![It was definitely out of my comfort zone to get [the dress] and decide I loved it enough not to wait and risk not having something that memorable.](https://bestofsno.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Precious_20180902_JRS_00008_ed1.jpg)
![Sophomore Sahasra Mandalapu practices bharatanatyam choreography in class. These new dances will be performed in an annual show in February. Mandalapu found that practicing in class helped her overcome stage fright during her performances. “When [I] get on stage, Im nervous Im going to forget, even though Ive done it for so long,” Mandalapu said. “Theres still that little bit of stage fright [when] I second-guess myself that I dont know it enough, but I do because Ive been practicing for a whole year.”](https://bestofsno.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Sahasra-6-Large-1200x844.jpeg)
![In their full runway outfits, (from left) Audrey Lee 25, Olivia Lucy Teets, 25, Fashion Design teacher Ms. Judy Chance, and Xueying Lili Yang pose for a photo. All three girls made it to Austin Fashion Week by getting in the top 10 in a previous runway show held by Shop LC.
[I like my students] creativity and how they can look at a fabric and make it their own, Ms. Chance said.](https://bestofsno.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/IMG_9686-e1714088765730-1129x1200.jpeg)
![IN THE SPOTLIGHT: Junior Zalie Mann performs “I Love to Cry at Weddings,” an ensemble piece from the fall musical Sweet Charity, to prospective students during the Fine Arts Showcase on Wednesday, Nov. 8. The showcase is a compilation of performances and demonstrations from each fine arts strand offered at McCallum. This show is put on so that prospective students can see if they are interested in joining an academy or major.
Sweet Charity originally ran the weekends of Sept. 28 and Oct. 8, but made a comeback for the Fine Arts Showcase.
“[Being at the front in the spotlight] is my favorite part of the whole dance, so I was super happy to be on stage performing and smiling at the audience,” Mann said.
Mann performed in both the musical theatre performance and dance excerpt “Ethereal,” a contemporary piece choreographed by the new dance director Terrance Carson, in the showcase. With also being a dance ambassador, Mann got to talk about what MAC dance is, her experience and answer any questions the aspiring arts majors and their parents may have.
Caption by Maya Tackett.](https://bestofsno.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/53321803427_47cd17fe70_o-1-1200x800.jpg)
![SPREADING THE JOY: Sophomore Chim Becker poses with sophomores Cozbi Sims and Lou Davidson while manning a table at the Hispanic Heritage treat day during lunch of Sept 28. Becker is a part of the students of color alliance, who put together the activity to raise money for their club.
“It [the stand] was really fun because McCallum has a lot of latino kids,” Becker said. “And I think it was nice that I could share the stuff that I usually just have at home with people who have never tried it before.”
Becker recognizes the importance of celebrating Hispanic heritage at Mac.
“I think its important to celebrate,” Becker said. “Because our culture is awesome and super cool, and everybody should be able to learn about other cultures of the world.”
Caption by JoJo Barnard.](https://bestofsno.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/53221601352_4127a81c41_o-1200x675.jpg)
Click. Snap. Click.
The camera’s shutter sound clicks rhythmically as seniors Maggie Wang and Sanjana Vallampati hold a photo shoot for their photography business, Eminence.
“Maggie and I officially started the business last year,” Vallampati said. “We brought up the idea in 2021 and we started taking pictures and holding photo shoots in 2022. It became a proper business when we got our first commission earlier this year.”
When Wang and Vallampati realized the demand for professional pictures from students their age, they were inspired to create a business to showcase their talent.
“A bunch of people want to get a photo shoot,” Wang said. “At first it was like normal photo shoots, senior pictures, prom, and stuff like that. But then we decided to remix it a little bit and started doing our own fun photo shoots.”
We got into not just doing normal photo shoots but going above and beyond and using our creative abilities,
— senior Sanjana Vallampati
However, it wasn’t until the seniors realized their potential talent for taking professional photos that they established Eminence.
“Our sophomore year we realized we like to take pictures for fun, but our junior year we realized we’re good at this and we can actually pull it off,” Vallampati said. “So, we got into not just doing normal photo shoots but going above and beyond and using our creative abilities which I feel like we can really feed off of each other on.”
When class of 2023 graduate Eujin Chung hired Eminence to take her prom photos, she was amazed at Wang’s and Vallampati’s talents.
“I got great pictures and it was really fun because they’re super easygoing and creative,” Chung said. “My favorite part was how fun they made the experience just with their personalities and jokes. It was also really great how detailed they were with the pictures. They made sure everything looked good down to my hair and the way I was standing.”
The diverse dynamic between the duo allows the business to run successfully.
“Typically I am the main photographer,” Wang said. “I’m behind the camera 90% of the time. I also do the post production and editing. Sanjana helps me with the visions such as managing the set, posing, and she gets to show off her artistic abilities that way.”
They made sure everything looked good down to my hair and the way I was standing,
— class of 2023 graduate Eujin Chung
Taking the photos to editing, to finally releasing them, can be very time consuming for the seniors and they are often found working late into the night.
“No one really realized what post production takes when taking photos for someone,” Vallampati said. “And afterwards, going through and weeding through the ones we don’t like and then editing them takes so much time.”
However, for Vallampati, the benefits of working with her friend outweighs the consequences.
“My favorite part is working with Maggie.” Vallampati said. “I think we work really well together. It also forces us to spend a lot of time together. But I really like spending time with her and we get to show off our creative ability. A lot of my friend’s friends know about it and it really makes me happy to do all that stuff.”
The seniors’ hope to continue the business throughout highschool and into college.
“I hope I do continue the business and photography in the future,” Wang said. “I love photography and I hopefully will go to school for something in digital media, so I want to continue to keep on taking photos and keep this business running in the future.”
This story was originally published on Wingspan on September 19, 2023.
