My name is Piper Beers and I am a senior at Polaris ELS and I am currently enrolled in Cree Bol’s Intro Photography class. Although this is not the first photography class that I’ve been enrolled in, it is the first photography class that I’ve gathered a lot of new knowledge and skills from. I’ve never been much of a photographer, and I’ve never had much confidence in my picture taking abilities, but I believe this class has given me the proper skills to create photos that are pleasing to me.

I generally enjoy taking and looking at very somber, desaturated portraits. I find the human body and the face in particular, very intriguing. Having the opportunity to work with the studio lights in the class allowed me to take the photos that I wanted to take and give my photos just the right amount of light.

As I mentioned before, I don’t view myself as much of a photographer. It’s likely that I feel this way because, before this class, I didn’t have the skills, or equipment, to take high quality photos that I enjoyed. Now that I have the skills and the equipment to take the photos I like, I feel more confident about my work.

The most wonderful thing about photography, in my opinion, is being able to capture a moment. Though I do think, creepy, black and white portraits are stunning, I love candid shots of people doing regular everyday things, or smiling at a friend, or catching them mid-sneeze. These moments feel so real and human and it’s a great feeling to capture those moments through a lens.