-me
“In everything, I see a photograph.”
"
Seriously. I routinely order extra cheese. On everything. When you meet me, I'll probably be wearing my hair in some version of a messy bun. These snazzy pics of me on my website include full hair and makeup. I needed to treat myself. But I'm real, and so are you. Flawed IS beautiful, so bring it.
People fascinate me. I've been known to conduct full blown interviews of complete strangers, sing or dance with street performers, and converse with just about anybody. I have a great love of urban street photography because of the keen observation it takes. It's a fascinating opportunity to study people and their body language, behavior, and expression. I do this as often as possible and never share that work with anyone. Somehow, it keeps my feet to the earth.
I've found that people unfold very slowly, but if you give 'em a beat, you can really, really reeeaallly see them. I've been told my whole life that I help people feel comfortable in their own skin. Maybe they just know they're being "logged in" to my story - and that, my friends, MEANS something.
I love my work the same way an onion peels. Seemingly endless layers of challenge, connection, vision, and emotion. This would explain why I have as much fun building a web site for a small business as I do crying behind my camera while shooting a wedding.
If you took the time to read this, I hope I get to meet you soon!
extra Cheese,pun intended
giving back
If someone asked me to count the blessings in my life, I couldn't. They're everywhere.
So I try to give back - and YOU CAN TOO! Find a way. Find a moment - I promise, it's there. Pay for the person behind you at the drive through, even if it's a small amount. Give a smile and kind word to everyone you encounter. Hold the door for someone. Spread love and light wherever possible. If it seems like a reach, start with micro-kindness. Little teenie things, then build from there. It's good for your soul in this crazy world we live in, and it's important to remember we are all part of the humankind family.
We have more opportunities than we think to impact the world we live in.
I try hard to make a regular practice of doing all of these things, but I also donate my time in actionable ways whenever possible to these two amazing organizations:
HeartsApart provides sessions and photographs to imminently deploying military members so that they have weather-proof photo books that are combat pocket size.
Operation PhotoRescue provides digital restoration services to victims of flood or disaster damage.
