I have photographed the world around since I was eight years old. I started on a 35mm for summer camps and family trips. By thirteen, I was in love. I asked for a camera, that year. Digital was starting to take hold, but I wanted to continue in film, feeling like digital was cheating, even then. I wanted a camera that had some of the views and settings on the back yet film. As I was asking for something almost impossible, I was gifted my first digital camera, a Canon PowerShot. A Camera I cared for and still own(though it no longer works.)

I took photos of animals, people, relationships, everything I could. As I learned to better frame and create better images, I fell more in love with photography. In high school, I started photographing more than candid, and took a photography class.

I learned a lot of the technical terms, though I easily forgot them, and continued on my jounrey on shaky feet. I used auto on my cameras until much later, as I didnt know how to change the settings on my D40 or later D3300. Around 2018, I started taking control over my images and photographed 100%manual. My focus was manuel, my settings were manuel. I also started shooting about 1/3 stop under exposed, as I wanted a darker look on my photographs. I now know what I was searching for, that I could never get, was a high contrast style, or more, noir portraiture.

Today, I am taking a program to give myself the added knowledge and confidence to take on photography as a business. A dream I have had since I realized Vet school wasn’t for me. But not only am I taking a dive into being serious and taking back my passion, I am also going back to writing. I am taking control of the world I have wanted to be a part of and playing an active role in my happiness. I have decided that the voices of “You won’t make it, you can’t make it, you’ll never be good enough” need to take a backseat and I need to go for it. No more being terrified of failure, but instead taking control of the possibilities.