Watching the image play out in a tiny rectangular box, he tracks the bright red player flashing across the radioactive green AstroTurf.

He aligns the frame perfectly with his right eye. He records the wide receiver jumping, extending his arms and catching the ball a millisecond before crashing to the ground, scoring the first touchdown of the game.

The 90-degree Texas heat radiates and the sun shines bright in his eyes as he looks down, trying to see the video just captured.

There’s an editing to-do list taller than the jump the wide receiver made. But for sophomore Samuel Hu and his partner and sophomore Jason Zhao, starting their photography business wasn’t about the recording. It was about witnessing the personal, ephemeral moments of sports: points scored, laughter after a win and the emotional tears shed after a loss.

In the middle of October sophomore year, the two were just “throwing around” ideas on how to make money during Yearbook class. By next period Spanish, though, they had come up with a model that fit their hope to provide quality photos for young adults: “Everyone should have a photo of themselves they really like.” By the end of the period, JS Visuals was born.

“We had sort of thought about it before but Samuel was really serious about it and we just decided to see where it would go,” Zhao said.

With the idea of affordability and credibility in mind, Hu and Zhao wanted to be careful when setting costs. They wanted to make sure that anyone who wanted access to their photos could get them.

“We started off a little bit cheaper to gain [the] trust of teams and players, with $25 individually, $35 for a team video and a group all together is $15 each,” Zhao said. “It can be hard when you’re a student business and no one really knows about your work. We also wanted everyone to be able to access our photos so that was something we kept in mind when setting the price.”

Once they finalized all the details and created their Instagram account, the two set off and began advertising by contacting sports teams and DM’ing players.

“We had to really go out of our comfort zone and make connections,” Zhao said. “As first-year Yearbook staffers and sophomores, you really only know a couple of people, which is why we had to really get the word out.”

Within a month of contacting teams and players Hu and Zhao gathered 10 clients, including two sports teams.

“Once we build our brand we hope to go to bigger events, maybe college games and photo shoots for people’s graduation photos or senior photos,” Zhao said. “[We] definitely [want to] expand into bigger things than just high school games. We might raise prices if it gets that big.”

Zhao said he and Hu want to “stay loyal to people who helped [them] build up the brand so far,” and reflect the ideals they had starting the business: not just making money but capturing moments in life that really matter to someone and giving them access to good, inexpensive photography.

“Some people may not have access to really good pictures to post or use for something,” Hu said. “So I wanted to help other people get high quality [photos] for their own use.”

Hu has been fascinated by the idea of photography since he was 6 years old.

“Both my dad and my sister did photography, so they taught me as well,” Hu said. “My dad took photos of me during my [soccer] games, and I want to replicate that for other people.”

Hu has experimented with photography since middle school, but only in the past year has he taken a more serious route.

“I think that this year I’ve definitely focused more on photography and what I can do with it,” Hu said. “It might not be the career that I want but it is something that I really love and want to continue throughout my life.”

Zhao has just recently started learning photography, with one year of experience. At a soccer game when Hu was taking photos, Zhao got to try his hand at photography, creating a portfolio for his own Yearbook application.

“It was one of the coolest experiences,” Zhao said. “I had never done photography before and using Samuel’s camera really sparked my interest. [Yearbook] gave us the platform to go to the games and take photos. From there we were able to learn a lot about editing along with how to run a sort of business with deadlines.”

Although Yearbook set the stage for Hu and Zhao’s company, the two credit their true beginnings for the business to the second grade.

“We met in second grade when our parents sent us to this Chinese soccer league, called 610,” Hu said. “We would go on Saturdays for a pickup game and play with each other and other Chinese kids. [The club] is how we met some of our other close friends too.”

Hu and Zhao have worked on the soccer field for nine years but originally, the possibility of collaborating didn’t seem likely.

“We only knew each other [from] soccer until ninth grade,” Zhao said. “We both went to different schools our entire lives and that kept us from being as good friends as we are now. I don’t think we would be in this business if we hadn’t been friends.”

For varsity volleyball player Allie Barker, Hu and Zhao were the best choice for photographing her game.

“Jason reached out to me asking if I wanted photos,” Barker said. “I looked at the work they had done before, and I liked them, so I chose [JS Visuals].”

Barker was satisfied with the photos and said she would use JS Visuals again.

“I thought it was cool getting action photos and I was very happy with what they did,” Barker said.

The reactions when Hu and Zhao send out their photos really make the business worth it to them. The money can be a bonus, but the two started the business not for their love of money, but for their devotion to photography.

“JS Visuals seems like a business about two guys making money, but photography is really an art form and something that is special to us,” said Hu. “It’s capturing movement and emotions and it’s your own individual piece to share with others.”

Follow Samuel Hu’s individual account at @shot.by.hu, Jason Zhao’s individual account at @jasoncameraman.1201 and their joint business account at @j.s_.visuals.