giaphotography
Gianna Liu
NSPA
Photojournalist of the Year
Portfolio
Welcome to my portfolio. Click on the image for a full-screen experience. Thank you for taking the time to look at my work.
Celebratory Race
Published Feb. 13, 2024 on wsspaper.com
Owen Schwebach '24 from Ames High School and Dylan Alt '25 from Waukee High School embrace after a tight race in the 100-yard Freestyle. Over 30 schools in Iowa competed in the Boys Swim State Championships Feb. 9-10 at the CRWC.
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Celebratory
Race
Fighting through all the swimmers, coaches, and other photographers on the side of the pool, I crouched down low to get a good position before the next event. As soon as the two boys touched the walls and saw their time, they immediately looked at each other and hugged like two magnets pulled together, yelling and splashing in joy at their own accomplishments and at each other. Taking this photo also taught me to always look for those small moments, and be versatile while taking sports photography: action and candids
Floats and Football
Published Sept. 21, 2023 on wsspaper.com
The Trojan Football Club came out hyped and ready to parade. West community's sports and clubs of all ages were involved in West High's first homecoming parade. The parade marched throughout Galway Hills Sept. 21, 2023
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Floats and Football
These kids were certainly the highlight of the parade, and were shorter than me by a lot. For this photo, zooming in with your feet and not the lens played a crucial part in capturing the joy and enthusiasm of the elementary school kids. Since they were only half as tall as me, I had to decide the angle of the photo: taking it above them would've resulted in a more third-person type of view while matching their height would give the kids that "main character" feel. I ultimately chose the "main character" feel to really let these kids shine.
Protest for Perry
Published Jan. 19, 2024 in the January issue of West Side Story
Students from West High School and City High School marched to protest against gun control laws after the devastating shooting at Perry High School. Students held posters and spoke at the Pentacrest, Downtown Iowa City Jan. 8.
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Protest for Perry
Devastation, despair, anger. This was how Iowans felt after the Perry School shooting that took the life of one innocent child. For this photo, I wanted to capture the urgency and desperation of the marchers, and colors were the way to amplify that. Red screams out from every poster, mixing in with the sad, bleak gray dinge of the sky.
Frese this Moment
Published Dec. 23, 2023 on wsspaper.com
Coach Nate Frese claps after the West girls basketball takes victory over cross-town rival City High. The girls win 63-57 in the home West-City double header Dec. 22, 2023.
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Frese this Moment
The gym was electric; it was the basketball game to look forward to. While there was plenty of emotion to capture in the crowd and on the court, I wanted to focus on the man behind the play: Coach Frese. I practiced perfecting the shutter speed for taking good action shots while also practicing balancing the shutter speed, iso, and f-stop with the dim, dull fluorescent lighting of the gym.
#1 Fan
Published Jan. 13, 2024 on wsspaper.com
Winston Fan '26 finishes the last stretch of Butterfly in the 200-yard Medley Individual, in the preliminaries of the Boys State Championships Feb. 9.
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#1 Fan
I was at the State meet for more than four hours, and I wanted to experiment with my angles. No photographers were by the blocks, so I decided to take the frontal, upper view of Winston. Using a 1/700 shutter speed, I was able to capture the splash of the water and freeze him cutting through the water.