Our school is not next to a manicured park. It does not have a lake next to it or even much surrounding it. On top of everything, it is still winter where we don't have gardens full of flowers and not much is blooming these days. There isn't a secret forest with all of these things hidden in it that we were able to sneak to during the school day to capture the images that follow.
Maybe that should have been mentioned after you looked at the photographs Spotlight students took things outside of our school that we may consider "eye sores" and made them beautiful. Thanks to the brilliant and creative minds of my students, things that we do not consider pretty such as weeds, dead grass, flooded areas, and sewers were turned into art (Even the bottom and floor of a school bus!).
I hope that you enjoy these as much as I do!
J. Nelson
Savannah Downing took weeds and made them look like she'd escaped and was laying down in a beautiful field. By shooting into the sun, she gave this photo an artistic edge that is truly impressive.
Spencer Bolhuis originally wanted to cross the soccer field to photograph a house in the distance. When he came across this clearing, he knew he had the perfect shot. I definitely agree.
The bottom of a bus. I never knew what it looked like, and I'm not sure anyone else would have either if it hadn't been for the creative mind of Tineal Banks. Who knew I'd think that the bottom of a bus was this cool?
I never thought I'd think a rock was something I'd like a picture of. Trey Meucci took other pictures, but we kept coming back to this one as our favorite. I really like the way the sun is shining down to cast a perfect shadow.
Occasionally things came out of pockets and snuck their way into our pictures. I love the green of this picture with the pop of the yellow pencil in it in this picture by Trey Smith. Finding a patch of green in the dead of winter was a nice addition to our collection of photos.
We always see power lines as ugly and distracting. In reality, we would be desperate without the power they provide. Thanks to Ashton Porter's great angle and perfect position to capture the best light, we can see this power line as a piece of art that we pass by daily without noticing.
The perfect focus. The blue sky that breaks up the various neutral colors. I could go on for days. The best word to sum up this photo by Beau Gordon is really just "wow."
This picture wasn't easy to take on a windy day. The leaf was flying around with a mind of its own, but Ben Rickman had a vision and was going to make sure he got the perfect picture. He did exactly that!
While this may look like a few broken pieces of old broken plywood, Brooke LeGrow made it an art exhibit.
The vivid red in the picture is so bright next to the empty winter garden. Carver Forbes filled the frame in this photo and even made the green weeds look beautiful.
"You're not allowed to touch the buses or get on them" was a general announcement I made. Leave it up to Cole Scott to get the picture he wanted without exactly breaking the rules. :) He took this picture through the window on the back door of a bus and got a photo that was definitely worth sharing.
With the help of Ben Rickman who wasn't afraid to get his hands dirty, Conner Lawson truly impressed me with this photo. I love everything about it because he took dirt and rocks and turned them into something beautiful which makes for an amazing picture.
No, we didn't take a field trip that you didn't know about. In between Overpark and CHMS behind the weeds there is a little creek that is truly just a drainage spot for water. By focusing in and making the water the focal spot in the center of the picture, Connor Hutto captured a breathtaking scene.
Wow. From the decision to make this photo in sepia to the the angle from where the photo was taken, I am in awe. This photo by Deborah Cowan makes me feel like I'm taking a scenic walk and am escaping from reality.
The bright green ball was the PERFECT addition to this photograph. The monotone colors are the perfect backdrop and the artistic edge is added
by having the ball slightly off center. Fantastic photo by Erika Taylor.
You wouldn't know it just by looking at this cool photo, but George Baggett accidentally took a picture of his shoe. After looking at all of his pictures, this was everyone's favorite. Sometimes accidents are great!
Again, I don't feel like I'm looking at something by our school. I've been transported to a state park and am on a hike. The best part about this picture is that Haley Parker took it in black and white and gave the viewer an entirely different perspective.
Look closely at this picture. Only a truly creative mind could see and think to capture what Jake Taber did. See the face? The eyes and nose and mouth that almost resemble a gargoyle? Very neat.
The angle makes this picture by Jordan Riecke stand out. This would have been a very pretty sight by itself, but he gave it an interesting twist. Literally. :)
Leave it up to Joseph Clark to find dried up hot glue on the ground and make it look cool. The contrast between the glue and the different colored rocks in the background are of the few of the reasons this is a great picture.
LOVE the shadows that are cast on this simple leaf. The lighting makes this picture by Kamri Posey look professional.
Definitely considered an "eye sore" by most of us, but the image captured by Katie McDaniel is perfect. She knew just how to align everything to get a great photo.
I'd never think to capture my own shadow. One of my rules when taking this picture is that we were outside and we should get pictures of things OUTSIDE- not each other or ourselves. I didn't mention shadows because I'm not as creative as Luis Gonzalez and didn't think to even mention shadows. I'm glad I didn't after looking at this picture.
The light behind this simple weed makes me look at this picture and think of a perfect summer day. That is hard to do with it being January! Michael Wilson worked hard to get this photo just right.
What a FANTASTIC picture. The pop of the green leaves contrast perfectly against the mulch. This is one of those pictures where Morgan Atkins had to get down on the cold hard ground for to get the perfect angle. It was worth it.
You have to look closely to even notice that Samantha Jeans has someone in her picture. Again, not exactly breaking the rules but pretty close. :) The neat thing about this photo is that the person in this picture is almost hidden which gives the impression that we are all one with nature. I'm all for rule-breaking when pictures come out like this one.
No, we don't have any totem poles on campus. You'd never know that this was a piece of wood that is not even a foot long because Chase Quinton took this picture from such an interesting angle.
Courtney South made a bunch of weeds actually look pretty. Not an easy thing to do! Rather than an area that needs to be mowed it looks like a meadow.
Kamren Grady made the foot of the person stomping the can look like a tough guy. This was actually garbage that I had them pick up as we were just walking around outside. This photo makes me laugh.
Don't worry- I made Katie Youngblood move the rocks back off the road after this picture was taken. My favorite part about this picture (and there are a lot of things I love) is that she had the concept in her mind of the exact picture she wanted to take. Best part? It was unconventional.
I love the angle of the bus used for this picture by Shelby Edwards. I love that she chose to do it in black and white as well. She had a lot of great ones, but this one was our favorite.
No, we don't have a lake behind our school. We do have an area that has flooded, but you'd never know that is what it is because Sherrice Wright captured it in a way that makes this area beautiful.
I'd never look at taking a picture of a light pole because I wouldn't think it would turn out very well. I especially wouldn't have looked at taking it from this angle. Chynna Lee truly proved me wrong because she made an awesome picture doing both of those things.
If you look closely, Jaci Kimble was creative enough to think to draw a heart in the dirt and take a picture of it.
It almost looks like we have a tiny Christmas tree beside our school that Jason Morales captured in his picture.
Katelynn Virgous transported me from Olive Branch, Mississippi to Phoenix, Arizona when I looked at this image. I love how the small patch of grass is slightly off-center giving an artistic edge to this photo.
It almost looks like the sun is rising in the background of the photo Jack Codemo took. He had a lot that were great, but we decided on this picture because it truly catches your eye and you want to stop and study it. Very neat picture.
Kylen Wicks really blew me away with this photo. While the blur of a piece of grass might seem like it shouldn't be there, it makes the picture really exceptional. I love this artistic shot. His was hard to choose because he took over TWENTY photos! :) He needed that many to capture all of the images in his creative mind.
Thanks for looking! Keep checking our blog for new pictures. :)
J. Nelson
