Fountain Hills High School senior Lauren Madden is new to photography, but already she’s discovering a knack for the art form.

Just two years after first picking up the camera, Madden is now the proud recipient of first place honors in the Arizona School Board Association Jack Peterson Student Photo Contest, color division.

“I started taking photography classes [at Fountain Hills High School] two years ago and I’ve been doing it ever since,” Madden said.

Part of the FCCLA trip to Uganda, Madden said she got a lot of practice in Africa and would like to continue shooting in the years ahead.

“I just started and now I really like it,” Madden said. “I want to maybe do it in college. I’m considering photojournalism as one of the career paths I’m thinking about.”

For this particular contest, Arizona students were tasked with capturing the beauty of “Arizona Landscapes.”

Madden said she was ready to go when she first heard about the competition.

“Mrs. Primosch asked us if we had any photos of Arizona landscapes we’d like to submit and I already had several,” Madden said. “I figured most people would turn in pictures of the desert or a cactus and I wanted to do something different.”

For her shot, Madden submitted a photo she had taken of Havasu Fall while on a hike with her family.

“I figured that would be something you don’t normally think about when picturing Arizona,” Madden said.

She was correct, and her creativity paid off, earning her the top honors in the color category. Still, she’s humble about her talent, giving full credit to the photo’s subject instead.

“It’s a picture of a waterfall at Havasu Falls,” Madden said. “I’m surprised I won, to be honest. I think it was the beauty of the waterfall, rather than the quality of the photo, that made it stand out.”

Whatever the reason, Madden said she was very excited to find out she had won. She will soon attend an ASBA conference for the official announcement where she will be joined by fellow top rankers in the color and black-and-white divisions.

For only just starting into the world of photography, Madden appears to have figured out what lies at the heart of the art.

“I just enjoy being able to capture certain moments,” Madden said. “With pictures, you have something that permanently shows something you might not be able to remember as well.”

It’s this love of the moment, Madden said, that will keep her shooting.

“Even if I don’t go into photography, I plan to keep shooting,” Madden said. “I want to travel a lot and this will be a good way to remember everything I see.”