After learning the basics of photography, from the rule of thirds to finding inspiration, Senior Molly Stiles now operates her own business.

“I took Mrs Fowler’s photography class sophomore year, and then her advanced photography course she offers junior year,” Stiles said. “I decided to take these courses because I wanted to learn how to improve my skills. During her class, my love for photography grew a lot. I learned how to shoot with better angles, and what types of techniques are best depending on the type of shot you are trying to get.”

While Stiles learned more about the technical aspects of photography in the class, she also left with a greater understanding of what it meant to be a photographer.

“Mrs Fowler’s class was a great way to inspire me and help me learn everything there is to know about photography,” Stiles said. “I was challenged throughout my two years in the class to push myself out of my comfort zone, as I did numerous different photo shoots from taking pictures of Christmas lights to portraits of people in class with background lights. I think this has made me into the photographer I am today.”

After learning the skills behind taking photos, Stiles has started operating a small business of her own, shooting with her Canon camera and editing photos on her computer.

“I started out just finding inspiration for my beginning shoots on apps like Pinterest, where I grew to love some of the different photography that people were publishing,” Stiles said. “I started out just taking photo shoots of my friends, family and dog. However I slowly started taking pictures of more and more people, and started doing multiple types of shoots. I have taken senior pictures for numerous people this year, as well as family photos and my personal favorite: portraits.”

Stiles’ business currently is based off of social media, where her Instagram page @mollystilesphotography has over 200 followers, but she hopes to expand to other platforms in the future.

“People have discovered my business by my social media page and people talking about it. I’m currently growing my business to eventually have an actual website, which will contain my photos and contact information. So far I’ve been getting reached out to by more people, and I wanted to create an organized site for them to go to,” Stiles said.

Stiles hopes to not only continue to grow her love for photography, but also to grow her business so it can function throughout college and even after that.

“I hope that I can continue to grow my business and take pictures of more people,” Stiles said. “My favorite part of taking all of these different photos for people is that I can capture people’s different personalities and emotions. I hope that my future with this skill is bright.”