My name is Byron Jia and I’m a freshman at Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota. I was born and raised in Minnetonka and recently moved to Eden Prairie. Photography became a serious hobby for me at the end of my junior year of high school when my parents bought the family a Sony a7iii. That family camera quickly turned into my daily driver and has been my weapon of choice for nearly two years. I’ve also been lucky enough to own DJI drones, which I love using to take pictures and videos. My interest in cameras started all the way back when the iPhone 7 and 7 plus were released. Apple’s innovation in the dual camera system along with Portrait Mode got me hooked. When I got my hands on one of the phones, I couldn’t stop taking pictures and testing the features out on all of my friends. From there, as the quality of iPhone cameras grew, so did my interest in what a lens could capture. Besides the actual acts of looking through a viewfinder, pressing a shutter button, and the post-process, I love what photography provides: road trips across the state, traveling to new cities, spending time with friends, and getting to express my artistic side.