The dozens of pictures taken daily on phones can make people lose sight of the skill photography requires. With photographers needing to learn abilities ranging from staging to exposure to shutter speed, along with many terms most people have never heard before, photography is a complex art. SkillsUSA allows students in photography, in addition to other disciplines, to showcase their abilities. At this year’s SkillsUSA competition, senior Laura Salazar competed in photography where her submission featured a patio home building with unique architecture from Florida to earn third place and advance to state.

Focused. The picture. The mindset. Each has to be focused when it comes to photography if the desired outcome is to be achieved. Society sometimes attempts to dictate what individuals are capable of when they interpret a challenge as an impossible obstacle, but senior Steven Gonzalez proves that idea wrong. Though Steven faces difficulties because of vision loss he has continued to pursued his passion for photography with creative grace.

There’s more to a woman’s beauty than her outer appearance; a woman can be strong, smart, funny, or anything in between and still be beautiful. Senior Rowdie Bright made it her mission to capture the inner strength and beauty of women with her photography project titled Resilient Women. Rowdie captured raw photos of female students, showcasing their personalities, strength, and natural beauty.

Photography students competed at the Skills USA competition in Beaumont last weekend. The following students placed (* advance to state): Employment application process: Jacob Barrios – 2nd* Action Skills: Steven Gonzalez – 4th Photography: Taylor Garcia – 4th* Megan Murski – 3rd* Rowdie Bright – 2nd* Bridget Craig – 1st* Projects Rowdie Bright – 1st […]

Sweat drips from bodies as they’re pressed together, jumping to the rhythm that will leave them deafened by the end of the set. Smoke from the fog machine pours into the crowd as the lights blind everyone in the venue. The sound coming from the overly huge amps reverberates off every surface it can causing the ground to shake to the beat of the drums. Cellphone flashlights light the darkness of the pit like a galaxy of people. From the roaring crowd of a concert venue to the football stadium, and everything in between, there’s no shortage of opportunities for picture perfect memories to capture and senior Bridget Craig has positioned herself to be part of those moments.

A lot more than an image can be captured through the lens of a camera. A glimpse of human interaction can be frozen, a memory can be saved. A photographer is taught to pay attention to detail, to step away from a scene to catch the bigger picture, and how beauty is found in unexpected places. Photography teacher John Burrows teaches students not only how to search for these hidden meanings, but also how to find their own passion and spirit through learning. Because he struggled with school, Burrows’ goal is to make learning relatable and interactive for his students so that education isn’t as intimidating.

In the late 1800’s a peculiar type of art was rising and slowly becoming popular among the masses. With the invention of Brownie cameras by Kodak in the early 1900’s, photography became popular and progressive technology has led us to modern day DSLRs. Through cameras, pictures capture a moment in time and gives people the ability to create art.

With the recent advances in technology, just about every phone has one thing on it: a camera. This gives anyone the chance to freeze a moment in time simply by pushing a button.