May 22, 2026
Contact: Janese Heavin, heavinj@missouri.edu
Photos by Abbie Lankitus, Gretta Cohoon, Reagan Manis and Nicholas Andrusisian
As the semester picked up speed, April unfolded in full color across campus. University photographer Abbie Lankitus shares her favorite photos of April amidst the busy and colorful month.
Photographing the seasons changing on campus is one of my favorite things to cover. Spring is always busy though and it takes all hands on deck to capture what we can for the spring photo gallery.
While out gathering imagery, student photographer Reagan Manis ran into a friend from the Missouri School of Journalism who was shooting a documentary on some skateboarders. Noticing how talented they were, Reagan asked one of them to hit a kickflip and set up the shot. This is the result, and I’m so enamored by it. Never know what we’ll come across on our campus strolls!
If you’ve ever been in the TigerX Group Fitness Cycling Class, you know it’s held in a really dark room, which, if you’re on the bike, is probably preferred. No one needs to see me sweat that much.
But if you’re trying to get marketing photography of the room, it’s nearly impossible to showcase the people, bikes and vibes. You usually have to pick one or two, but not all three. Not the case for University Photographer Gretta Cohoon! She let the dark ambiance of the room shine, while bringing in some lights to add drama and show the people participating.
Not only is this a cool photo, but it’s also a technical feat that is not easily done.
Each spring, the university community comes together for MU Remembers, an event that honors the students, faculty and staff who have passed away in the last year.
Chairs are set up to include each person’s name, a yellow rose and, for students, a stole. It’s hard to encapsulate how emotional and impactful the event is.
Trying to get a different view of the ceremony, I went to the second floor of Jesse Hall overlooking the atrium and focused my shot on the backs of the chairs to create a pattern. The stoles incidentally look like “M’s” — all Tigers forever.
This may just look like an ordinary photo of a residence hall, but let me tell you, it matters what this photo communicates.
“Boring” photos of residence halls or campus buildings are used on websites to showcase our campus or where future students might live. Which picture would make you want to move into a Mizzou dorm more? A cloudy, snowy day with bare trees and cars in the parking lot or a sunny, bright day with lush trees that focuses only on the building? It makes all the difference in your opinion of campus whether you realize it or not.
So, I just wanted to shout out this photo that Gretta took that makes Mark Twain Hall look its absolute best. The angle, lighting, weather and greenery add so much to what could just be a “boring” building photo. The power of strategic marketing photography!
At the beginning of April, local children performed in the Missoula Children’s Theatre production of Cinderella as part of the University Concert Series. Video Producer Nicholas Andrusisian was there to capture photos and got this beautifully stoic image of a child being illuminated by backstage lighting.
I just love how the blue lights the child’s face up just enough, along with a little bit of the pumpkin costume. The rest is pitch black and creates this dramatic and quiet moment of reflection. The creep of red on the bottom is from the main stage lighting and adds another element of color and story to this photo.
Another great spring campus beauty photo from Reagan is of two students enjoying the warmer weather on Francis Quadrangle. The color and moment are what really do it for me on this image. The grass is so green. Coupled with shooting in golden hour (the time in the day when the light gets extra warm from the sun’s location on the horizon), it just enhances the colors.
Because of where Reagan framed this photo, we also get this beautiful flare from the sun poking out between Switzler Hall and the trees. Additionally, there’s golden rim lighting the students (the light outlining the subjects) that makes them stand out from the background. It’s beautiful and exactly the kind of lighting and moments we look for in our spring and campus marketing imagery.
This spring semester, I’ve been following superstar student Josh Donaldson, who just graduated from the College of Engineering, for a MIZZOU Magazine feature that will come out this fall. One of the places we went to photograph him was Tiger Pantry, where he’s worked — and made quite an impact — three of his four years at Mizzou.
I really like this image for a few reasons. One is the color and framing of the cans in the foreground. They made a great window for me to get my lens into and cut out the less visual elements of the shelf. Secondly, I added a flash in front of Josh’s face to illuminate him (otherwise he’s completely in shadow facing the shelf). A little bit of action of him placing the cans and I’ve got a really layered, colorful and well-lit moment.
A future Show Me Mizzou story on students getting experience through clubs led me to the Ashland Wildlife Research Area to photograph the soil judging team. Yes, you read that right: soil judging. What may seem unusual is actually a really practical way for students in natural resources and related fields to gain the real-world skills they’ll need after graduation.
Here, student Emma Knudson has a piece of soil that’s been wetted and balled and is holding it underneath a chart to let her know the color grade of the soil. I loved the hands-on learning aspect of this image (the whole shoot, really) and the way the afternoon light was peeking through each of the holes in the chart. It’s an excellent moment to showcase the hands-on learning opportunities at Mizzou to future students. Plus, I have a soft spot for agriculture-related judging contests, as I participated in many in high school.
How do you showcase a rockstar professor who doubles as a real-life Indiana Jones archaeologist? That was the question when the team huddled about Associate Professor of Roman Art and Archaeology Marcello Mogetta’s story. The solution? Split him in between two photos showing exactly that.
Now, we can’t quite go to Italy to the Gabii Project’s archaeological dig site where Mogetta serves as director, so we recreated it in the photo studio. I projected an image from the dig site onto a backdrop with Mogetta wearing the appropriate Indiana Jones attire. Then I had him change and projected an image of a large lecture hall. I adjusted the light slightly for each “location” and had him stand in the same place with my camera on a tripod to create an equal image.
Afterward, I took some time in Adobe Express placing each image side by side to line Mogetta’s face up as much as possible and see our initial idea come to life!
Also in the same story as soil judging will be the Mizzou Racing Formula SAE Team. With its vehicle fully operational by mid-April, Reagan went to one of the team’s driving practices in the parking lot of Mizzou Arena.
I’m really proud of how Reagan decided to creatively capture the speed of the cars by slowing his shutter speed so that the surrounding background would blur, while he panned his camera to the car – allowing it to remain mostly in focus.
I also thought this was a fitting final image to my favorite photos of April because this car was practically racing us to the end of the semester and into the summer! It all feels like it was happening too fast, and we were just trying to soak up as much of the beautiful weather and end-of-semester fun as much as we could. And we made it to the finish line!
