A clip from last night's journal:

I was going over the after-kids-are-in-bed-list as I was scurrying my baby girl
to her bed for the last tuck in of the night.  I should have known I was in trouble
when her steps slowed and both hands wrapped tenderly around mine.   
But I didn't, my list was too long.  I looked down.  Those gentle yet
pleading eyes, the soft nudge against my side as she gingerly asked,
"Mama, will you sleep with me...just for tonight?"  Somewhere between
that first hand clasp, "Mama", and those gentle eyes (!) my demanding list
slipped away, replaced with a vision of her older self who won't want me in her bed.
I swallowed a lump and choked, "lemme just get my pj's on, okay?"   

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My journey with photography started 7 years ago when I decided to start a family blog of our mundane (and sometimes anything but mundane!) life.  I loved writing, but my images just didn't seem to match what I was trying to express.  I slowly ventured into the world of aperture, shutter speed, and "chin forward and down!", as I learned the technicals of what made a good photograph.  Once I nestled into that, I became frustrated with perfect poses and polished images and wondered what I had got myself into.  They felt like what I "should" do as a photographer, but they didn't resonate with who I was or what I wanted to share with the world.  Eventually I found my way to lifestyle and then documentary photography.  I may have cried a bit.  It was like coming home.

I now strive to blend a mix of everyday life with an artistic touch.  I enjoy the challenge of threading a story through a string of photographs as well as creating a captivating story within each individual photograph.  It's thrilling (and often surprising!) to see what unfolds through my lens.  Without my camera, I find I often miss it.  My camera is like my baby girl that way--slowing me down and showing me what's real, important, and altogether beautiful.

I hope you'll let me show you the beauty that is you.  Your evolving story.  Your legacy.  Your you.  

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Thanks to my friend Sandy Alonso for this photo.

Thanks to my friend Sandy Alonso for this photo.