Photography Club captures the most picturesque moments in the lives of Elkhorn South High School students. Off the bat this year, they have worked together to set up a breathtaking, lavender-colored photobooth for homecoming. In addition, they have received several photo submissions already, enough to introduce a competitive project as one of their upcoming plans. President Prisha Agarwalla (junior) gathered a variety of photographs from the members that the club will be able to vote on.
“We’ve set up a Photo Booth for homecoming and had several meetings that let us share our photos. This was a small club competition to get the year started, so we just asked club members to submit their best pictures and had a little vote to make things fun. We will be hosting a school-wide photography competition in semester two.” Agarwalla said.
In the last two club meetings on Fridays during TA, the club leaders and members got the opportunity to share their talents and discover things about each other through photos. There were several different categories on a Google form, and in the first meeting, they could vote for a couple of photos from each category. In the most recent meeting last Friday, the votes were narrowed down to the ultimate final round.
“During the first few meetings, we introduced the plans for the year and showed the members pictures of events we hosted last year. When we started collecting photos from our new and old club members, we realized that we had a wide range of photographers. There were several really impressive photographs.” Agarwalla said.
Members of Photography Club all share a passion for taking pictures and sharing them with others, which is what made this competition enjoyable for everyone. Several participants were excited to share their photos and exciting moments captured in frozen time, such as sophomore Misty Yang.
“I like taking photos because they let me enjoy and stay in the moment,” Yang said.
One club member that Agarwalla was dazzled by was sophomore Brandon Tackett, who submitted lively and majestic photos of dogs, nature, and the radiant sky throughout several times of the day. Tackett took the competition a step further by utilizing cameras and his spectacular photography skills to produce candid photos.
“I just recently got a Fujifilm xt-30 ii camera so I took most of the photos with that! The ocean and palm tree landscape I used a cheap Kodak EKTAR H35 film camera because I love the look of the film! Lastly, the golf cart photo was taken with a vintage digital cyber shot camera that I found” Tackett said.
Another member who expressed the club’s love for photography was sophomore Sarah Shu, who ended up making the final round. She emphasizes how you don’t need to make your photos expensive and professional, as long as you love taking photos and remembering certain memories from the moments you capture.
“I love photography because when I’m looking at what I’ve captured, I’m not just looking at the scene, but also the memories and emotions tied to the photo. I encourage everyone to get into photography regardless of skill. It doesn’t have to be anything fancy, just to capture the emotions of the moment, because in the future (though it may not be apparent now) these memories will be worth looking back on. Another thing I enjoy about photography is the fact that it doesn’t require fancy or expensive tools to generate good results. Sure, a good camera helps, but it’s expensive, and ultimately, anyone can do it with just their phones at home.” Shu said.
Vice president Esha Vadde was eager to see how the results would turn out, as she was completely awed by the stunning pictures that the group took this year. She makes it clear that the members have a real talent for photography, which they can utilize in and out of the club in the future.
“All of the pictures in the final round are exceptional. The members have a real knack for photography. The pictures are of different styles and concepts which makes them unique, and I love the versatility. All of those in the final round did an amazing job, and a great job to the person who wins. Those who did not win still did an awesome job.” Vadde said.
As Photography Club’s leaders and members anticipate the results to determine the winner (who will win a prize), Agarwalla is delighted to receive an introduction to the skills and passions of this year’s group. This kick-off competition to the club is only a start to their exciting plans for this 2023-2024 school year.
“I’m really proud of the members for submitting such astonishing pictures, and I’m really excited to see their photos grow as we move through the year,” Agarwalla said.
