Focus. Click. Capture.
Ever since she received her first point-and-shoot camera in sixth grade, junior Julia Walter has captured everything through the eye of a lense.
Walter said that photography is a creative outlet for her.
“It’s a lot of creative control on my end. If I have an idea, I will just contact people for a shoot,” Walter said.
When looking through the lense, Walter sees a different side of the world.
“Seeing everything through my camera is different. It’s amazing to get to explain an event or scene in a picture because there is a whole different meaning,” Walter said.
Walter always finds away to picture even the simplest things.
“It is like a shoot I recently did where I took color swatches and held them in front of the same color wall. I took a different take and turned it into something to shoot,” Walter said.
Walter has just recently begun her own business, Walter Photography, where she features students from around Marin along with shots from her travels.
“I will usually rent out a studio for the day or use outside scenery to take portraits of people,” Walter said.
Once she takes the photo, Walter edits it to play around with the coloring and other aspects of the photo.
Some photos she edits lightly, but in a way one wouldn’t normally see it. For example, in some of her shoots, she creates a tiling effect of multiple photos on one print.
According to Walter, the editing process is one of the main parts of being a photographer.
“It is where you can play around with the meaning. I could take a picture of a simple scene, but by cropping it, playing around with the colors, adding text in, or editing it in another way, the photo is easily transformed,” Walter said.
In most of Walter’s works, she incorporates her advanced drawing abilities as well as her eye for graphic design.
For instance, one shoot she conducted featured a boy and girl covered with intricate drawings that she did herself. She drew on them with pen ink, almost like a tattoo.
“I like to apply makeup on the people I am shooting or add drawings because it creates a more interesting message when looking at it,” Walter said.
Right now, Walter has just started a shoot about the perception of teenage love, which will take place in the San Francisco. She will provide clothing as well as makeup for her models.
After the shoot, she plans to edit and upload the best shots to her Flickr page.
Walter earns money through her Flickr page and people asking her to do shoots. On her Flickr page, “Julia Walter Photography,” she posts all of her prints available for purchase.
“I really enjoy displaying my photography. It gives me a sense of pride showing my work to other people,” Walter said.
Walter is currently trying to get in contact with Live Nation, an entertainment company, to take pictures for BFD, a concert happening in June.
“If it all works out, I will be able to get backstage to shoot. I have never shot at a concert, so I think it would be an exciting experience,” Walter said.
Walter plans to take her love for photography to college. This summer she has submitted portfolios for a summer camp at Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA), a four-week photography program.
