Grace Hopkins Introduction

Hey everyone! My name is Grace Hopkins and I am a sophomore at UAF. I am 18 years old and I have lived in Fairbanks, Alaska for the past 15 years of my life. I was born in Wyoming but all of my family lives in North Carolina and Virginia which is where I go every summer to visit them, so it’s almost like a second home for me. I grew up playing soccer, doing ballet, and loved to play the violin. I got back into soccer during high school and I also got to play flag football which is something I find so much joy in doing. I was a part of the Arts Audio Visual cluster when I went to Hutchison High School from 2016-2020 so I learned some basic photography and videography skills from the classes that I took in that cluster. This is the second digital photography class I have taken and I hope to take the advanced course in the future as part of my technical focus in Digital Journalism for my Applied Management degree. I’m taking this class now because I will need better photography skills as a marketing minor and for my hair salon business in the future. I would like to have a setup photo area dedicated to taking before and after pictures of the clients that come in to get their hair done at my salon. I have dreamed of having my own hair salon ever since I was a little girl and I haven’t been interested in any other career for myself. I also love photography and taking photos for other people that are friends or family. The photo I attached below is one that I took over Thanksgiving weekend out at Chena Hot Springs back in November. My dad was driving away to head back home when I told him to pull over so I could take a picture of the woods nearby. I took a few photos but this one really caught my eye because it was the only vertical one I got and it almost looked like a black and white photo because of the dark trees and stream of water with the white snow. I think it works well because the trees frame the photo on each side and the stream of water that is running between them. It reminds me of why I love the Alaskan winters and how beautiful the trees can look with a fresh coat of snow.