About

I am 95% photographer, 5% photoshopper. That’s pretty unusual these days. I wish I could say I spend more time taking pictures than processing them, but that’s not true. I spend most of my time meticulously choosing which pictures to keep and which ones to delete. I typically take twice as many as I keep.

My camera is my best friend. It goes everywhere with me. I love it because it does exactly what I want it to do. When you see a picture in one of my galleries with a lot of motion blur, crazy colors or a grainy look, that’s how I took it. I rarely even crop my images.

About me? Well, I have always been an artist and photography is in my blood. My grandfather worked for Polaroid. My first camera was a Kodak Pocket Instamatic designed to use Magic-cubes. People told me then that I should be a photographer and I really wanted to.

I also drew, using every medium I could get my hands on. My favorite thing to do was copy pictures of wild animals from the wildlife card set I got in the mail. I mostly used cray-pas, pencils & watercolors. I also took Cosmetology & Barbering, so I could create art on people’s heads. My style was very similar to that of Edward Scissorhands.

I saved up for a camcorder right after high school and started bringing it everywhere, documenting everything. I decided I wanted to write & direct my own movies, but I had a common problem, “writer’s block.” I knew what kind of movie I wanted, but when pencil went to paper I was blank. I also stopped drawing for the same reason. A few years later I sold the camcorder and got a full-time job in a big & colorful portrait studio. That was my favorite job ever! I worked there for 4 years and then left to start my own business.

In my spare (laugh) time I make dream catchers & bead jewelry, macrame and garden. If I am really motivated I’ll crochet or sew. I also like to volunteer. 

I love photography the best because I don’t start with a blank slate, I am given clues (for lack of a better word) in the form of my subject and then have to create my own way of seeing it and freeze it before it changes. There is constant inspiration and countless different ways to take a picture. I also get to exercise my left brain when I choose shutter speed, ISO, aperture, lens, etc. Freelance photography makes it possible for me to do it my way all the time, which keeps me very happy.

My absolute favorite thing to shoot is weddings. People put so much effort into details and families are brought together for a once-in-a-lifetime event. I get to shoot macros, action and traditional portraits in one emotion-filled day. I truly believe that a wedding is a photographer’s dream.