Hannah Cole
5/1/2024
“I think I like taking pictures because…I feel like there's so many moments that we wish we could live in forever, and it's sad that we can't, but it's also exciting that we always get to experience new ones, but sometimes we want to hold on to the ones that happen before, you know?” says Kat Hegemeyer, a senior and yearbook officer at Ramona High School. She was recently deemed an honorable mention for the Jostens North American Photo Contest of 2024.
Her accomplished photo “Making ‘Guac” will be featured in this year's yearbook. “When I took that photo, I didn't even take it knowing that it was going to win an award. I took it because I saw the moment and I was like, I need to capture this,” she said. Kat Hegemeyer used a Nikon D50 with a 200mm-300mm lens to capture this amazing moment, which her photography teacher gifted her.
“… this award is special, it means a lot to me because in the class that I took it in (Mr.Marshall’s), I feel like these kids don't really get highlighted as often as they should. I've only been in their class for about one year now and I've learned so much from them and I wish everyone else could. I feel like we both won this picture because…I was able to highlight her and her accomplishments and I'm hoping that it represents everybody else in that classroom and any other type of classroom or student like that who is just as amazing as all of us.” says Hegemeyer.
Kat Hegemeyer has grown from an amateur to an award-winning photographer. And her skills continue to improve, “I've been shooting for as long as I can remember. I would take my mom's phone…and I would shoot on that and it was a little horrible camera ... .I just remember I was always drawn to cameras and I always wanted to take pictures. I remember when I was like seven I asked for my own camera and it ended up being one of those like disposable film cameras for my girl scout camp and I remember everyone loved the pictures because I just snapped them.”
She mentioned a challenge that people often face in photography is people not considering it to be a serious hobby or career path, “I think a lot of people think that photography is super easy. I think it can be, but I think having the right eye and a lot more time, effort, thought and imagination goes into it. I think photography is a lot harder than people think it is.”
“Shoot pictures. Just take the shot.”