I was told that I needed to include a bio on my website, so for those of you who are truly interested—here goes.

My love affair with photography started at age 15.  Dad was throwing away his old photo equipment when I started questioning him on how everything worked—he showed me and I was in love (sometimes I wonder if the whole getting rid of his equipment wasn’t a setup to spark my interest in something besides boys).  Soon I was deep into the world of chemicals and darkness watching magic on paper develop into pictures in front of my eyes—what fun.  It was true magic.  I’d shoot a roll of film and go develop and print the photos as fast as I could.  My best friend acted as my model and in return she practiced her cosmetology on me.  I had her everywhere imaginable–photographing her in trees, water and the studio.  It seemed as though I had my camera everywhere I went.  It wasn’t long before I set up a little studio and darkroom of my own in what used to be my brother’s old bedroom.  I became a yearbook photographer and hired out to my female classmates to shoot photos in my studio at home. With my earned money I invested in a better camera and equipment.  During the summer of my sophomore year, I was asked to work at Mel Greene studio in the darkroom as an assistant to an older gentleman who would teach me little darkroom tricks to improve on my portraits.  That same old gentlemen offered me all his old studio equipment at the end of the summer  Wow, was I lucky to have be handed the opportunity to educate myself and experiment with decent equipment at age 17.   I will never forget that kindness.

Upon graduation, I was offered a full-time job as a portrait photographer by a local franchise “Tooley Myron Studios.”  Spending two years as a studio photographer and one year as a manager/photographer, I was able to learn a lot regarding management.  As a photographer, I learned I did not like working for other owners.  There was no lighting experimentation and this stifled creativity but never-the-less I learned continually and was thankful for the job I had.  I stayed with Tooley Myron until I married and moved.

Throughout the years, continued my photography with a variety of subject matter, such as weddings, political events, scenery, as well as continuing my love of photographing children.  Years went by and photography always remained a love of mine that I continued to practice and learn.  In 1998 my best friend had her first grandchild.  I decided to get with her daughter to have my very first newborn shoot.  In the past it was status-quo that newborns weren’t photograph until 3 months old and that did not catch them at that brand new stage.  My husband (Ray), always being supportive and ready to help, came along as my assistant toting our very simple studio reflector lights  to the new parent’s house for their photo shoot.  The poses were much harder to do then; and I remember we did the “Kiss” pose (found on my card) much more daring back then.  To protect the baby, Ray squatted under the baby with hands out under the baby (out of camera shot) for protection while the mother held the baby out standing up perfecting the pose position above my husband.  In 1998 I used film, that meant everything had to be done perfectly at the time of the shot—no such thing as photoshop.   I fell in love with newborns that first shoot and told Ray, “If I could photograph just newborns and newborns with parents, I’d quit my job and go back full-time into photography.

The photos seemed to be a hit with the mother’s friends and  I shot a few more sessions of newborns with other parents and I started getting calls for business.  Soon, I needed to choose whether to quit my present job or go back to my love of long ago—photography.  With the support of a great husband, the rest is history.