THE ONE THAT STARTED IT ALL...

Many people often ask me how I got started in photography and I always laugh and say it was because of my cat, Misty. But it truly is this one image that really made me want to be a photographer. I remember taking a class in high school called Art Photo just for fun. We shot with black and white film and we used darkrooms to develop our own prints and film. We had little assignments like "take a picture of a mailbox, people in work clothes, feet, etc." We were then allowed to use the rest of our frames left on the roll to photograph anything that we thought would make a great picture. It wasn't until I took this photo with my $5 Walmart plastic camera of my cat as one of those extras that I was really drawn to photography. I was amazed at how light can really influence an image. Some people looked at the photo and thought it was upside down and I loved the fact that I made people think when they looked at it. This photo is a snapshot of time. Misty always laid on the couch soaking up the warm sun and sleeping and it made me see that even the most ordinary of situations can make an extraordinary photography. That year I won a photography award for that photo and I started thinking that this could be something I really enjoyed. I then became involved in my high school yearbook as a photographer and continued taking high level photography classes and made the decision to go to college and major in Commercial Photography. I had my heart set on photography and there was no one stopping me.

It's a very sad day for me today as this sweet little kitty has passed away. She will continue to bring me inspiration in my photography and I will always remember her as the one that made me find my passion and the one that started it all...