“Say ‘cheese.’” This is something everyone has heard before, whether it be in a church directory photo shoot or at a family event with that one relative who feels the need to document every second. In any case, there is always a photographer behind the big and somewhat intimidating lens. A photographer, who is serious about their work, except when it comes to making you smile.
At Ouachita, there are many of these photographers who are passionate about the art of photography. A few of them are Sam Pascoe, Alex Blankenship, Andy Henderson and Austin Sowerbutts, all of whom not only juggle college work, but also their own photography businesses.
“I’m in the process of doing everything legally to actually have sole proprietorship, paying for sales taxes and stuff like that, which is difficult,” Sowerbutts, a sophomore business entrepreneurship and Christian studies double major from Hot Springs, said.
However, other student photographers are less official.
“Call me an extreme hobbyist if you will. A lot of it’s for fun, for enjoyment. If I’m not going to enjoy the project, then I’m not going to help it out. It’s just really nice how it works out how I get to do shoots, and videos and photos for friends—people who are close to me,” Blankenship, a sophomore mass communications major from Little Rock, said.
Running a business while in college comes with some responsibilities as well.
“It’s sometimes difficult to manage that with school. I sometimes want to skip class and go shoot instead,” Henderson, a junior mass communications major from Royse City, Texas, said.
This seemed to be a commonality among the group, since they are all so passionate about photography.
When it comes to running the business, the best way seems to be by word of mouth.
“After I got hired for my first wedding, people saw that, and then word of mouth spread throughout the church I was at, and the church I’m at has [about] 13 different campuses. So, I started getting hired all over the state for different things,” Pascoe, a senior biology major from Conway, said.
Although using word of mouth is a technique they all use, each photographer has their own unique story of how they entered this art.
Henderson grew up going on mission trips with his family to different places around the globe. So, he decided he wanted a “little bitty two-megapixel camera” to document his trips.
For Blankenship and Sowerbutts, they began documenting–as many others do–on an iPhone.
“When I got my first iPhone, I all of a sudden had a camera with me all the time,” Sowerbutts said.
“I wanted to be YouTube famous, and I was having trouble promoting my YouTube, and a friend introduced me to Instagram, and so I started taking pictures with my iPhone 4,” Blankenship said.
As for Pascoe, her dad used to film her and her family on an old video camera when she was young. Going on different trips, specifically skiing, Pascoe can remember when she got the chance to video her dad skiing. She later became interested in photography.
“I really got into it right after I graduated, and then somebody asked me to shoot their engagements,” Pascoe said.
Proposals happen to be Sowerbutts’ favorite events to photograph.
“Shooting proposals is so cool, because it’s just the two new fiancés together, and you’re just there in the moment with them and it’s really, really, really special,” Sowerbutts said.
They also enjoy photographing individuals who are excited about being photographed.
“I just like seeing happy people. I just love seeing people in their element,” Pascoe said.
Since they are documenting people during special moments in their lives, the photographers are able to be a part of these important memories.
“You get to document one of the greatest days of their life and really jump into their life and share those memories and experiences with them,” Blankenship said.
Not only do these student photographers enjoy photographing people in their elements, but they also love capturing the elements.
“If you go to a certain place, you can almost capture what it felt like to be there using certain tones or editing in a certain light or filters, whatever you need. You can kind of portray what it felt like to be there, to experience what you experienced, and it really brings people together,” Blankenship said.
Henderson’s favorite thing to photograph is abandoned places and buildings.
“You can tell that it’s abandoned because the thing that’s missing is people…So usually, I like to bring someone out there,” Henderson said.
Henderson finds this unique because he places “people where they’re not supposed to be.”
They all agree that photography is a unique and important art, and they love what they can do as artists.
“I feel like photography is kind of like a visual journal, and it’s like you don’t have to sit down and write, but it’s just as vivid. You get to capture memories,” Sowerbutts said.
– By Ethan Dial, staff writer
