I had only been to the AFHE homeschool convention in Arizona once before. It had been an epic trip enjoyed with my brother Donald, taking some time after the convention to explore the desert surroundings and camp in Madera Canyon.

I was pretty excited, then, when I received an invitation to come back in 2025, only this time with Julianna and Mordecai. The topography of the west is so unique and opposite of where I come from. Instead of trees and lush mountains, its cactus forests and mountains of bare rock.

During the AFHE Photo Class, I realized how many illustrations in my presentations included “trees” that were totally normal to me but not exactly normal to my audience. Jokingly, I had to keep reminding myself to tell them to photograph various things in the “shade of a cactus” instead. 🙂

Ellie Handley was one of the photographers in that class, and she has since been taking Lenspiration’s photography courses as a high school elective. I was happy to see that she was the random-choice winner for the Photo Assignment, Looking Up. Here’s a bit of the subsequent conversation we had with her.

Q: Tell us a little bit about yourself!

Ellie: I am from Arizona—particularly the part that is in the desert and gets really hot. 🙂 I started doing photography with a DSLR this past summer. My sister and I attended a 2-day Lenspiration course at a homeschool convention, and I learned that I really enjoy photography. I live just outside the city limits, so I am able to capture the desert’s natural beauty and Arizona’s stunning sunsets without leaving my house! There are a lot of mountains and native plants and animals around which adds diversity to the things that I can focus on and make my subject.

Q: What’s your favorite thing to take pictures of, and why?

Ellie: My two favorite things to take pictures of are flowers and sunsets. I live in the Sonoran desert where there aren’t a whole lot of colors everywhere. Flowers add some ‘joy’, you could say, to my photos, with their seemingly endless color variations. Sunsets are really amazing in Arizona, because of all of the dust that is in the air where I live. Somehow the dust reflects the light of the sunset (or sunrise), making the colors much more vibrant.

Q: What’s one of your favorite things about learning photography with Lenspiration?

Ellie: It inspires me to be more creative and see the world in all of the beauty that its Creator gave it. I am not a very creative or artistic person, and Lenspiration has helped me to grow in that area. I have also learned a lot from the great abundance of information that Mr. James packs into his lessons and webinars.

Q: Which Lenspiration course has been your favorite to go through?

Ellie: I’ve only taken the “Foundations of Photography” course so far, so I guess that one.

Q: What do you enjoy about shooting photo assignments? What do you find challenging?

Ellie: I love the fact that it makes me set aside time to just ‘get lost’ in the wonderful world of photography. Since I am a freshman in high school, it can be difficult for me to find the time that I need to set aside in order to take all the pictures that I want to take.

Q: If you could talk to someone else who’s just starting out in their photography journey, what would you say to them?

Ellie: Since I am just starting on my photography journey, I would probably say, “Just don’t give up.” I like to look at others’ photos to get inspiration and to remind myself that I am still a beginner and it takes practice to get good. Someday, if I keep working at it, I will get to that skill level, too.

Q: What’s an area of photography that you’ve been growing in during the past few months?

Ellie: Finding the right lighting. I live in Arizona, which has harsh lighting for most all times of day throughout the year, so it can be hard to find lighting that doesn’t obstruct the subject(s) or background of the picture. I have been getting better at making the lighting look more pleasant, but still have lots of room to grow.

Q: Let’s talk about “Looking Up”. What was your favorite aspect of this assignment?

Ellie: I really enjoyed the factor of capturing the small world with the glory of the sun in the background, as a little mouse would see it. I thought that it was neat to focus on ‘looking up’ rather than just focusing on being above a subject – which is not always possible – or looking more straight on at the subject. It encouraged me to figure out all the perspectives that a picture can be taken in.

Q: What was the hardest part of the assignment?

Ellie: Not getting sun-spots throughout the picture, because I tried to include the sun in most all of my pictures for this assignment.

Q: What was your favorite photo submission from this assignment, and why?

Ellie: I liked taking photos of the purple lantana in my front yard, since the flowers are just a really pretty color and they were pretty simple to photograph as they are right by my family’s porch.

One great thing about photography is that it helps you break out of the box and find beauty in unexpected places. Whether you live in a region of sand and rocks, or deep in the forest surrounded by wooded hills, there are hidden gems just waiting to be discovered.

“O LORD, how manifold are thy works! in wisdom hast thou made them all: the earth is full of thy riches.” (Psalm 104: 24)