At North Central, a few dedicated individuals live their life behind the lens of a camera, capturing the highlights of other people’s achievements. They spend hours at events shooting photos and later editing them to satisfy others, often without anyone noticing their story or how they fell in love with their life through a lens.

Sophomore Eli Priests discovered his love and talent for photography toward the end of his freshman year.

“I became interested after I started to take a lot of pictures of the landscapes around me with my phone and wanted to try with a real camera,” Priest said.

Priest says he got inspired by a lot of creators on social media.

“I find a lot of inspiration through other photographers I see on media like instagram and also styles of image I see in movies or TV,” Priest said. “I realized that I really enjoy taking pictures of sports and also landscapes when I travel.”

While he does it because he enjoys taking pictures, photography comes with its challenges.

“It’s challenging to go through and edit photos, but I’m motivated by having different people come up to me and ask for pictures from me specifically instead of a different photographer,” Priest said.

That recognition, he says, keeps him motivated. Priest also sees photography playing a role in his future.

“I want to continue it in college or beyond or at least try to find a career that photography or design tie into,” Priest said.

Photography is more than just clicking a button on a camera. Priest has enhanced his understanding of how to adjust settings and edit photos to satisfy others.

“I try to use vibrant colors that appeal to the eye and sometimes change different settings on my camera to create a different style many photographers overlook,” Priest said.

Priests may not always be in the spotlight, but through his lens, he helps others shine. With that, he says, it’s enough to keep him clicking.