Click! Through the lens of her camera, senior Mina Jalisi frames her subject for their own personal photography session.
Many hours of preparation go into her photoshoots. She starts with finding inspiration and poses that she will later use for her clients. Then she works with her client and arranges settings that will match the shoot she will be doing.
If she is shooting in a studio, she will set up the lights, backdrop, and any additional accessories. For example, she used a fog machine for her Media Day photos. She then takes the photos and edits them.
In the sixth grade, photography first sparked her interest with an orange digital camera she took to sixth-grade camp in place of her phone, which was prohibited. After that, she used her phone camera to capture her photography skills.
Jalisi has preoccupied her time and effort with running her photography business while she tackles school and sports.
During freshman year, Jalisi played soccer and bonded with her coach and current Photography teacher Aaron Jaffe, who encouraged her to take photography. Jalisi’s interest bloomed as she went from Photography 1 in her sophomore year to Photography 5, now AP Photography.
“She has become one of my ‘go to’ people when I am arranging shoots and industry partnerships because I know that she is going to not only do a great job on her tasks but can also make those around her better,” Jaffe said.
Jalisi does media day pictures with Poway High sports teams, including girls’ soccer, basketball, field hockey, and softball. She also photographs pictures of football games and senior portraits. She shares them to her Instagram @minajalisiphoto.
At one of the media day photoshoots with the girls’ basketball, senior Teya White had nothing but positive things to say about Jalisi.
“My favorite part about Mina is she’s exactly the kind of person you want behind the camera to be smiling at, and she is also super patient and works well with people,” White said.
This summer, Jalisi intends to continue her photography business with senior pictures and hopes to expand her horizons with college sports teams’ media days.
“One of my dreams is to take a photo of an NFL game,” Jalisi said. She hopes that even when she is gone any student passionate enough can continue in her footsteps and take media day photos for Poway High.
