By Erin Long

Photography is Elizabeth Sheck’s calling. She enjoys every aspect of it. From taking photos to developing them, she loves all aspects of photography.

“She has a real passion for what she does,” Mandy Long, a friend of Elizabeth, said. “She puts a lot of time into her pictures.”

Elizabeth started doing photography in middle school, but she didn’t really get into it until her freshman year of high school. When she started high school, she pursued photography by taking photos of friends, marching band and other various activities. She uses various cameras, but her favorite seems to be her Holga, a tiny medium format camera whose photos must be developed in a darkroom. Darkrooms have become one of her favorite parts of photography.

“Personally, I’m really starting to like the processes of dark room photography,” Elizabeth said. “I really love all the chemicals. I like using my hands instead of using the click of a button.”

What most people find unique about Elizabeth’s photography is her subject matter. She looks for the most artistic way to take the photos and takes her time in producing them. Elizabeth takes pictures of her friends and family but she likes to portray them in the most artistic way possible.

“Every time she takes her pictures it motivates her to take another one,” 2011 graduate Tommy Roam said. “If she wasn’t good at taking them, she wouldn’t.”

She doesn’t just want to take the picture, but rather, she wants to make her photos have some real impact on the one looking through the lens towards the photo. Her dream photo would be to take one photo that completely shows the beauty of everything around her.

“I would like to be able to take one single photo that completely encompasses the love I have in my life and the sheer beauty of it in a way that’s going to transcend knowing me or not,” Elizabeth said.

Most people mainly enjoy her marching band, instrumental photos. Although the nature and still-life photos she takes are also favorites. Most who know Elizabeth and her photography think that nothing could be changed about her photos and that they are just pure poetry. The lighting, texture, and smoothness of Elizabeth’s photos make people want to see more of them.

“[She should change] nothing, I think all her pictures are pretty good,” 2011 graduate Kate Jehle said.

Recently Elizabeth has been entering photo contests at St. Charles Community College where she placed second for her photo in advanced photography. She hopes to continue photographing everyone and documenting her life to make this lifetime the most memorable. Elizabeth finds photography a very fulfilling experience but thinks that actually becoming famous is a slim to nil chance.

“It’s a very fulfilling experience,” Elizabeth said. “But the chances of becoming famous are pretty much a no, so do it for yourself and the catharsis.”