I bought my first camera when i was 7 years old with money from a paper route. I would spend my week and most of the money on film and developing, taking pictures of whatever i could find. In the last 30 years, little has changed in that regard.

While the digital revolution has changed most aspects of how I work, I’m still a wide-eyed 7 year old looking through what I’ve just shot. There’s still magic in that box. I find that I am more aware of my surroundings, more connected to people and living my life with intent. Who knows what this industry will be like in 30 years. All that is certain is I’ll be making images of what is in front of me.

I finally purchased my own dslr camera body and lenses over the past 3 years and fell in love. I’m seeing things through a different eye. Now I take my time to look a scene over and get those unique shots that many others will miss. I like to look for a creative spin on a given scene rather than just shoot what everybody else sees. I love being able to express yourself through the pictures you take; to show everyone what you see, how you feel and who you are as a person.

Recently, I tested the waters at a wedding and found how exciting being under pressure for ‘that’ shot can be! My favorite still would be shooting sports. As I’ve become more comfortable with my camera, I’ve tried different techniques, one such being depth of field. I can’t get enough of the effects you can create while shooting sports. It’s unreal and amazing.

I always used to wonder how people got their pictures in magazines. But now I believe, if you put your mind to it, anyone can get what they dream.

I always knew that I wanted to be a photographer; as a kid, I would sit on the living room floor, spending hours upon hours scouring through decades of National Geographic magazines, imaging myself traveling the world and documenting different cultures as a photographer.  As the years went by,  I discovered that I was also good with languages and so I chose to study International Affairs in college since I was under the impression that  it was a more “viable” career choice than photography.

Days  before the  second semester of my last year began, my father passed away unexpectedly.  I took the semester off to spend time with my family and re-evaluate my life.  It was during that time that I met so many people who begrudgingly worked an uninspiring job day after day and I realized that I still had the opportunity to live my dreams and feel passionate about my work every day of my life. 

I also remember looking through old photographs my grandmother had from during the war and it amazed me that no matter how difficult life was for her and her family as they were forced to flee from Ukraine and live as refugees, hidden in a concentration camp in Germany, to making new homes in Brazil and then America, they always made the time and found the money to have a family portrait taken.

In the semester prior to my father’s death, I took a b&w photo class and after his passing, his cousin told me that I had inspired my father to consider selling his business to open a photography studio.  That’s when I knew I was making the right choice.

I changed my major when I returned to school and since it was so drastically different from my original International Affairs major, I had to study for an additional 3 years.  I also secured a position in the lab at National Geographic with the intention of becoming a National Geographic photographer.  However, during that time, my husband and I learned that we were expecting our first child and I was again faced with an opportunity to re-evaluate the path I had chosen.  I knew that I wanted to be a part of my child’s every day life, which ruled out any travel for a while.   That was when my husband and I opened our first event photography studio.

I could keep going but the point is that I love photography because it has afforded me the opportunity to live my life as I’ve needed and wanted through the years.  It has been flexible and grown with me.  It creates opportunities for me to travel when I want to and is also flexible enough to sustain me during those periods when I want to be home.

In the past 15 years, I have opened 3 successful studios in 3 cities across the US.  I love photography because with it, I can do it all and I can do it anywhere.  I can be an artist, a business woman, a world traveler and a mom. I am a photographer.