For the past two years, freshman Chase Mouser has been living in California to pursue his acting career. After contacting an agent and auditioning for plays, Mouser acted in two short films: “Brother” and “Wolves From Another Kingdom”. In addition, he played a role in the popular show Criminal Minds and had the privilege to be a guest on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno. “I was doing like a Halloween skit, and I got chocolate sauce poured all over me. It was super fun!” Mouser said.

From seventh grade, Mouser attended a professional acting school with celebrities such as Noah Cyrus and Frankie Jonas. Having a three-hour day, however, Mouser was seldom provided the opportunity to accomplish academically. “Living in LA is different, and going to school with actors from all over the country is difficult. People don’t really coincide well. We had to make plans weeks in advance, and even then, sometimes plans don’t work out,” Mouser said.

Since moving to Minnesota, Mouser began his aspiration for photography through a commonly known application called “Instagram.” At first, he began snapping pictures with his iPhone and his mom’s camera and continued to explore and become more advanced in the field. “When I first saw Instagram, I thought all the filters were cool, [even though] the pictures were horrendous,” said Mouser.

Mouser soon acquired the two fancy cameras: Canon 5D Mark 2 and Canon Rebel. By talking to his peers and convincing them to take a look at his own social media websites including Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Tumblr, Vine, YouTube, and Flickr, Mouser quickly gained enormous popularity of having more than 46,000 followers on Instagram. “ I made friends through Instagram that had many more followers, and they would sometimes give me shoutouts which was cool. Once I hit 10,000 followers I got on the “Popular” page and that only helped me gain more,” said Mouser.

Even though taking an “artsy” picture and embellishing it with filters often seem simple and easy, Mouser emphasizes the need for practice in order to produce good images. “Honestly, I used to be really bad, so I did it every single day for so long. I just kept practicing, and even though this might sound cliché, practice makes perfect,” said Mouser.

Despite having grown strong affection for photography, Mouser remains tentative about enrolling in classes offered at BSM, which might restrict him to certain assignments. Nevertheless, he looks forward to maintain his focus and incorporate photography throughout his life. To see his photos, check out his Instagram account and Tumblr website.