My grandfathers legacy: my story with photography

By Harrison Schadt
October 22, 2018

My love for photography started with one of the saddest times of my life. In November of 2016, my grandfather passed away at the age of 81. My grandfather was one of the most interesting men I knew. He was writer for the Philadelphia Inquirer, he loved to travel and taking photos was always a hobby for him.

One thing that my grandfather had always told me was to just do what makes me happy. Whether that be in photography or in sports, he was always so supportive of me. When he passed away, he left me his camera which was the start of my ever-growing love for photography. Whenever I am taking photos, I always think if my grandfather would like what I am doing and if he would like my work.

Once I got the camera, I quickly tried to learn as much as I could. I would go out around my neighborhood and take pictures of animals and nature which was really great because it helped me learn how to adjust the settings and really learn how to get the best picture as possible.

For the first year of doing photography, I really just took pictures of objects, but it wasn’t until I started shooting pictures of my friends that I really started focusing on the art of portraits. Instagram was a great place for me to get inspired because of all of the great portraits photographers that I follow. My favorite photographer is Brandon Woelfel.

Photo of Brandon Woelfel’s Instagram page and photo.

Brandon Woelfel is a world-famous portrait photographer who has taken the world of photography and editing to new heights. I watch his YouTube channel where he shows young amateur photographers how to improve their work. My favorite video of his is “How to Take Photos at Night.” I love this video because I have always struggled when taking night photos when I would go to Philadelphia. After watching this video, I am able to go to the city or shoot in dark places with ease and it has made for some great photos.

Photo of Harrison Schadt’s Instagram page and photo.

Brandon Woelfel has inspired to me to be as creative as possible. He always has some incredible ideas for photos which have helped me expand my creativity. Another one of my favorite videos by him is the “Dollar Store Photo Challenge.” In this video he goes to a dollar store and finds some objects that he is able to use to get some incredible photos. After watching this video I decided that I would try this challenge and even though my photos were not as good I still had fun trying it. It got my creative juices going and it taught me to always be looking for things and places to shoot some photos.

I post some of my best photos on my Instagram page, Hls.photos. Instagram is a great place to share my work with friends and family. My friends and family have been extremely supportive of my work. My parents love to see all of the new work and will definitely give me some help if I need it. Most of my friends offer to help and model for me so I can continue to grow as a photographer.  My parents have also helped with the financial burden of being a photographer.

Photo of Harrison Schadt’s Instagram page and photo.

I am still at the beginning of my hopefully long career and I cannot wait to see how far this hobby that my grandfather gave me can take me.

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Harrison Schadt

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