‘I saw the pictures on the Jones Soda bottles and thought, why not?” said Desstanee Witherspoon, 17, who began submitting her photographs online to the Jones Soda Co. website.
It was her photo of the Ferris wheel along the waterfront in Seattle that will be featured on Strawberry Lime sodas stocking the shelves nationwide. Jones Soda is Seattle-based company best known for its cane sugar sodas in glass bottles. Each label features a run of black and white photographs submitted to the company’s website. The Battle Ground teen has had two photos selected as a staff pick by Jones, one of the American flag and the other of raindrops on leaves.
Her winning shot of the Ferris wheel was taken last summer with her digital camera.
“I thought (the Ferris wheel) looked really pretty with the water,” she said.
And it was never a color photo, with Witherspoon intentionally capturing the scene in black and white.
“It was actually a drabby-looking scene, so in the color, it was sort of drowning out the scene. It wasn’t supposed to be a sad picture, (and) changing it to black and white changed the mood.”
Witherspoon received an envelope last week containing a letter of congratulations and a copy of her photograph on the soda label. About 1 percent of photos get selected, Jones Soda wrote in the letter, said Witherspoon.
“(Being selected has) made me more confident with photography, and I want to enter more stuff,” said Witherspoon.
Now the only question will be if she can find her soda label in the wild. Witherspoon, her family and her friends will all be looking through local soda shelves.
“The letter even says happy hunting,” she said.
A student at Summit View High School, her uncle gave her a camera at the age of 13. Witherspoon owns a digital Fujifilm and an older film camera “with all the labels worn off.”
While digital offers a chance to look at your photos, she said, “with film (cameras), you get exactly what you saw, so it’s, like, real.”
Her favorite photography subjects are nature, such as when she’s out hiking in the woods near her home, or creating photo shoots with friends, she said.
“I do photo shoots for free. It’s what I enjoy doing, so I feel bad for taking people’s money,” said Witherspoon. “I’ve always wanted to do a photo shoot of people with wild animals.”
Witherspoon takes photos with her iPhone as well, even if she has her digital camera.
“My (digital) camera takes photos that are more clear, with more quality. My iPhone tends to focus on the lighting, often a darker, different view.”
“(Photography) is a passion, I take it pretty seriously. It’s something that makes me happy.” Witherspoon dreams of perhaps seeing her photography in a magazine or on TV screens.
Bits ‘n’ Pieces appears Fridays and Saturdays. If you have a story you’d like to share, email bits@columbian.com.
