Capture the Moment

By Irais Maganda

Christina Trail, a Valencia High School junior, was nominated to be the OC Artist of the Year.

Trail’s photographs captivate a nostalgic essence whilst being candid and open to interpretation.

Trail’s creative process begins by capturing moments. Capturing moments that one can look back

on and reminisce about. Because time is always passing quickly, the photographs allow the

moments to be treasured. While the world may change and the relationship might be gone, the

photograph is still there and there is a beautiful memory attached to it. One is able to freeze that

moment in time, and remember all the memories linked to that photograph.

Trail’s photographs were taken in places meaningful to her. Most of them were taken at the

Yorba Linda Town Center and Tricity Park. The Yorba Linda Town Center was a prominent

place in her childhood. These places are those in which memories have been built or are just

enjoyable to be in. Trail’s favorite place to go was torn down and turned into a parking structure,

so now she loves going there and photographing the stairs and lighting. Trail loves going to those

places that have meaning for her because she keeps going back and keeps changing, bringing

new and old people, and it's a place that's going to stay the same for a long time, but everything

around it is constantly changing.

Trail edits the lighting and saturation to bring into focus certain parts of the photos that she

wants. The photographs are rarely edited, if at all. She wants to demonstrate the photograph in its

most authentic form. This way, the photographs remain genuine. Faces aren’t typically seen in

her photographs because they are captured in mid-moment. Her friends and family can be in

mid-activity and she will snap a picture of them. None of the photos were posed for.
Trail has been photographing since about 2016. She started during Christmas time,

photographing the Christmas lights. She began to photograph as a kid who wanted to take

pictures of anything that caught her interest. Then, it turned into something more. Trail was able

to hold on to specific memories and make them somewhat permanent because, although nothing

is necessarily permanent, pictures don’t change.

Her favorite aspect of photography is capturing moments and the nostalgia that old pictures can

bring. Sometimes people forget about things that happened, but with a picture, people remember.

People can look back on the pictures and reflect on things.

Trail is inspired by life. There’s so much people take for granted. Growing up, she went to

various different schools and never stayed in one place for long. She felt like she had nothing to

hold onto. Trail is inspired by the way things are always changing and how people are always

moving and creating things. Pictures can be taken to commemorate friendships and memories,

but people will be gone and the idea people hold of them is the only thing left.

One of her top favorite photographs would be "Toss Your Heart Aside." The photograph shows a

friend of hers holding flowers. The flowers were actually found on the side of a Ralph’s on the

floor. The photograph is one of her top favorites because there is something sad yet pretty about

it. The emotion can almost be felt from the photo. Although there is no particular emotion, the

photograph evokes one. Because her photos are always growing and improving, she has no

absolute favorite. Trail treasures the memories behind the photographs rather than the photos

themselves. The more she loses certain people, the more these people drift away from her, the

more the photos become treasured to her because these are moments that she experienced that

were so great that she wanted to capture them. She is able to reminisce on these photos.
The names of the photographs in Trail’s portfolio are typically inspired by others. She mentions

that sometimes during 6th period she sits in the photography classroom and asks others how her

images make them feel and what they bring up in them. Then, she plugs it in and, if it resonates,

she keeps it. Otherwise, she won’t try to force a name on the photograph. It is something that

happens more naturally, and if it works, it works.

One of the photographs in her portfolio, named "The Forgotten Things," in which one of her

male friends holds a chair near a garbage dump, symbolizes the beauty of items people don’t

necessarily pay attention to or care about, and how they each have their own story. People have

used these items and have gone through various moments and emotions in their lives with them.

People throw a lot away. People will find things in their closets that they forgot existed, and it

will bring up emotions, whether they be happiness or sadness. There are so many things that we

find important day to day that we just forget later on, and they're just not important, and how you

feel in the moment is what really is important.