THROUGH MULTIPLE EYES. “Photography is the art of making memories tangible.” – Destin Sparks. At Valley Heights, the Journalism Staff captures the moments throughout the year by taking pictures, however, it is NOT just Journalism. Courtney Dummermuth, Amanda Parker, and Tom Parker play a big role in the photography community throughout the Valley Heights community. They help provide pictures for not just the yearbook, but for the students to catch a glimpse of what they do from a different lens.
Courtney Dummermuth asked her husband for a camera for Mother's Day, about 9 years ago, just to capture everyday life with her kids. Then her friends started asking her to take pics and her passion for photography grew from there! She is a self-taught photographer, and took her camera everywhere to learn all types of lighting situations. Over the years, she has taken a couple of mentorships with some photographers in other states to learn about different shooting and editing techniques. Courtney has been taking pictures for Valley Heights Prom for several years now. However, this year she was blessed with the opportunity to take the High School school pictures! Courtney expressed her gratitude by saying, "While it has been a learning curve to serve so many students and families, I'm hoping to learn from this year's experience and return to the high school and grade school next year!” Courtney’s favorite pictures to take are of families outdoors. She loves to capture the genuine smiles when they are just playing with their kids. When asked what are you best known for, Courtney replies, “I'd say I am best known for my fun, playful, unposed style, my unique editing style and my customer service!” Courtney is very proud of the business she has created over the last 8 years, where she photographs everything from seniors, to families, to weddings and babies! “I'm also so proud that this business has thrived in such a small community all while raising kiddos,” said Courtney.
Amanda Parker started taking pictures from the inspiration of her kids. “My kids are what inspired me to start taking pictures. Life goes way too fast and I wanted to be able to capture some of the moments of their childhood and in some small way freeze time for just a little bit.” Her favorite type of photos to take are sports, especially track and field. Amanda loves snapping the athletes in action. She volunteers for Valley Heights for many reasons. First, she really enjoys it! She loves going through the pictures after an event to see what she was able to capture. She takes pictures at VH to give our school athletes a chance to be in the local paper. “And last, but not least, I really do have the best seat in the house,” said Amanda. “I enjoy photography because it’s a creative outlet for me. I was always a fairly creative person growing up and then I majored in accounting in college! As you can imagine, accounting is not the most creative of professions…lol. My day job is as an accountant for a non-profit organization in Manhattan, KS. Photography has allowed me the opportunity to explore my artistic side, something that I think has been missing in my life for a little while now.” This coming January, Amanda will have been taking pictures for Valley Heights for 3 years.
Tom Parker has been taking pictures for Valley Heights since our play, Cool Suit, in 2012! His first inspiration came from his dad. “Whether it was camping or family reunions or day trips, he always had his camera. To this day his photographs are the only photographic record of our family from the early 1950s to the 1980s. It taught me early on the importance of documentary photography.” When Tom grew up he always wanted to be a landscape photographer, specifically, fungi—mushrooms, were his favorite. However the drought conditions lately have limited his chances. When asked what he was best known for, Tom replied, “My most widely-known project was The Way We Worked, in partnership with the Smithsonian Institution’s traveling exhibit of the same name. During 2012 I shot 45,000 photographs of people in the Blue Rapids area working, from farmers to veterinarians to funeral directors. I spent three days with the demolition experts from Chicago stringing explosives on the old bridge over the Big Blue River, and when they blew the bridge I was inside the exclusion zone with a handful of KDOT videographers. In many ways that was the impetus to document events in Blue Rapids for the historical record.” Tom has achieved many accomplishments throughout his life, but he was most proud of the photoshoot of a California bride and groom during a total eclipse. He had shot two vertical panoramas, each with eight frames from the ground to the eclipse’s overhead. He had exactly one minute and ten seconds to nail the shots!
The community is grateful to see the wonderful pictures they produce! Valley Heights is so thankful for Courtney Dummermuth, Amanda Parker, and Tom Parker for all their hard work and dedication.
Article by Kadence Pierson