My name is Aubrey Graham and I am a lifer and sophomore at Fresno Christian. I have been in many school activities such as sports, choir, leadership and CSF. 

My interest in photography started in the summer of 2019 and it took off from there. It took a full year to earn enough money to buy my first camera, Sony Alpha a6000. I started off small with photoshoots of my friends or in my backyard but my knowledge of cameras was very limited. 

As the time came to pick my schedule for sophomore year came, my only option was to join The Feather. This was not my first choice and I definitely did not want to do it by myself, so I asked my friend, Taylor Beckworth, ‘23, to join with me. 

“Initially,” Beckworth said. “I really dreaded joining The Feather, but I only did it because of Aubrey.” 

Beckworth has been my friend since 1st grade and we’re still going strong through high school. We share many memories together at Fresno Christian, from elementary choir trips to sixth grade Hume Lake camp and Calvin Crest. 

“I never realized how much I’d learn and now it feels like a family,” Beckworth continued. “It is now my favorite class and I can not wait to join again next year.” 

Since I have joined The Feather, I have learned so many valuable things such as camera settings, editing photos, and writing a small article to connect to the reader. I have also learned the value of hard and persistent work that will produce something that people will be interested in. 

Some of my favorite memories on The Feather is when we all come together as a team and help each other to make our articles, photos and videos better.

I hope to use my new knowledge of being a photojournalist by expanding my small photography business and hopefully making it a side job as an adult.  I appreciate that Kori James is my advisor because she is a hard worker, very understanding, and has relationships with other photographers, such as National Geographic. To contact Kori James for photoshoot info, go to her Instagram page @cmpkori.

Each day I learn new qualities and have new experiences to not only become a better photojournalist but a better person. My goal in 5 years would be to attend college in California and have small photography business shooting weddings, people, and events. 

This article is a contribution to Scholastic Journalism week #SJW2021.

If interested in a photo shoot, visit @aubrey.photography.1815

For more articles, go to the feather media page.