I am located in Birmingham, AL where I live with my partner and our two dogs. Since I hate suffering from boredom, I am always finding something to get into. That "something" could be just about anything from playing a new game on the computer to turning the dining room into a make-shift photo studio to heading out in my car for a drive. It really depends on my mood. I have seen so many people stop trying and learning only to have their life waste away. It is my resolve not to be one of those people.

 

I became interested in photography when I was very young. I remember the day my dad came home with a Canon T60 and some lenses he had purchased from Sears. This camera fascinated me. What you saw was actually what ended up on the photo. Up until then my only camera was a small Kodak 110, so seeing life through the lens of the camera, and not a viewfinder, was very awe-inspiring.

While I didn't know the technical aspects of using a SLR, it never stopped me from grabbing the camera and heading outside. To be kind, I would call most of these early attempts "artsy". That is just a nice way of saying that I had very poor composition and blew out the highlights whenever possible. Believe me, it was VERY possible. There are a few that I still refer back to with pride and those small accomplishments kept me inspired enough to keep trying.

About three years ago, I decided to learn more about this hobby that had been a part of my life for so long. Books have been my primary source of instruction. I can see an improvement in the photos I take, and when I make mistakes, I understand why the photo didn't turn out the way I had hoped. For both of these reasons, I can't say my time spent has been wasted.

Most of my photos are of nature or macro photography. This is due to convenience more than anything else. I have had the pleasure of shooting a couple of weddings, but that has been the extent of my experience in working with human models. That being said, if you have ever thought of modeling, please contact me. The experience would be welcomed on my part, and with luck, we will both end up with some new photos for our portfolios.

My passion for jewelry making comes from a more general love of arts and crafts. I enjoy many different things: drawing, painting, working with clay, metalwork, and have recently learned that I even like to sew. My mom gets all the credit for this inspiration. She enjoys these things, and showed me how to take something someone else had done to figure out how they did it in order to incorporate it into my own designs.

The jewelry I make is all done by hand with natural stones, jewels, and wire whenever possible. I want the piece to be not only something that I enjoy making, but also something that has meaning to the person wearing it. Most of the jewelry I make is given away. I enjoy meeting new people and often this will inspire me to design something. If possible, I give the piece to that person. I know it sounds weird, and have gotten some odd looks when I have given something to a person that I might not know all that well. I just figure that life is too short. You have to let the people that touch your life know it. It might be the only happiness they have that day. There are people from California to south Alabama wearing pieces I have made, and that brings me great joy.