It's no secret that Beckman High School is home to an extraordinarily talented student body. Eunice Lau, a Junior with a natural gift for taking pictures, has just been awarded second place in the photography division of the Music Center Spotlight Awards.

The award came as a surprise for Lau, who only recently got into photography in the beginning of the school year. She explains, "I needed to take an art class to get art credits. I chose photography without really being interested in it. But it's one of those things where, once you start, you don't want to stop."

After taking Mrs. Peters's Photography class here at Beckman, Eunice's interest in taking pictures grew and it became a regular hobby for her. The inspiration for her award-winning piece came to her as she was walking through the Getty Museum in Los Angeles. She saw “a wall covered in vines" growing from the wall that really stood out to her. “It just looked really cool. The textures and the colors,” she explains. This specific piece is much different than the pictures she normally takes because it is abstract and doesn’t really focus on anything specific. She explains, “I don’t usually take pictures of plants. And [in this photo] I incorporated a lot of textures instead of finer details.”

What Eunice loves about photography is “the outcome and capturing moments” that are unique. Her biggest role model in is her father who is always there to offer advice and has a huge knowledge of art and photography. Her sister and her teacher, Mrs. Peters are her biggest inspirations because through their honest and helpful criticism of her work, she is motivated to improve her photos.