The Girl Behind the Camera
Sierra Jorden aims her camera at Sage Creek’s architecture. She has been in yearbook for three years where she focuses on documenting the students of Sage Creek.
May 29, 2018
“Hi, I’m Sierra from yearbook. Can I take your picture?”
These iconic words have been heard by the majority of Sage Creek students who attend school dances.
The girl behind the words is Sierra Jorden. Jorden is a junior and long-time member of yearbook. She has brown wavy long hair and a smile and laugh that can brighten up your day.
When Jorden was seven years old, she got her first camera from her mom— who owns her own photography business. At a young age, she practiced and practiced.
From that Jorden learned a lot about how to get the perfect shot.
“It takes practice to get that one shot and it takes way more than you think,” Jorden explains, “You can’t just [typically] get that holy grail shot. There are other times that lead up to that like you got to breathe in and breathe out and have a positive mindset or else it may not be as great as you want.”
Besides the sit and wait technique, Jorden holds strongly onto the sneak attack tactic.
“A good amount of time you’ll see people having a blast with their friends, and then they see a person with a camera and they’re like ‘oh no, I don’t want my picture taken,’’ Jorden added, “So you have to do it fast, so that way you have that picture, you have that moment and not the freeze-up.”
Aurora Cox, Editor-In-Chief of the yearbook class and fellow friend of Jorden, notes how Jorden’s sense of humor makes her subjects feel comfortable.
“She knows how to connect with them in order to get good answers [and photos] for the page she is doing,” Cox remarks.
Jorden has been to every single dance since freshman year: two back-to-school dances, one winter formal, two fall formals, three hoopcomings, one spring fling and one prom.
Because of these experiences and the hundreds of photos that have come from it, Jorden has had the experience to talk to many people which have caused her to step out of her shell.
“I used to be scared to talk to people and I was really shy about it,” Jorden beamed, “But now I am a little more open and I’m comfortable talking to anybody.”
Her passion and love for others are seen through all. Leah Scheble, a close friend of Jorden, considers her one of the nicest people she knows.
Jorden smiles as she heads out to take photos for yearbook. Her sense of humor makes her subjects feel comfortable when she is photographing them.
“She is always really happy and positive,” Scheble adds, “She is really passionate about photography which really shows when she is taking photos.”
Through all 10 dances she has attended, 2017’s space-themed hoopcoming holds a special place in her heart. At the starry dance, Jorden and Brady Caskey headed to the top of the gym to take photos from a bird’s eye view. Once they got up there and took their photos, they were ready to leave. As they pulled on the door they came to find that the door was locked. After thinking that there was no way out, Jorden manages to escape. As she is looking for help to get Caskey down, she stumbles upon a group of senior boys.
“[These] are like the popular [boys] that everyone knows,” Jorden jokes.
She stopped to take their picture, and as she started to say her iconic “Hi, I’m Sierra…” line they interrupted her with “I know you, you’re Sierra.” They continued to talk to her about the fact she has taken photos before at dances. Then, they simply asked her if she wanted to take a photo of them, which she did with joy.
“Honestly, I [felt] complete, like I was acknowledged by some seniors. I mean, how do these people that I barely talk to know my name? But I was so shocked. I was like I get to meet all these people and they know who I am,” Jorden gushed, “That feels really good knowing that there are people out there who actually know who you are and you’re not just dust in the air.”
With that, Jorden feels like we make an impact on her, but in reality, she’s the one making an impact on us.
Even though Jorden doesn’t attend these dances as an attendee, she finds her happiness in theirs. When she sees them having a blast and smiling, it makes taking photos all worth it.
