For as long as I can remember, I have always loved photography. When I was a little girl I could always be found with one of those point, shoot, then advance forward paper cameras from Kodak (if you know the one I am referring to you know they were pretty great!). There is not a time I can remember in my childhood that my dad did not own a camera. He inspired me with his photography and it pushed me to do better. He is colorblind and never edits his photos, but straight out of the camera, his landscape photos are so beautiful. In high school, I took a photography class and learned how to develop film in the dark room for the first time. It was an amazing experience I’ve never forgotten.

After high school, specifically 12 days after, I joined the United States Navy and spent the next 20 years traveling to countries like Australia, Japan, Italy and so many more! I loved being in the Navy, as it gave me the opportunity to take pictures all over the world, but even then I never once thought of doing it for a living; it was just something fun I did and something I had in common with my father. 

I met my husband, David, while stationed in Sicily, Italy. We were married exactly one year to the day we met, and seven months later we welcomed our first son into the world. We were then transferred to San Diego, California where I had my second son and shortly after, retired. After enjoying retirement for some months I found I was missing something in my life, the military was the only thing I had known my entire adult life, and now it was all over. I went in search of something to fill the void. 

If you’ve ever met me then you know that I am a fly by the seat of my pants kind of girl, so one day I was playing around with the camera my husband had bought me a couple years prior and I got a brilliant idea, at least I thought it was a brilliant idea anyway. Immediately, I started looking online for a college that had a photography program and I came across The Art Institute and discovered they had several locations across the US. I decided to sign up then and there, and a couple days later I discovered I had ben accepted into the program at The Art Institute of San Antonio. It was then that I decided it would be a good idea to tell my husband we were moving, and he was pleased as punch when I told him we had to be in Texas in two short months.

Now, here I am four years later in Temple, Texas with a Bachelor’s Degree in Fine Arts Photography, my family of five, and my own photography business. Not a day goes by that I don’t think about the military, but my heart is full again with the work I am doing. It’s my honor and privilege to serve my clients by capturing their most important smiles.