A flutter of wings breaks the silence in the Orlando Wetlands. Bluish gray feathers, a black crown stripe, black plumes–a Great Blue Heron swoops over the lake, taking a fish in its wake. Senior Alexander Tsompanidis takes in the scene from the bank, snapping pictures on his Canon EOS Rebel T2i camera.
“I’d never seen something like that in nature, so it was a cool moment,” Tsompanidis said.
Tsompanidis first heard about photography from his older brother, who passed his gear onto Tsompanidis as he left for college. While his brother specialized in headshots and city scenes, Tsompanidis found beauty on his regular nature walks.
“I’ve always loved trails and hiking in nature. It’s always been something that brings me a lot of joy, so I wanted to be able to capture that and show other people that,” Tsompanidis said.
“A lot of people don’t really appreciate nature. So when I take my photos, I want to inspire other people to get outside.”
Many of Tsompanidis’ photoshoots are spontaneous, spur-of-the-moment nature shots that he finds interesting.
“I do whatever catches my eye because with nature, anything can happen, whether it’s like a bird swooping in or an alligator that comes up,” Tsompanidis said. “There was once a black mama bear with her cubs that came like ten feet in front of me. I didn’t take a photo of it because I was scared…I didn’t really process that at the moment but it was pretty exciting.”
While many of his friends know him as a photographer, Tsompanidis’ journey was not without setbacks. Without a proper teacher, he had to learn the basics through trial and error.
“When I first started, I didn’t have anyone to teach me so a lot of the photos came out pretty blurry…I was constantly taking kind of crappy photos,” Tsompanidis said.
Although the obstacles were numerous, Tsompanidis kept his motivation by looking up to professional photographers on social media. Now more experienced, he posts his own photos on his Tiktok and Instagram.
“I feel like it’s the best means to put out what you see. So when I’m going hiking and I’m like, ‘Oh, this is really beautiful,’ it’s definitely the best way to capture that and put it out and express myself,” Tsompanidis said.
