After two years of zoom calls and engaging with people online, society has become more technological than ever before. Riley Renke, a senior photographer and content creator, is managing this year’s NVD sports Instagram page, which David Berenfield grew in 2020. Renke covers the school’s athletic events, by taking pictures, announcing gameday information, creating highlight videos, and a lot more. His skill with the camera is a talent students love to see on their social media feeds.

Renke always had a passion for photography and started experimenting with his mom’s camera at a young age. This spring, he decided to take things more seriously and show people his art and way of expression.

“I have been creating content since middle school, I started with making my own weird youtube videos as a kid, but this later evolved into working as a freelance video editor and graphic designer in 2020,” Renke said. “I reached out to David Berenfeld who was running the page at the time to help bring a new perspective to the page, with different and new ideas.” 

Riley has recently been updating the Instagram account with fall sports content, including boys and girls soccer, volleyball, field hockey, tennis, and football. The number of people attending these events is growing every game, as they hear about it from Renke’s posts. 

“It is awesome to see how people enjoy my work, bringing exposure to their sport. Bringing joy to the community is something that makes me happiest with doing NVD Sports,” Renke said.

Although Renke works hard and loves what he does, it can be challenging to manage other things in his life. It takes time to create something that he can be proud of. 

“It is definitely challenging to juggle the NVD Sports account, work, college applications, and more. It can be difficult, but it is rewarding,” Renke said.

It seems as if the content keeps getting better and better said three juniors. Renke wants to continue creating inspiring content while developing and learning new features. 

“I honestly just want to keep working on my craft with editing, but I want to improve my videography skills, (recording games). Since I am in control of the whole process with videos, filming, and editing, strengthening my skills would make the videos so much better,” Renke said.

Renke also takes pictures of individual athletes, as well as creates commitment posts. The only thing he asks for in return is some credit for his hard work if that athlete decides to share the photo. 

“It is time-consuming, and receiving credit for my work is something I require for people to use my photos etc. It is upsetting when people don’t do the bare minimum and give me credit,” Renke said.

Creating content, while staying on top of assignments, doing homework, and experiencing the last moments of high school, is why Renke has a team of NVD students with a similar passion to help him out. Although students will continue to see his work this year, he won’t be in high school for long. Underclassmen are beginning to follow in his footsteps and learn as much as possible, so they can carry his legacy and make enjoyable edits in the future. 

“I would suggest just getting started and putting yourself out there,” Renke said.