The short story is this:  After a few years of design, photography and studio art classes at the University of Minnesota in Duluth, I moved to Santa Barbara to pursue photography at Brooks Institute of Photography.  In 2005 I earned a Bachelor of Arts in Digital Imaging and Media.  I grew up in Duluth, and currently live in St. Paul with my husband, who I fell in love with at a photo shoot, and son, who never gets tired of being in front of the camera. 

These are the details:  When I first picked up a camera, I was far more interested in the subject matter in front of my lens than the finer technicalities of photography.  "Aperture?  What's that?  Just light that couch on fire and throw the bicycle into the frame so I can get the shot!"  My passion stemmed from creating context in an image, and manipulating film and prints in the darkroom. 

After growing tired from the trial and error that comes from a lack of understanding exactly how the little black box captures light, I took on the science of photography.  "Aperture affects depth of field and the intake of light in an image?  Aaaaah!"  Lightbulb.  Once I began to appreciate the scientific aspects of photography, I took my fine art background and went to work making images I could control and/or capture at random.  Success felt good!  Nearly a decade later, I still get the same over-the-moon feeling after a great photo shoot.

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I believe my background as both a commercial and a fine art photographer defines my work.  My goal is to document what naturally occurs in the world, and to step in when those events need direction.  The difference between making an image happen and letting an image happen, is having the skill to discern between the two during the creative process.  That's what I love about peering into this little black box. Now let's make beautiful/vibrant/unique images together!