Photojournalism
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Photo by Lynn-Clara Tun
When I was little, I loved photography. My mom had a DSLR camera that I would always be playing around with. But as I grew up and began to get busy with homework and classes, I let photography slip away. In tenth grade was when I picked up a camera again after a long time to go along with my coverage of the $25 million budget cuts in my school district. After a few weeks of reporting, I realized that although my words were powerful, the impact was magnified with the human touch of images. There’s a real beauty in the technique of capturing a split second, and sometimes, words don’t do justice to the true emotion of a moment. Since then, I’ve become more and more willing to bring a camera with me when I go out to report – always ready to grab feeling and use that to tell the story.
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School Board Coverage
Like with many other things, the first time I really found myself with a camera in my hand as a tool for reporting was when I started covering the school board after the $25 million budget cut was announced. Through the next four months, I soon found myself growing more and more comfortable with this new weight in my hands. I started experimenting with the best ways to tell the story visually, and my pieces were certainly enhanced by the photos I had to go along with them.
Below are a few of the photos I had taken during this time. Some of them are from the following fall when the new School Board members were elected and when teachers were struggling with healthcare cost increases.
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Click on the photos to view them with their stories and captions.
Photo by Sara-Beth Badalamente
Huron English teacher Letitia Simmons stands in the protest with her sign.
Stock photo: Superintendent Jazz Parks looks down during a board meeting as people address their concerns regarding the budget cuts.
Someone holds a sign at the rally before the Board meeting at Pioneer High School on May 15.
Angell Elementary teacher Anne Ward claps with the crowd protesting healthcare increases at a School Board meeting on Jan. 29.
Stock photo: Board members Susan Schmidt, Ernesto Querijero and President Torchio Feaster (L to R) vote during a meeting.
AAPS community members held a rally before the School Board meeting on Wednesday to protest the rising healthcare costs for teachers.
Kamala Harris rallies in Ann Arbor before the election
These are more of the photos I had taken of the Kamala Harris rally. Captions are included with the stories.
On Monday, Oct. 28, Presidential Candidate Kamala Harris held a rally in Ann Arbor at Burns Park with running mate Tim Walz.
Many people in attendance were college students at the University of Michigan. Huron senior Julia Caird was also there. "I'm just really excited to see [Harris talk]," Caird said before the rally.
The audience had many unique signs they were holding up, including one that said "i'm so kamala" in the iconic brat-green format, referencing the popular social media connections between Charli XCX's album and Harris's campaign.
Unpublished: Huron junior Maddie Pale looks at the podium as the rally begins. Before Walz and Harris came out, there were other speeches by politicians and people native to the Southeast Michigan area.
Unpublished: Huron junior Janaki Nallamothu poses with her mom as the crowd filed into the park.
Unpublished: Huron junior Janaki Nallamothu poses with her mom as the crowd filed into the park.
During her speech, Harris emphasized the importance of getting out and voting, which received a lot of excited cheers from the crowd.
A young girl holds up a "vote" sign during Maggie Rogers' performance. The park was brimming with excited energy. "I am most excited about the crowd tonight," attendee Laurie Lachance said.
A girl at the rally holds her pink Kamala Harris cap and runs towards her family.
Practice how you play: Huron track team pushes the limit during practice
I went to track practice one day in the spring because I felt like it would be cool to showcase the behind the scenes of the sport. I enjoyed walking around the field and finding the different sports in each location. Captions are in the story.
During track practice, junior Alijah Armstrong (right) passes the baton to freshman Noah Hendren (left).
Sophomore Nolan Prevost practices marching over hurdles.
Sophomore Johnathan Pryor-Mcadam races around the track. "My favorite part of track is challenging myself," Proyer-Mcadam said. "[I set] the bar higher and higher each time I run so I can improve but also increase my confidence."
Freshman Gabriella-Rose Bourne does a form-training exercise.
Junior Noah Turner participates in shotput. "My experience at track practice is fun," Turner said. "We start off with a warm up then I either go throw or pole vault. Throwing making my arms sore, and vaulting makes my lower body sore. Both are a good workout."
Freshman Isaac Ellis (left) and Ocean Shelton (right) practicing sprints.
Huron shows school spirit at pep rally
Photographing the pep rally showed me the importance of identifying where the action is and getting myself there as fast as possible. I loved getting an on-the-ground perspective of this event.
On Friday, Oct. 17, Huron had their annual pep rally before the Homecoming dance on Saturday. Part of the event included pouring water on teachers if they got questions about Gen Z slang incorrect. One teacher who got water poured on him was Bruce Popejoy.
The color guard performed with the marching band. "Looking back at this season, I really only remember the positive parts of color guard even though it's been so much hard work," junior June Ye said. "I am so happy I was able to connect with so many new people and create such a strong bond with them, whether it was the happy parts or the traumatic rain practices."
Senior Neha Kumaran plays flute during the marching band performance. "My favorite part was being able to perform with my friends again, and I felt very content with it," Kumaran said.
The cheer team performed two cheers and one Cardi B dance. "For the cheers, I was just [going through] full motions, giving energy, saying the words and being loud enough," junior Laschelle Lord said.
A freshman in the student section claps during the pep rally. Senior Hailey Sell helped organize the event, and was very satisfied with how it went. "We wanted seniors to feel, 'This is the best pep rally we've been to' and freshmen to feel, 'there's going to be more pep rallies to come,'" Sell said. "It went really well."
Environmental Portraits
I've found that environmental portraits can be a great way of capturing the essence of a feature in an image. Click on the photos to view the associated story.
Booksweet owner Darcy Rhoden stands in her store. She and her husband took over the shop this summer.
Senior Elizabeth Bang with her Skyline riding horse, Wisteria, on a game day.