diaphanous" was inspired by my uncle's immediate exclamation upon seeing the photo, and he encouraged me to submit it for this grant opportunity. At the time I took this photograph, I had recently discovered the rule of thirds, and I was eager to incorporate it into my craft in the hopes of enhancing the aesthetics of my work. To achieve the desired effect, I crouched down to get both bars in alignment with my younger sister, creating the illusion of her being much larger while emphasizing the difference in size between her and the other children in the frame.

Look Up To Love is a photograph that was taken from the inside of the Borra Caves in Ananthagiri Hills of the Araku Valley in Andhra Pradesh, India. The title, Look Up To Love, signifies the notion that in order to find the beautiful things in life, like love, it is important to have a positive mindset. Looking up symbolizes moving on from losses in the past.

I recently have been getting into portraits. My friend and I went to the dollar store and picked up some props. My inspiration behind this work was the subject trying to reach an unattainable goal. There are many small parts of the photograph that add to this idea such as the heart shaped glasses and the balloon with a happy face on it. The idea of freedom and happiness was supposed to be conveyed by how he is floating away and free.

My name is Jack P. and I am a student at University High School. I believe photos capture one moment in time, leaving the viewer to wonder about the rest of the story. As a story-teller, I am often interested in the tension between nature and people. This scene struck me while out walking around Point Reyes, National Seashore. There is a rugged beauty to the area: the boat, while hauntingly beautiful, is a product of what mother nature’s wrath can do. And yet, the whole scene was so peaceful and dream-like because of the heavy clouds surrounding it. During post production, I tried to highlight the essence of that tension. The clouds on the left of the boat show a blue tint, and to the right, a yellow-gold tint. I wanted to draw the colors out through editing to emphasize the serenity and isolation the viewer experiences. The blues are meant to represent the sad part of the story, the brutality of nature, and the forgottenness of the boat. The yellows are meant to capture the happy side of the story, the peacefulness of the scene, and the shockingly beautiful contrast between the natural landscape and manmade boat.