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Vol. LXIV, No. 20
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Wednesday, May 19, 2010
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Vol. LXIV, No. 20
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Wednesday, May 19, 2010
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“He has won an amazing prize for himself and for the school,” said Princeton High School (PHS) teacher Malachi Wood, describing sophomore Spencer Costanza’s recent win in the Microsoft Bing Earth Day Photo Contest.
Spencer won first place in his age group for his photograph of an iguana, taken in Puerto Rico. The big news for PHS is that in addition to winning a new HP computer for himself, Spencer’s prize also consisted of an entire digital photo lab, including 12 computers, three photo printers, and three Canon SLR cameras for the school. “In this time of budget cuts a digital photo lab is something that we just wouldn’t have otherwise,” said Mr. Wood.
“Spencer created a lot of excitement with the Bing photo contest; all the students and teachers were voting for him. He has won an amazing prize for himself and for the school. We are all excited to see what we can do with the new digital photo lab and we know that this will inspire a lot of new photographers who now will have access to state-of-the-art equipment and excellent guidance and leadership with Spencer.”
Bing will fly Spencer out to Seattle this month to meet with the Bing editorial team to help select photos for their website.
“They also informed me that because Microsoft sponsors many Seattle sports teams, I get private tours of the Seattle Sounders and the Seattle Seahawk’s training facilities,” Spencer happily reported.
Spencer is, not surprisingly, the president of the PHS photography club. He reported that the club, which he founded a year ago with friends Caroline Bourscheid and Dan Black, looks forward to using the new equipment. “We have been trying to teach people about photo editing techniques, but it is very hard to do on a chalkboard,” said the Princeton native described by Superintendent Judy Wilson as a “very interesting and talented young man.”
“Now that we have a digital photo lab, it will be easy to take photos, edit them, print them out, and share them,” enthused Spencer. “The club will be much more helpful to the members now with the new equipment.”
“Spencer is a master of photography and technology,” said Mr. Wood. “Everyone in class looks forward to seeing his projects and presentations. He always helps everyone with their computer and technological issues, and he always gives good advice on how to improve PowerPoint presentations.”
“Since I can remember, I have always had some kind of camera and I have always loved to take pictures,” reported Spencer. “For my thirteenth birthday my parents bought me a Canon DSLR camera and that is when I really became interested in learning more about photography. I mostly enjoy taking photos of unique animals and stunning landscapes.”
Despite his very obvious talents, Spencer does not think that he will pursue photography as a profession. “I will certainly continue to accumulate new equipment and take photos as a hobby for the rest of my life though,” he added.