I first became interested in photography at the age of 12 when my mother bought me a camera and enrolled me in a summer photography course. My interest and passion in the medium was instant and intense and has only grown stronger over the years.
I am formally and technically trained in many aspects of photography from studio still life to wedding photography and catalog shots, but my true passion is, and always has been, landscape photography. Coming from a family whose idea of a family vacation was more likely to be at Yosemite rather than Disneyland, I have held an intimate connection with the land from an early age.
I have taken every opportunity to travel to different parts of the country to experience and photograph the diversity of landscapes that we are so fortunate to have here, but no other landscape intrigues me as much as the desert. I have been entranced by the desert landscape since my first visit to Death Valley and have spent much of my time since exploring and photographing the deserts of the southwest as well as the Eastern sierra. Nowhere else but the desert is the geologic evidence of the processes that have shaped and sculpted the Earth over millions of years so clearly seen. The beauty, silence and starkness of the desert puts me in awe no matter how many times I have been there before. When I am out photographing in the desert, there is nowhere else I would rather be.
I have recently finished my Master's degree at the University of Oregon in Geography. My move to Oregon was twofold. I wanted the experience of being immersed in different types of landscapes to broaden my photographic vision. I also wanted to experience a different sense of place than my California upbringing. The experience has been a rich and powerful one.. I have learned a tremendous amount about this landscape and people's relationship to it, including learning some things about myself.
If you're interested in learning more about my Master's research on environmental impacts to geothermal features such as geysers and hot springs, click here to learn more. I am also a cartographer and researcher for the Atlas of Yellowstone in the InfoGraphics Lab at the University of Oregon.
