PINE RIDGE - Nearly all the teenagers were pointing their camera at Enos Poor Bear Jr. as if he were a celebrity. Shutter after shutter clicked as they profiled the cultural interpreter at the Badlands National Park White River Visitor Center as he spoke to them about their Lakota heritage.

Juliana Alford, a 13-year-old from Denver, showed her shots of Poor Bear to Lindsay McCullough, with National Geographic.

"Oh, I love this one with his hands in the air," McCullough said.

Poor Bear counseled the teenagers to take pride in their heritage and to take advantage of the opportunities given to them. This weekend, the Lakota teens are taking his advice by participating in a photography camp put on by National Geographic and the SuAnn Big Crow Boys and Girls Club.

With a team of four professional photographers, the teenagers are documenting life on Pine Ridge Indian Reservation and important landmarks within the reservation, such as the Badlands. On Friday and Saturday, they traveled around Pine Ridge, to a buffalo ranch and to Cedar Butte and Gallago Table.

Through the camp's focus on the environment and conservation, the teenagers can find out "what it means to be Lakota," McCullough said.

"The culture of Lakota is grounded in the landscape," she said.

Chaz Wasa Maza Thompson, 16, of Pine Ridge, said photography gives him a different view of the world.

Chick Big Crow, coordinator of the Boys and Girls Club in Pine Ridge, said Thompson - who was given the Lakota name of his great-great-great grandfather Dewey Beard, who saw the Wounded Knee massacre - and his peers are fulfilling the prophesy made by a spiritual leader after the massacre.

The leader said the circle of Lakota life was broken at Wounded Knee, and the seventh generation will have the responsibility to complete the circle.

Big Crow said many people come from far away to photograph the Lakota way of life, but it's even better that the teenagers do it themselves.

"This brings a different perception of the reservation to the public," Big Crow said. "This is an unheard art, and the kids like it."

The camp has also been a "confidence booster," said Maggie Steber, a photographer from National Geographic. "It doesn't matter if they become photographers as long as they express themselves creatively."

Some of the participants were hesitant about going out, but they gained confidence and soon were shooting with smiles on their faces.

"Photography can be a powerful tool of connection," Steber said.

McCullough said she saw the teenagers "blossom" with cameras in their hands.

Katie Zacher, a 13-year-old from Pennsylvania, dreams of becoming a photographer. She said she enjoys landscapes and portraits of animals, and she even captured a frog by Cedar Butte, but it jumped off her hand before she could get the shot.

Before heading out to the Badlands, Lois Raimondo, a photographer from the Washington Post, took some time to analyze a few of the pictures from each of the teenagers and comment on the positive aspects of their photography.

Juliana, the Denver teen, said the workshop taught her that the best photography involves capturing the scene at the right moment and at the right angle.

Today, the teenagers will head to a powwow in Oglala and maybe visit a gardener. On Monday, they will spend time editing their photography for a final presentation they'll put on for the community.

When the camp is over, the Boys and Girls Club will get to keep the cameras, the students will continue to learn about photography and Big Crow plans to publish a book with their pictures.

McCullough hopes the program goes further than that.

"If they reconnect with the land and use it for inspiration, that'll change their path," she said. "If we can get a spark into them, it's completely worth it."