TOWAMENCIN- Looking at the world from a different perspective is nothing new for senior Sarah Murray. Murray’s perspective comes through the lens of her camera. With North Penn having a 3 year photo course, Murray has taken full advantage of the opportunities available to her and has exceeded expectations.  

One factor that helped Murray find her place behind lens, was being influenced by her aunt who is a photographer but the biggest factor was having control over her work.

“When I realized I could actually take pictures myself, I became attracted to the idea of photography,” stated Murray.

Ever since she was a little girl, Murray was always running around taking pictures with a disposable camera. She took pictures of everything she possibly could, to the point where her parents would have to take the camera away so she didn’t waste film.

The support Murray got from her family and friends at a young age made it easier for her to want to pursue photography.

“When I started to show more people my work they pushed me to it because I am very self critical. If I didn’t have people backing me up and saying my work was good, I probably still wouldn’t be doing it,” explained Murray.

Being able to express herself through her work is also important to Murray. Knowing she can pick and choose what she wants to take pictures makes Murray excited to capture different moments.

Murray stated,”Being able to express myself through the camera is important. I’m very bad with words, but when I see something I see it in a different way and I like to put my vision into it”   

Having her options wide open allows Murray to easily put her own twist on the world around her. Knowing that amount of ideas to photograph are endless, makes Murray even more eager about taking pictures.  

“Photography can be such a wide range of things. I think that really drew me in because I know it’s not just you have to take pictures of one thing and you can do film, digital and other ways to capture images,” described Murray.

Not only did the endless options of subjects draw in Murray, but the amazing program here at North Penn helped Murray really discover her passion for taking pictures. Not many schools have a three year program that allows students to explore the world of photography everyday. Murray has been fortunate to have had two out of the three photo teachers here at the highschool and has nothing but good words about the two.

“Miss Crawford has had a big hand in shaping me. She is great supporter of everyone in all the classes and she always makes it exciting. Mrs. Carrick’s constructive criticism really helps you figure out what your doing and makes you want to learn more. You always want to figure out how to get better and both of them push you towards that,” explained Murray.  

One of Murray’s favorite parts about the program is hanging her finished piece of work in JPod to display for the school. Many people do not realize the amount of work that actually goes into getting the photos ready. When her photo is ready for display, Murray feels all her hard work paying off.      

Murray said, “It takes a while, especially for me because I am very self critical. I have to reshoot a lot. Then you have to edit your photo which takes a while. Then you have to print it and matte it. There is a lot more than what people think. It’s more than just taking a picture, printing it, then hanging it up.”  

Through the photo class at North Penn, Murray has found her love of shooting in film. Many students do shoot their photos digitally but there are a few who choose to shoot in film and Murray is one of the select few.

Shooting in film is fun, but can be hard due to not being able to see what your actually capturing. The exciting part to Murray tho is seeing what the finished product look like. Many times, the finished product is not what Murray expected, meaning she has to re-shoot a lot of the time, but the finished look always pulls Murray back in.  

As Murray begins to wrap up her time at North Penn, Murray sees photography in her future as she wants to become a freelance photographer.  

“I always thought about traveling and going everywhere and just having my camera with me. I don’t have any solid plans but I know I don’t want to work for a magazine, I don’t want to have my own business. I kinda just want to take my pictures and see where it goes,” stated Murray.  

Right now Murray’s top choice for college is Sierra Nevada College where there is an option of interdisciplinary studies which allows Murray to study two majors put together. Murray isn’t completely sure what her major is going to be but she knows she wants to involve photography somehow.  

“Photography will always be my niche and I am lucky I can always have it with me in life,” explained Murray.