Kaylana Gerhart enjoys the sensation of taking a photograph and transforming it into something else. She enjoys using Photoshop to transform photos of her friends into something unique and to create a collage. She likes to add deeper meanings into her work. Rather than photographing a simple flower, she wants the audience to question the work’s meaning.

“When I edit it I create something new. It’s twisting reality and I kind of like that,” Gerhart said.

Gerhart was greatly influenced by people and fashion. She enjoys incorporating the vivid and bright colors of fashion into her own works. She is taking AP photography this year, and her sustained investigation is centered on the theme of technology and media.

“If we are not constantly being seen in real life or through our phones it feels like we don’t exist,” Gerhart explained.

Her friends can be seen in almost all of her photographs because she finds them to be very inspiring. Gerhart uses a Canon camera to take most of her photos.

For the time being, Gerhart considers photography as a hobby she enjoys and uses to express herself rather than a career. She hopes to still pursue photography in college. She is considering becoming an event photographer during college to earn some income.

When she takes photographs, she looks for anything that inspires her or catches her eye. She regards inspiration as the foundation of taking good pictures.

“I used to shoot a lot of street photography so I would look for moments or patterns that interest me,” Gerhart added.

Thinking outside the box is central to Gerhart’s creative approach to photography. She avoids photographing things that are merely visually appealing. She wants her photography to have a deeper meaning that causes the audience to reflect more deeply on the images they see.

“I think you have to think outside of the box. You can take pictures of something that is surface level or something that is pretty like a flower but it doesn’t have greater meaning. You have to think more about what the picture means to you,” Gerhart said.

Her favorite photo she has taken changes from time to time. Currently, her favorite photo is of Olivia Nguyen holding a camera.

She wished she had more photoshop skills before beginning with photography because she uses photoshop frequently in her articles. She encourages new photographers to think outside the box and make their audience consider what they are looking at, which can be accomplished by using Photoshop on simple photos.