Cracking a smile might be easy for Sydney Madren, a sophomore and aspiring photographer at Winona State. When she isn’t dancing on WSU’s dance team, you can catch Sydney smiling constantly and binge watching favorite shows, such as Grey’s Anatomy. This lady is a Communications major that is putting a focus on sports communication, which helps her when it comes to watching her favorite sport: hockey. As many ladies may know and many gentlemen don’t believe, just like the rest of us, one of Sydney’s favorite things to do is eating.
Sydney has been dancing for 17 years in every type of dance you can think of. Not only does she love dancing, but also has an eye for photographing dancers. As any dancer might achieve, Sydney is starting to branch out and achieve new steps in photography. “As a kid I was the one that ran out of iPhone space because I took too many pictures of the sunset.” The “golden hour” as Sydney calls it, on a beautiful summer night between 6-7 p.m. is her favorite time to shoot. “This is when the sun is just going down and you get it to hit your skin just the right way to make the picture essentially ‘golden’.”
With many people feeling the pressure when taking a single person photograph, and nervous that your straight face just might crack a smile, Sydney looks at her shoots as more personal than focused. “Many people come up to me and let me know that it’s comfortable shooting with me, and honestly, it’s one of the best feelings taking that picture and then uploading it to see the image you caught.” A way that Sydney got into her love of photography, was from her role model Meghan, the sister aspect that she always dreamed for that her brother Davis could never achieve. Meghan was always ready for a photo-shoot with Sydney, looking for what every girl dreams of, but won’t always admit to, the best picture that could be your next “prof pic”. Well known photographer Janelle Sutton shot Sydney’s senior pictures and believed that there was something that stood out about her. Janelle told Sydney that one day she just picked up a camera and taught herself. “I sat back and thought, okay I could do that,” stated Sydney.
“Now, I’m just that girl roaming around campus searching for models and opportunities. Looking for the best backdrops and deals on camera lenses, and I’m okay with that.”
I’m honored to call this binge watching, food loving and sunset loving photographer a great friend and would recommend her to anyone. WSU Her Campus had the pleasure of working with Sydney on some professional head shots, and for that we thank you.
Check out Sydney’s skills on her instagram page: https://instagram.com/sydmadren_photography/