iPhone 14 / Alma, Michigan / September 2023

The camera obscura is a tool that's been used for ​thousands of years by artists and astronomers. To ​recreate this, I covered all light sources in my ​room like the windows to make the darkest room ​possible. The light that hits the aperture is ​inverted onto the opposite wall and transports the ​outside world into your own. Successfully capturing ​this in good focus made me feel like a spy, ​discreetly observing from the darkness of my room.

iPhone 14 / Alma, Michigan / September 2023

This series of photos were taken on a rainy day in the small ​town of Alma, Michigan. I captured 27 photos at 9 different ​locations, but could only keep one image from each location. ​Because of this, I was forced to create a mental image of ​what I wanted and do my best to recreate it with a camera. I ​tried to challenge myself by playing with the depth of field ​and the focus of objects in the photo. I enjoyed playing with ​light reflections off the wet roads and sidewalks and how ​that would affect the outcome of the photo. As I biked ​around town to capture these photos, everything except the ​items in my bag became drenched. At a certain point, I ​found myself unbothered by the rain and inspired by the ​captivating scenes it had created.

iPhone 14 / Alma, Michigan / October 2023

The lighting of a photograph has a massive ​impact on the mood and tone of the image. In ​this collage, I took four different pictures and ​attempted to show emotion through the lighting ​and facial expressions. I used a laptop and ​phone to change the colors of lighting around ​me and attempted to use different directions of ​lighting to portray different emotions.

Staged Still

Sony ZV-E10 / Alma, Michigan / October 2023

A man peers inside of an old and broken ​down building grasping the handle on ​the shattered glass door. The bushes ​are overgrown and slowly hiding the ​building's wounds. A curvy dirt ​pathway splits around both sides of the ​abandoned building. The only thing ​illuminating the scene is the light being ​diffused through the dense clouds.

Make it move

iPhone 14 / Alma, Michigan / November 2023

By taking a series of still images ​and arranging them sequentially, ​one can create the illusion of ​motion. I created this stop ​motion at 12 frames per second ​and used a total of 146 frames. ​Making a paper airplane is ​something often done out of ​boredom or loss of attention ​which I often feel when doing ​large amounts of work. The ​airplane’s only goal is to ​preoccupy me with the actual ​work, ultimately leading me back ​to where I started.

Blind Spot

Sony ZV-E10 / Alma, Michigan / November 2023

The camera is naturally drawn to ​dancing or the nascent similar to ​our eyes. In this case, it captured ​the lack of movement and ​calmness of the water crashing. ​The camera helps reveal aspects ​that our eyes would skip over at ​first glance. I focused on this ​spot along the Pine River in the ​park. The view of this bench ​along the trail caught my eye—​particularly the neglected feel of ​the bench and leaf-covered path.

Montage

iPhone 14 / Alma, Michigan / November 2023

The order in which shots are ​placed relative to one another ​changes the effect of the ​sequence. I created a montage of ​Pizza Sam’s in downtown Alma. ​I attempted to use a variety of ​shots to capture the restaurant. ​The playoff games were starting ​a few days and they were getting ​ready for a busy weekend. I