By AMANDA FLEMINGER
In hopes of having a direct place for relatives and friends to view quality pictures of their loved ones participating in their activities, David Evertsen created phabulousphotos.com
Social networking sites such as Facebook and MySpace are filled with action shots from Evertsen’s photos.
“[Phabulous Photos are] pictures that my mom can’t take and I think they’re cool; I love the action shots,” junior Francheska Russo, lacrosse player, said. “The pictures he takes capture the intensity with my facial expressions; they’re really good.”
Eversten started taking pictures about five years ago at his daughters’ dance competitions. Because he couldn’t help backstage, he decided to capture the dances through photography. Evertsen had no previous photography experience, but with practice, he has gained a professional look to his shots.
“I have no problem with [students] using my pictures on their favorite social networking site, but I do just ask for consideration from them: don’t crop out my logo if at all possible, and if you do, please just add my site to the caption,” Eversten said. “I really like to see how much everyone likes my pictures; I work really hard.”
Eversten comes to all the campus’s games for the fun; which is his motivation.
“My kids are at the dance studio for good portions of their non-school hours, and I would rather be out [taking photos] than staying at home,” Eversten said. “The only way I’m going to get better is to keep taking pictures and more pictures of different events.”
Evertsen’s pictures are for sale, varying in prices. One is only able to right click and save his photos for a week and after that, the only way of having the photos is to purchase them.
Compared to other sites, phabulousphotos is fairly inexpensive. His prices range form $1.99 for a 4×6 to $9.99 for an 8×10 photo and can go up to $175 for a canvas size.
“These prices are extremely inexpensive for a great product,” Evertsen said.
Not only do Evertsen’s photos benefit athletes, they also benefit the Legend yearbook.
“He has experience and the skill set that allows us to have better pictures on our pages,” junior David Ballard said. “It also gives staffers an opportunity to strengthen our own photos by looking at his for suggestions.”
Evertsen’s dedication is helpful to parents, students, and athletic director Doug Patterson.
Patterson provides the photos he purchases to the coaches so they are then able to give them to the athletes at the end of the season banquets. Also, Evertsen provides Patterson with photos needed for the athletic posters seen around campus.
“I think he’s really gotten to know our athletes and parents [and has] formed a relationship with [them],” Patterson said.
As teenagers aspire to become photographers, Evertsen gives a few pointers. Evertsen’s advice to those aspiring photographers is to “get out and shoot often, and then shoot some more.”
“Just like anything else in life, it takes practice to get better,” Evertsen said. “Don’t think you have to have my equipment to be a great photographer; it is a proven fact the photographer makes the picture, and the camera just captures it.”