SNAP! The camera shutter clicks. A sweeping landscape, a game-winning shot or the final kick of a race is captured in an instant.

For the past three years, senior and student photographer Finn Bruen has been behind the lens, capturing moments and developing his photography expertise along the way. Bruen focuses on sports photography and often shoots friends and fellow high school students.

Bruen said he first discovered his passion for photography during his sophomore year, in Lori Lynn’s Photography Foundations course. Since then, he has advanced in the photography program and started a themed Instagram account where he posts his work.

Lynn said Bruen has progressed significantly during his time in her photography classes. Not only has he learned foundational skills like color theory and portraiture, he has also moved to more advanced projects.

“I think that when I first had him, he did well, but then towards the end of the semester, I feel like something really clicked with him, and he just started taking more chances with the way that he was photographing,” Lynn said. “Now I have him in advanced, which is our level three class. This is where I’m really asking him to think about what he wants to create and why; he is coming up with his own projects and following through with them.”

Bruen said he discovered his love for photography when he took the Foundation course three years ago. While he enjoyed the work in the course, he was inspired to take the hobby outside of school. He now photographs cityscapes, natural scenery and athletes.

“There are certain things that are better done, especially for photography, going a little bit further, spending a little more time somewhere that isn’t the school. It’s a good elective to have time to think about something other than your normal schoolwork, and just go deeper into something that you enjoy,” Bruen said.

Lynn said she knew Bruen had a unique way of seeing things from the beginning of their time together. She said his work in sports photography was only a greater testament to that.

“We’ve had some good conversations about how his best pictures, when he’s photographing sporting events, have an almost cinematic feel to them. Where he’s not just capturing the action, but telling a story with the image of what’s going on in the game. I think that’s his best work,” Lynn said.

Bruen has done a lot of photography work for the boys varsity rugby team. Senior and captain Isaac Hughes said he has been happy with the results Bruen has achieved.

“He offered to shoot for some of our games, he came out, and he’s been doing it ever since,” Hughes said. “A lot of people try to charge tons of money. He’s very fair-priced. He shoots very well. He shoots better than most of the other student photographers that we have around the school.”

Looking back, Bruen said his photography has been an incredibly rewarding outlet.

“I really enjoy sharing that with my friends who play the sports, and then whoever the players are that I am photographing,” Bruen said. “Whenever we do something, I’m usually the person behind the camera. I just really like having those memories and then also being able to share them with other people.”

Readers can find Bruen’s work on his Instagram page @ftb2.photography.