Photography has always been a part of my life. During my Frostburg Maryland childhood I watched my older brother branch into photography from his already well-developed skills as an oil-based paint artist. When I ventured to London as part of a Junior Year Abroad program from my college in Pennsylvania I purchased my first SLR camera. I even took a course in Photography while in London where I practiced black and white photography and developed those photos in the darkroom. The image to the right is one example.
My life took an alternative direction after college when I attended Officer Candidate School for the US Coast Guard and became one of the first women to be permanently assigned to a combat vessel. I did take a camera with me on my adventures to patrol Alaskan waters for foreign fishing vessels which may be illegally harvesting shelf fish within the 200 mile USA-controlled waters. I have plenty of photos of killer whales (which follow the fishing trawlers for cast-off), beautiful Alaskan ports-of-call, glaciated mountains and fishing vessels, all taken with my fine Canon A-1 film camera. And later in life I took hundreds of 
photos when I again changed my life’s course and went back to school for a Master’s degree in Geosciences from the University of Texas at Dallas. My favorite part was the 6 week field camp and multiple extended field trips to some of the most beautiful geology in the country such as the red rocks of West Texas, volcanoes of the Pacific Northwest (Mt Shasta pictured left), and the mountains of New Mexico and Colorado. It also reinforced my love of the outdoors and the landforms that comprise this earth, and my pursuit of capturing the beauty all around me.
But I have now graduated from “taking photos” to passionately pursuing photography as an art form. The “switch” occurred when I bought my first digital camera, the Nikon Coolpix, in 1997. What a difference digital has made! I started with photographing the flowers and fauna in my own backyard gardens, and have now wandered out to capture scenic vistas and geology in all of its forms. Photography has been my full-time occupation since 1999.
I currently reside in Virginia and aim to share with you stunning imagery from across the USA and beyond. Traveling to new locations every year takes a fair amount of research and planning, but I hope to grow my portfolio while visiting those “bucket list” locations. My biggest project to date stems from 9 trips to Ireland between 2009 and 2012. I have been in all 26 counties in the Republic of Ireland and five of the six counties in Northern Ireland. During that time period I contributed photos and brief descriptions to a website I briefly co-hosted at www.MegalithicIreland.com. I have photographed in seven additional European countries and four Canadian Maritime Provinces plus Banff National Park, and am working on visiting our US National Parks – I try to visit a new park every year. There are so many more places to photograph on my bucket list!
When asked, I always said I am a “landscape photographer specializing in golden hour and twilight images”. To this end I pursue the iconic locations and try to get the best photo in the best light. But recently I recognize that I have added another element. I love to photograph less visited places and instill in my images a sense of place. A sense of place is a mood or a feeling that we experience when we are in a particular place. I love when people tell me that they feel like they are “there” in the photo. I try to show something of the location that you maybe would not already know about.
I have been reluctant to note some of my accomplishments but I realize that without tooting my horn you may not recognize my body of work. My images have received numerous awards and countless “winner” accolades in contests and competitions including 2016 “Best in Show” for Scenic Virginia. I occasionally exhibit at the juried photography and all-media shows at Artworks in Richmond, VA. I have direct sales to individuals as well as many organizations. I am a Getty Images contributing artist and my work has repeat sales to countless publications and advertisers, including many you may recognize.
