Gregory Weston appears to be like any other photographer. As a Texas Athletics Creative intern, he can often be found on the sidelines or around campus with a camera to his eye. While he’s capturing beautiful images through his camera’s viewfinder, he’s also seeing the scene clearly for the first time as Weston is legally blind.

Weston decided to pick up a camera during his senior year of high school because of his photography teacher.

“I very distinctly remember learning about all the settings on a camera, setting things a certain way and then being able to take a good picture,” he said. “Shortly after, I realized that all you have to do is sit somewhere with a camera and you can get whatever it is that you want to see.”

Whether shooting sports or a day spent with friends, in many ways, Weston always appreciates the small stuff, making sure to keep his camera with him. This was especially true upon arriving to the University of Texas.

“When I got here, I took my camera everywhere,” Weston said. “I have so many photos of my friends playing sports, my friends doing everyday things, and I cherish those because I realized that I was not only finding a moment and saving a memory, but that it was also my way of seeing the world.”

Weston says that he was motivated to get involved with Texas Athletics Creative so that, as a Radio-Television-Film (RTF) major at Moody College of Communication, he has an opportunity to get experience in sports media and production first-hand.

“You get to experience how to make documentaries for companies or for athletes, or sports in general,” he says.

Though his primary interest in RTF lies in screenwriting, he appreciates the opportunities Moody College, and UT, gives students to get a real-world education.

“Maybe there’s not a lot of writing in sports and photography specifically but I’ve noticed that this is still a good start,” he said. “This experience, as a foundation, helps you be more well-rounded.”

Weston should know about getting a well-rounded education. He’s not just an RTF major, but a double major, also studying philosophy.

Caten Hyde, senior associate athletics director, creative development and video production, says that students like Weston receive guidance from professionals, but there’s also a lot they can learn from one another.

“We have a large student group of varying skills, backgrounds and hometowns and because they come from all walks of life and levels of skill, they forge a lot of friendships,” Hyde said. “He’ll get and give guidance just like anyone else, but everyone looks to him to bring light to a situation.”

Hyde says that Weston, in addition to his unique perspective, brings a lighthearted feel to things that others probably take too seriously. He always brings a sense of humor to the room, Hyde said, recalling an occasion when Weston joked with head football coach, Steve Sarkisian and former university president, Jay Hartzell, as if they were old buddies.

“My mother told me this a long time ago; you’re the only person you need to impress so just go out and do better every day,” Weston said. “It’s about the process and growing from different experiences. You won’t forget those things because you learned so much. Yeah, you fell on your face a few times, you got hit by a few flying balls because you can’t see them, but you just learn how to deal with that moment.”

While Weston admits he isn’t always the fastest when it comes to editing digital photos, he’s good at finding ways to make the process work for him, including editing shots on his phone because he’s able to bring the screen closer to his eyes.

“If there’s one thing I can’t do as well as everybody else, I’m going to find out how to go a different way and be excellent in that,” he says.

Recently, he’s become interested in shooting with film, saying that while you won’t know what your photos look like until they’re back from the developer, he appreciates taking his time to make top notch images. Hyde says that with film, Weston has been able to capture black and white images, the environment surrounding a game, and the crowd.

“In some ways, how he consumes an experience is different than how you and I would experience it,” Hyde said. “His world looks different, and we appreciate that perspective.”

Though Weston is classified as a senior, he says he’s planning to stick around UT for one more year. Regardless, he already has a lot of memories from Moody College that will be with him throughout his life.

“The people will really stand out,” he said, noting how much he learned from Raymond Thompson’s, an assistant professor in the School of Journalism and Media, class that goes beyond taking pictures.

“The photos we looked at in that class might not have been the prettiest pictures but the functionality of them was there, and the stories they told,” he said.

He also said that Richard Lewis, an RTF professor, and Deborah Lewis, an RTF associate professor of practice, have had a significant impact on his time at Moody College.

When asked what advice he would give to any other student, or even adult, who feels like they have a personal, metaphorical mountain to climb, Weston said that it’s quite simple.

“Just have the courage to try. You only need to figure out how to go from 0 to 1. Just take a step and you’re that much farther than you were.”