The Cardinal

Picture Perfect

Friday, February 12, 2010 By Brendan Wray

After posting a picture of Luke Lucio, 12, diving for a football on the photo hosting site Flickr, Justin Tijerina, 10, checked the comments on the new photo. He scanned through the comments such as, “Ummm, WOW, just WOW!!! Great picture.” He comes across a comment from a total stranger telling him to enter a photography contest. “I had posted the picture on my Flickr and a viewer commented saying I should enter the contest,” Justin said. “I figured nothing bad could come of it, so I did.” Justin entered in the Canon “Why Do You Love Football?” Amateur Photo Contest which required him to submit his best football photo. Justin’s photo, which he named “Luke Catch,” was soon chosen for the Top 7. “I never thought that it would have been chosen for the Top 7 in the first place,” Justin said, “and then all of a sudden I won the whole thing.” Justin’s photo was not only chosen to be in the Top 7. Justin was chosen as the Grand Prize winner which included a trip for 4 to the 2010 Pro Football Hall of Fame Enshrinement Celebration in Canton, Ohio , 4 tickets to the Pro Football Game, and another trip for 4 to the Super Bowl in Miami, Florida. “I’m taking my dad, Luke and his dad [to the trips],” Justin said. “Without Luke or his dad, I wouldn’t have gotten the shot and would not have won.” Also, Justin won a professional Canon camera, a photo printer, and a $500 gift certificate to the Pro Football Hall of Fame Museum Store. However, Justin’s photo winning the contest is only a part of his interest with photography. “Photography has always been really interesting to me,” Justin said. “I love how you can express so many feelings and emotions without saying or typing a word.” According to Justin, he started practicing photography by helping his dad, who is a photographer. “I started getting into photography when I was around 13 [years old],” Justin said. “My dad would drag me along to weddings and quinces he would get hired for. I guess I just caught on as time went by and later I started helping him with the shoots we would get.” Although photography is mainly a hobby for Justin, he still sees photography as a possible career choice. He is also a yearbook photographer. “I was going to try to get a job in the gaming industry like with programming or animation, but I found out it was almost impossible to get a job in that,” Justin said. “So, I was already getting really good at photography and it is fun at the same time, so I’m pushing towards it [as a career].”