Growing up, my dad had a darkroom in our basement. That’s where my love of photography began. My first camera was a Brownie box camera! In high school I picked up my Dad’s Minolta and learned more. From the beginning, I was drawn to landscapes, old barns, nature, and wildlife. I dabbled in photography off and on, but it wasn’t until I got an SX-70 camera that my love of creative techniques really took off. I manipulated the film to create painterly images and was smitten with the process. When Kodak stopped making film, I was sad and didn’t pick up my camera for some time before buying my first DSLR.

I heard about Lensbaby in 2015 at a ‘Mamas with Cameras’ monthly meetup. One of the cofounders brought a Composer and a few optics for us to try. I remember my frustration trying to insert different apertures with the magnetic tool and watching one catch a breeze and sail off! But I was intrigued with the process and loved the possibility of creating painterly images once again, so I found a used Composer and optics on Craigslist, and off I went to explore. I think the purchase of my first Edge lens was the turning point. I was hooked! The Edge 35 is still my favorite Lensbaby to this day. I use my Lensbabies for landscapes and like being able to control my slice of focus and how much blur my image has.

I now own just about every optic Lensbaby has made! Being asked to represent the brand as a Trailblazer is an enormous honor and I hope someone reading this might feel inspired by my work and decide to give Lensbaby a go.