Behind the Lens With Faith Hernandez

Whether it’s school events or senior photos, Redwood student Faith Hernandez sees the beauty in the details, one snapshot at a time

By: Isabel Barycki

At many school events, you can spot Redwood student Faith Hernandez ‘27 behind the camera, focused and ready to capture the perfect shot. Whether it’s the excitement of the Pink Out game or the quiet confidence of prom night, Faith views the world through her lens, turning moments into memories. What started as a hobby inspired by her mom has now grown into a passion she hopes to keep pursuing long after high school.

Hernandez has been doing photography for almost three years now. She describes how she first got into the photography community with the help of her mother, “I got into photography because my mom’s a photographer, and I kind of just, like, grew up watching her.” 

Hernandez remembers her first photo shoot when she began photography, being prom photos for seniors. She details how it felt good being an underclassman taking older people’s photos. Overall, for Hernandez, it was a first good experience.

Since then, Hernandez has been photographing school events such as pink-out games and volleyball games. 

Clients for Hernandez usually book her through Direct Messages on Instagram, where she posts her work and rules for booking. When clients are interested, she’ll then notify them on prices. 

Hernandez says, “Depending on what it is, I do charge.” She says, “if it’s like prom pictures, I’ll charge 70 or 90, depending how many people there are. But if it’s just pitches for sports, I’ll charge 20.”

But photography hasn’t always come easily, and there have been some challenges. Hernandez tells her biggest challenge as a photographer, “I think one thing that I struggled with was trying to get out of my comfort zone and  telling people what to do.”

Because of this, Hernandez finds her favorite events to photograph are weddings or prom pictures. She says, “I feel like they’ll understand where I’m coming from. And I feel like I wouldn’t really have to  force them to do what I have to.”

Not only that, but photographing school events compared to prom photos is uniquely different for Hernandez.  She says, “The hardest part is like, someone’s face,  like blurry or something, it’s not coming out focused.”

A big challenge many photographers face when photographing events is that not everybody wants their picture taken. 

Hernandez has “a hard time doing that because some people don’t want to be taken a picture of. And I think it’s hard because when you have the best photo of them, they just don’t like it, and it ruins your mood.”

Beyond high school, she sees herself pursuing photography, “After high school, I will pursue it, because I feel like I just like doing it.”

For beginner photographers, Hernandez says, “I feel like the advice I would give people that are coming into photography is don’t give up, and don’t let someone’s move, ruin how you feel about it.”

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