Art with pixels: a new exploration

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Photo Courtesy of John Xiao

Club members learn photography during hikes

Click! That ephemeral moment of capturing the picture comes after painstakingly waiting for the perfect scenery. This snapshot defines the photographers of the Junior Photograph Exploration Group (JPEG) club members.

Alumnus Michael Lin founded the JPEG club in the prior year, and the main goal of the club is to inspire students to begin photography in a comfortable environment and show them the process to become a good photographer. JPEG board members aspire to extinguish the fear in beginning photographers and teach them new techniques to improve their photography.

The club meets twice a month on Mondays in M101 and holds events such as photo-hikes on Quail Hill and Suicide Hill where members take advantage of the scenery to practice their photography skills. During these photo-hikes, members share their knowledge of photography with each other to enrich their photography experience.

In one of the photo-hikes at Suicide Hill, members of the JPEG club came together and not only took photos together, but also bonded in a friendly learning environment. In addition, while some members brought their cameras, others even brought their drones to enrich the photography learning experience.

“I love being in JPEG because I can explore the art of photography, and I can ask other people to teach me about photography and not ask Google or something,” sophomore Jenna Jang said.

Considering the fact that the club is relatively new on campus, it has already been receiving many members. Board members of the club said they were were pleasantly surprised by the high percent of participation during their latest photo-hike.

“To my surprise, a multitude of members and friends of JPEG members came to the event to make it the largest photo hike we have ever had,” board member and senior John Choi said.

Board members of the JPEG club are ambitious and work toward making the club even more popular on campus, despite the young age of the club.

“I would like JPEG to become as large of a club as JCL or ERF in the coming future,” Choi said. “JPEG is already becoming a large club and its club presence on campus is being expanded even further than I could have imagined.”