The sharp click of a Nikon shutter breaks the 5 a.m. silence at Huntley Meadows Park. While most of his peers are still asleep, senior Wonwoo Do navigates the marshy forest, scouting around the forest for the perfect bird. Carefully setting up all his camera equipment—lenses, tripods, gears—he waits patiently until the right moment. After capturing the scene, he goes back home to touch up his photos.
“I upload the photos to my computer, then I edit them,” Do said. “That part, editing one photo, usually takes about an hour, but if the photo is really good, maybe 20 minutes. I use the Adobe Lightroom software.”
Do’s journey with photography started in 2019, while living in Seoul, South Korea. As someone who has resided in three countries, Do knows how impactful someone’s living environment can be—a realization that sparked his affinity for capturing wildlife. Now, Do takes batches of photos once or twice a month, usually scenes from wildlife refuges, local parks and even his own backyard.
“[My interest] developed right before COVID, when my dad had a digital camera,” Do said. “I wanted to try it out, so he gave it to me, and then COVID hit. So I just started learning through YouTube. I mostly take wildlife photos because I always loved animals.”
In particular, Do enjoys taking pictures of birds in nature because of their unique attributes.
“Mallards, for example, have this purple, iridescent, small patch of feathers on their wings that is really fun to look at,” Do said. “With photography, I can zoom in on that and look at all the details–how the birds look.”
Having a unique talent in photography has earned Do many awards at the local and national level. In the FCPS Scholastic Art and Design competition, Do won two gold keys, one silver key, and three honorable mentions. As a result, last year, he was given the FCPS Region 2 Megan Vroman Assistant Superintendent Award, which came with an invitation display his art at the Washington Dulles International Airport.
“When Fairfax County had its own scholastic region before, they picked me to present at the Youth Art Walk at Dulles Airport. I think they picked one per region,” Do said. “I presented “Smile to the World”, a picture of a white-breasted nuthatch.”
Arguably the most impressive among his array of awards, Do was recognized as a 2026 Winner with Distinction in the highly prestigious National YoungArts event. The Winner with Distinction title is only bestowed upon 170-180 artists out of nearly 13,000 applicants. Recipients are invited to National YoungArts Week and eligible for cash awards of up to $10,000.
“The portfolio I submitted was on wildlife and animals around my area,” Do said. “I had a lot of random wildlife photos right when I was making my AP Art portfolio, and I connected those photos as animals with human features, actions and norms. For example, for a heron eating a fish, I call it breakfast. When this fox is looking at the camera directly, I call it fear.”
By connecting humans and animals using photography as a medium, an innovative approach, Do was able to differentiate himself from other applicants.
“I wanted to document these common factors and compare the similarities and differences between everyday human and animal lives,” Do said. “Some techniques I used were focusing on one specific area of an animal. When I took a photo of a fox, only its face was in the frame. Or when it was a whole body of a bird photo, if it looked like a parabola shape, I’d call it a smile.”
Scroll to view Do’s YoungArts portfolio along with personal statements that won him National Winner with Distinction!
At National YoungArts week, held in Miami from Jan. 4-11, Do joined talented peers from across the nation in an immersive experience, gaining insight from photography professionals and learning skills such as financial literacy through workshops. He also showcased part of his portfolio in a gallery at the end of the week.
“The entire week was like a workshop. One of the activities was talking with someone, then planning a film using all of your artworks,” Do said. “We also heard from other professional photographers and went out to Miami Beach to take photos. For my gallery showcase, a professional curator picked two photos from my portfolio. My frog and ladybug photo were selected. I answered questions about my artwork, like the background and meaning.”
YoungArts is especially well known because of its strong alumni network. During the week, Do had opportunities to connect with various kinds of talented people from other art disciplines.
“I made a lot of great friends and met so many cool people; everyone over there was great,” Do said. “I loved the overall experience. It was basically a free trip to Miami for a week where I got to skip school.”
Along his journey in photography, Do has been influenced by figures in his life—peers and mentors alike.
“There’s two main influences of my work. The first is my friend James, who graduated last year from McLean,” Do said. “He’s also a wildlife photographer, and he’s the one who actually brought me into bird photography. The second person is my photography teacher Ms. Dreon, who gave me all the resources that I could use, such as computers and all the help I needed for making a portfolio.”
Wonwoo has committed to studying at the Oxford College of Emory University. He will continue to explore his love of photography on the side.
“I really love how the animals look,” Do said. “It’s taking a photo of a living creature that’s not a human. That part is what makes me joyful.”
