JACOB DANEK
PHOTOGRAPHY
SPIRIT
All you need is two rival teams, one small gym, and a close game to make for one nerve-wracking night. It's amazing to feel the energy of a game like that. School spirit runs deep. Where you come from will never fade. Those high school memories are here to stay: memories of those late nights watching basketball and screaming "THAT'S A FOUL," while stomping your feat over and over again, and memories of those moments where you think that life will be over if the other team wins.
An Unlikely Alliance: At Laingsburg High School, homecoming week is a time where grade levels duke it out. Usually, alliances are not a thing. This year, the juniors and seniors (who together don't really like the underclassmen) banded together, making sure that the upperclassmen would win homecoming week. I took this picture during the pep assembly and love how it captures this unlikely alliance in action. This photo was featured in the October issue of the Informer and will also be featured in the 2015-2016 Looking Glass yearbook.
Good Game: Good sportsmanship is something that Laingsburg takes pride in, and whether we win or lose, we always make sure to tell the other team "good game." This picture was taken during the district semifinals, where the volleyball team won in a nail biter game. In the end, they didn't laugh in the other team's face, but were an example of Laingsburg's famous good sportsmanship. This picture was tricky to take as I had to walk onto the court (the referee later told me to back up) and sit down and take the picture before I was trampled by the team. These tricky situations spice up my job as a photographer and let me experiment with new angles. This photo was featured in the 2014-2105 Looking Glass yearbook and will be entered in this year's MIPA awards for sports spirit photo.
Did You See That: There is always a person who leads a student section. That person is in charge of getting the crowd revved up, ready to cheer and shake the gym. I like this picture so much because it shows the reaction of the crowd and the student section leader. After the seniors won a game during a pep assembly, they roared with glee, shaking the gym and showing the other grades that the power of being top dog. This picture will be featured in the 2015-2016 Looking Glass yearbook.
Wolfpack Power: I have noticed that the majority of my pictures are zoomed in, showing the subjects' faces. I think this is because I love to capture the spirit of the person. This photo of a senior cheerleader was taken during an assembly and shows the her unbridled spirit. Since the cheerleader is the only person featured, the audience is able to see her spirit and emotion first hand. This photo will be featured in the 2015-2016 Looking Glass yearbook.
Underclassmen Rule: Even though I end up taking pictures of upperclassmen to a greater degree, every so often I capture a picture of an underclassmen that I really like. This picture stands out to me because it shows the spirit of the underclassmen. They may not be "top dogs," but they are in it to win it, putting in all of their effort to beat their older counterparts. I had trouble taking this picture as I had to turn my back to the game that was in play, in order to get a shot of the crowd. This was risky because at any moment a flying ball or person may have knocked into me. This photo was featured in the September issue of The Informer and will also be featured in the 2015-2016 Looking Glass Yearbook.