I guess it's about time to write something about myself...

Photography is my passion! I have never had extra money to spare to buy really amazing equipment, but am grateful to have been gifted a more than decent camera to work with. I love my camera!!! I have been taking photos most of my life (that's a considerable amount of time behind the lens at this point)! Of course I have always wanted to make it my profession, but as most of us know, life leads us down different paths. My path has taken me many different places and blessed me with three amazing children. I wouldn't change a moment! I feel truly blessed with the life that I am living!

That being said, I feel as if I am standing at a crossroads once again. I am lucky enough to have been able to stay at home with all of my boys, at least until they started school. Between those times, I took jobs in retail, business offices, bar-tending and eventually went to school to become a Pharmacy Technician, none of which I have really loved. I don't like shopping, I don't drink, except on the rare occasion, and I think prescription medication is over-prescribed and makes you sicker rather than better.

I have never been to college, and I don't feel the need to burden myself with student loans and the pressure that accompanies them at this point in my life. I have a couple more years to try and forge a career for myself in photography before having to go back to a daily job that is unsatisfying and monotonous at best. After this brief glimpse at the path I am looking toward has vanished, I fear it will never present itself again. So, I have started a few courses, which aren't inexpensive, but much better than tens of thousands to go to a traditional college of art. I have learned to operate my camera over the years by trial and error, and of course the internet has a treasure trove of information for those like myself, looking for knowledge. Going forward though, I want to create art that is different and interesting and above all, my own.

So please bear with me while I try to discover what I can do with all this new knowledge that I am acquiring through courses on Photoshop Artistry. Don't get me wrong, I love to spend as many moments in nature as I can and want to capture them all! That love will never go away, I love exploring this vast world way too much to spend all my time at a computer screen, but am finding that it is difficult to stand out and truly make something that is my own, something that I can be proud of.

I found Flickr through a friend that was dating a photographer and decided to post a few images that I had taken over the years, photos that I had never really shown to anyone out of fear that they would think me a fool for imagining that I had any talent for photography, they were simply for my pleasure. I am so glad that I decided to post them, as I have found some truly amazing and inspirational people that I call friends here! Through all of you, I have seen some amazing places and things that I may never have the opportunity to see again. I have followed and been followed by some amazingly talented people! I am grateful for all of you and love seeing your work as often as possible. You have inspired me to try harder and take better photos. I don't always have the time to keep up or even respond to comments and faves, but I read every comment and see every fave, and am so appreciative of each and every one. So if I haven't said thank you to a comment in a while...THANK YOU! If I haven't visited your gallery for a while...I will as soon as time permits, I already know that what you've posted is amazing and I don't want to miss it, so I will see it soon.

Thank you friends for inspiring and supporting and please feel free to critique any of the images I post. The last thing I want is to be complimented out of a sense of obligation. Hugs to all my Flickr friends and wishes for many happy clicks!!!