Hello there.

From a young age, I was playing with cameras and taking pictures of things that interested me. As a kid I took "still life" images, and forced my poor friends to pose for portraits. I had a cheap film camera with me on every field trip, resulting in envelopes full of blurry, underexposed images. As I got older, I became more interested in chronicling trips and landscapes. I began a love affair with black and white film, a love that abides even still. I never met a dreary cemetery or babbling brook I didn't need to commit to film. I knew nothing about photography- I just knew I needed to take pictures.

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I grew up, had kids, and finally bought a DSLR- a Nikon d5200- to chronicle both the mundane and beautiful details of raising kids. I was determined that I wouldn't be that "mom with a camera" who gets a decent camera and starts a photography business.

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Whoops.

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I upgraded my starter camera to the d7200 and then the d810, investing in lenses and taking classes on all aspects of photography and editing. I pursued storytelling family photography for several years, which I loved... but my heart has always been for landscape photography.

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My life changed in 2014, when my mom died and I began homeschooling my children (these were unrelated but similarly life-altering). This was the year that I really grew up.  My mom was always a champion of my artistic endeavors, and a great support as I was raising kids. Starting my homeschooling journey without her was really tough. Through homeschooling, though, I developed a deep and abiding love for American history, as well as a strong motivation to visit the places we learned about in order to understand that history better. 

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In 2017, we embarked on our first "educational" cross-country road trip. Having never been outside the states neighboring Georgia, this trip truly changed my life. It was on this trip that I first saw the majesty of the Rocky Mountains (I cried), wondered at the immense size of the Grand Canyon, drove through deserts and pondered the vastness of empty space. I marveled at immense sandstone arches and bald eagles diving for fish in the Mississippi River. For the first time, I truly understood why National Parks are so special- and decided at that moment that I would visit as many as possible, with my camera along for the ride. Coming home, I just kept thinking, "How in the world will I ever be as happy as I have been this last month??" I have been looking for- and finding- opportunities to explore and travel ever since. I bought my beloved Jeep in 2019, which has provided me with a lot of courage and ability to take "roads less traveled" in my pursuit of discovering America.

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If you have made it this far into my story, I appreciate that you took the time to read it. I hope you enjoy your visit to my site. Peruse my galleries to see images from my explorations, and check out my work-in-progress blog where I tell the stories of my trips. Then- perhaps- you might feel motivated to buy a print or two to help support my continued explorations, and possibly even to inspire you to do some exploring of your own.