This year, with the graduation of all its executive board members last spring, there has been a recent push for student involvement in Augustana’s photography club. Those in charge have decided to continue pushing the club forward, and make photography club better known on campus.
“Last year when I was a part of [photography club], it started out pretty good, and then it fizzled out winter term,” said Mary Maraist, a sophomore executive board member for the photography club.  “There were so many people interested but then nobody stuck around…and we were like ‘okay, why is this happening?’”
Maraist explains that this year the new executive board consists of sophomores who have a lot of time to make the club their own, and they intend to stick with it.
“There are a lot of clubs that people are interested in and then they fizzle out and it’s really unfortunate…then people can’t explore what they are interested in,” Maraist said. 
The new executive board has begun to focus on the advertisement of the club, not as a place only for those with big cameras and prior knowledge of photography, but a place for photographers of all experience levels to come and learn.
“(Photography club is) a place for hobbyists and enthusiasts to meet and encourage one another just for the fun of taking pictures,” explains photography club faculty advisor Dr. Forrest Stonedahl.  “…whether it’s with a fancy DSLR camera or a pocket cell phone”.
In order to encourage students to explore photography, members are taught how use a camera correctly and how to effectively take a photo.
“So far, we’ve just been focusing on teaching people about cameras, different settings, modes…talking about what kind of photo you want to take” said Melanie Bliudzius, a sophomore photography club executive board member.  
Bliudzius explains that photography club will also be focusing on different aspects of photography throughout the year.  Although now the club is teaching people how to use cameras, members will also be able to take photos and receive help that guides them toward perfecting what they are doing. Later in the year, the photography club will also have access to photoshop in Old Main so that students can learn how to edit their photos. 
Throughout this year, the new executive board of photography club hopes to continue recruiting students in order to obtain a more solid membership basis, and will be trying to get involved in more events on campus. “We are kind of considering ourselves a new club,” Bliudzius said. “We don’t want to be the same club that [we were] last year.”
Photography club meets biweekly on Tuesdays at 6:00pm in Old Main room 117.