Cassidy Stone, a senior at Urbana High Schooland has been pursuing her love for photography throughout most of high school. Stone is in Photography 3, and this will be her third time taking Michael Heller’s Photography class.

Stone’s interest in photography started her sophomore year but did not fully hit her until her junior year. Along with Heller’s class pushing her to become a better photographer, a professional photographer by the name of Anse
l Adams became her role model and defined th
e type of photographer she aims to be. Adams flips back and forth between color and black and white, while Stone uses only color.

Similar to most artists, Stone has invested money into her photography, spending a pretty penny on computer software to enhance her photos.

When asked what her favorite setting is in the field, Stone said “I really like shooting in a fast shutter speed and I only shoot in Manual, so I control all my settings myself.” The faster the shutter speed is, the shorter the time the image sensor is exposed to light; the slower the shutter speed, the longer the time the image sensor is exposed to light. If you are photographing a subject that is in motion, you will get different effects at different shutter speeds.

Along with settings in the field, Stone keeps elements like lighting and the rule of thirds in the back of her mind. The rule of thirds comes in handy when lining up a subject with the guide lines and their junction points, placing the horizon on the top or bottom line, or allowing precise features in the image to go from section to section.

One thing Stone wishes she had known when she started taking photos is how hard it is to focus on one subject. Stone educates herself about taking better
pictures by reading books or articles that give beginners tips, and she has also found Pinterest to be a lot of help.

Out of all the different types of art she could have c
hosen, Stone said, “I chose photography because I can’t draw, I can’t do anything else and because people think taking pictures is easy and I like being the best at what I do. So for photography I want to take the best picture possible for my age. It’s more than just taking pictures to me now.”

She said, “My favorite photo is my sunset photo from over 2016’s summer.”

After high school Stone wants to go to Frederick Community College where she will pursue free-lance photography and hopefully get a job taking senior portraits, family photos, and maybe even become a photographer for National Geographic or Discovery Channel.