Joe Petro is a Digital Photography teacher at WSHS who loves his job. While Mr. Petro is employed as a digital photographer at WSHS, his love for photography extends off campus. Mr. Petro often snaps photos of the Orlando City Soccer Club and the Orlando Pride of the National Women’s Soccer League and sells them to other companies such as Associated Press and Getty Images.
He first started photography when his son was in high school. Mr Petro often felt distant from his son while his son was on the field, so he became a photographer to get closer to his son while his son was playing football. He would eventually be noticed by WESH 2 News and was hired to snap photos at high school sports games for the news channel. To fully pursue his newfound passion, he would sell his landscape company to start his new photography company, traveling the world to take photos. From bears in Montana to kangaroos in Australia, He’s grateful to be able to travel the world to take pictures expressing his passion for photography. While he isn’t taking pictures of animals hundreds of miles away, he likes to photograph wild animals in local parks, snapping pictures of Florida’s beautiful wildlife in their natural habitat.
For the last decade, Mr. Petro has been passing down his knowledge and experience of digital photography to the newest generation of photographers. He said his favorite part of teaching was showing students something new that they hadn’t seen before. When students first start his class, many barely know how to work a camera. But by the end of his class, his students become photography professionals. He said that without photography, he would still be working in his landscape company.
When asked what he would like to tell all high schoolers he said “Never give up on your dream” and “If you want something bad enough, do it. That’s the mentality you have to have.”
