Already known for his eye for photography, Darius Blount also casts an eye toward lofty goals. The smart bet is likely on the ambitious Blount to reach them. Since realizing he had a passion for capturing moments through his photography, Blount has already established his own photography and videography business.
The Destrehan graduate will attend Nicholls State to study business administration, and he hopes to one day be the CEO of his own business.
“I’d love to be the person who kind of manages everything, who has to make the calls on what to do and how to do it,” he said. “Organizing everyone and letting them know what we have to do to make sure it gets done. That’s what I’m looking forward to.”
He realized he had a taste for photography nine years ago as he was riding Motocross. His uncle — a photographer himself — would take pictures of Blount riding. One day, while taking a break from riding, Blount took his uncle’s camera and began to take pictures of the other riders. The experience stuck with him.
“I started liking it,” he said. “Watching him go back home and edit the pictures … I got interested in it, so I kept going. Soon after that, I bought my own camera and started doing a little more stuff, started shooting sporting events for Albert Cammon Middle School. Eventually, I upgraded to more cameras, more equipment and went from there.”
One thing to note about Blount: he’s a quick study. Upon reaching Destrehan High, his work was reviewed and he became the first freshman DHS student to ever get into the yearbook class, which he took for three straight years.
Blount expanded his work in sports photography before eventually entering into the wedding and portrait genre.
“The sports part really caught me, the action, being able to go to the games,” he said. “I watched so many videos on YouTube to learn different things. Watching guys do all the big NFL and NBA games … I think that’s pretty cool. That’s what my goal is to do.”
Another interest that has come naturally to Blount has been with the Destrehan Robotics team, which he joined as a senior and helped propel to the National Championship tournament for the third straight year.
Blount had been asked to join the team a few times by Robotics coach Brian Young, but after attending the National Championship tournament in 2016 to photograph it as a junior, Blount found himself hooked.
“Last year I saw it and thought, ‘OK, I have to do this,’” he said. “I got really involved with it as senior. I came back and was lead scout, scouting other teams, the lead person on the selection process to pick other teams and who will be in your team. I helped fabricate the robot, build it, test it. This year, robotics has been one of biggest things I’ve done.”
Blount has also been student worker each summer with the school’s computer technology staff and attended the Satellite Center in Interactive Media.
His photography business has grown, something likely attributed at least in part to his attention to detail. Blount shoots each photo with a purpose.
“I want to make sure that I capture every high-peak moment,” he said. “A touchdown, a big game-changer, celebrations, jubilation, some sadness for the team that loses. Really, it’s to capture points a lot of people don’t see, making sure they can see it through a picture.
“A picture tells 1,000 words, and I want to make sure that the pictures I take can tell 1,000 words and more. So you look at that picture, you know exactly what happened, you remember the date and time and everything about it. That’s always my goal.”
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