By Adam Meyer

Creative minds are usually hard to crack but in this case, three photographers were willing to share their insight into their creative process.

Pictures are worth a thousand words, an old saying that really helps present the importance of photography and the art form. There are many different variants of styles and ways of capturing emotion, from portrait images that can convey life or death just through the eyes of a person, or landscape photography that depicts joy by the sunrise on top of the peaks of mountains, or even documentary photography that depicts an event and its outcome all through one image. 

Fortunately there are ways in which photography can be used at Quincy University, with various areas on campus where quality pictures can be produced but also students who love the art form of photography. One student in particular is Dwayne Kennedy, who works with his own camera and other equipment. Inspiration comes within for creative minds and that seems to be the case for Kennedy.

“My inspiration is creating a vision in my head and bring it to life,”

Kennedy said.

There are many places on campus to take pictures but it takes more than a good landscape to produce a good picture.

“Great places to take pictures are places where you wouldn’t think of taking a picture at,”

Kennedy said.

Some of Kennedy’s work:

• 

• 

• 

Although Kennedy is a student of the craft, Dakota Denton uses photography as a source of income while still implimenting creative ideas.

Denton is a photographer in Orange County Calif. he uses his craft towards taking headshots of young and aspiring actors, but also takes photos that convey meaning and emotion. Denton got into photography at a young age.

“My parents would buy me disposable cameras. But what really inspired me to keep doing photography, was the fact that photographers are time travelers. We get the opportunities to snap photos of microseconds of moments. My photos are what people can hold onto for the rest of their lives,”

Denton said.

The gift of photo taking is imperative to how we view the world, we understand what is real and fake but because of advancement of technology our perceptions of reality are challenged because of the photos we see daily are not always true. Denton tries to change that concept with his photography style. 

“What drives me creatively is a contradiction and genuine truth. I want to show people how my brain works visually, I only take photos of things I want to take photos of. I never force myself to shoot something,”

Denton said.

Some of Denton’s work:

• 

• 

• 

Each aspiring photographer has different reasons to be a photographer but each one is individual, there are ways in which they have a vision others do not have and although they may have taken inspiration no two images will be the same. 

Brett Jackson who also is a professional photographer and videographer for Intrepid Creative based in Kansas City Mo. and his inspiration comes from a different place than both Denton and Kennedy.

“Things that inspire me are people, places, and nature. The most inspiration comes from the natural world. I’m a huge fan of how light affects the things we see every day. As far as style goes… that’s still something I’m trying to develop,”

Jackson said.

Jackson has a similar idea for his photos, creating a sense of reality to the scenes he composes.

Some of Jackson’s work:

• 

• 

• 

“I don’t want to over-edit my photos, but I like to treat them as if they were painting. So keeping naturals colors, but making the tones of those colors a bit different; if that makes sense. I don’t like things that are over-saturated. So a current style that I’m into at the moment is like blue and gold tones with grey highlights,” Jackson said.

Photography is a subjective and individual art when conveying messages and emotion each photographer is different.

“Each aspiring photographer has different reasons to be a photographer but each one is individual, there are ways in which they have a vision others do not have and although they may have taken inspiration no two images will be the same,”

Jackson said.