“Photography captures moments that words can’t,” junior Jazlyn Fisher said. 

There are three key components to a good photo: light, subject, and composition.  Fisher keeps these critical elements in mind each time she picks up her camera and shoots. This is Fisher’s first year in AP Photography, and she has always loved taking photos despite being a novice photographer. 

“Prior to the class, I just loved taking pictures of everything,” Fisher said. “I think photographs are really important components because they capture a lot of things that we can’t always remember. Sometimes photos just capture those moments perfectly.

A typical day in the photography classroom for Fisher consists of editing the photos she took over the weekend, a major aspect of photography that often does not receive enough credit. Editing allows the photographer to tweak any lighting issues and truly brings a photo to life with the touch of a few buttons. 

“Our prompts are loose and we kind of just do whatever, but we always need to get [assignments] done by the end of the week,” Fisher said.

To Fisher, the hardest part about photography is finding inspiration especially when there are so many other photographers with similar styles. It can be difficult to approach themes with a different perspective and the difficulty can be discouraging.

“One of my other interests is music and that inspires me when I’m taking photos,” Fisher said. “I can take emotions and ideas from some of my favorite artists, favorite songs, and use them towards a theme or an idea when doing a photo shoot. When there’s an upcoming photoshoot, I create a Pinterest board that surrounds the idea that I’m trying to gravitate towards.”

Oftentimes, with art comes criticism. While it may sting at first, criticism provides one with a new perspective and can help them grow into a better person, or in Fisher’s case, into a better photographer. 

“One of my photography teachers looked over one of my works and told me that I lacked a little bit of originality,” Fisher said. “It hurts your ego a little bit, but I think that’s what you need. That’s what pushes me further as a photographer.”

This school year, Fisher looks forward to capturing more portraits rather than just nature and still lives. She is anticipating putting together work that she can submit in her AP portfolio and one theme she plans to shoot around is youth and the purity of early childhood.