Some may associate the word “photography” with taking a picture of the sunset on their iPhone, but to others, it means catching the winning goal of a soccer game on a Canon 70D. Despite their differences, they both share one thing in common — capturing a second frozen in time through the click of a button.

The ability to pause and create a beautiful moment, in a thousandth of a second, is what inspired senior JP O’Donnell to start his photography career, he said.

“I wouldn’t be anything without a camera,” O’Donnell said. “[I hope to] create a moment that people can have forever, and inspire people to follow their dreams.”

O’Donnell said he hopes to pursue a career revolving around photography.

“[As a photographer,] I see myself living in Los Angeles and hopefully working for a dance magazine or a photography company,” he said. “Maybe [I’ll] even open my own studio eventually.”

O’Donnell said he prefers taking pictures surrounding dance.

“Photographing dance [is] special to me because I’m passionate about both photography and dance,” he said.

Junior Megan Folmsbee said she favors taking portraits and pictures of people.

“It’s so fun to have a friend model for me and see their excitement when I’m done editing,” Folmsbee said. “People themselves are pretty interesting creatures, and being able to capture the differences between them is an incredibly beautiful thing.”

Similar to O’Donnell, Folmsbee said she loves expressing herself through her art, which can be represented through her photography.

“When I was a freshman, I had a ton of older friends that I met through a couple of events and church,” Folmsbee said. “All of them were really into photography and had me model for them a lot. Then, after that, I began to love being behind the camera more than I loved being in front of it.”

When starting her photography career, Folmsbee said she compared her artwork with other talented artists and constantly doubted whether or not she knew what she was doing.

“Being confident in your work, because it is your work, is extremely important,” she said. “Every day you can learn something new about absolutely anything, but never doubt what you already know You are smart, so be confident.”