I have been shooting since a very young age. I had one of those "disk" cameras that had disk film from years ago and that is where it all began. So yes, I do have a lot of experience with film but never had my own darkroom. Shocking, I didn't ruin "too" many rolls of film.

I have been artistically inclined since about the age of 3. The specifics of my artistic talent include photography, still life/art, matting, framing, studio photography, outdoor photography, custom-designed invitations (using my own photography), weddings, scrapbooking, drawing, sketching, painting (watercolor, oil and acrylic), interior design and probably some other stuff I am not thinking of.

I opened my own business in 2008 called "You Got Framed" Photography. (mindyatkins@yougotframed.biz) I got licensed in 08/08/08 and have been relatively successful. I started it all as a hobby and then it accidentally turned into a profession. Funny how THAT happens. I would've never ventured down the photography path without the support of others and the push and drive that others gave me. I didn't see myself as a success and sometimes still doubt myself. We are never as good as we "could" be. I am always reminding myself of that and always challenging myself to new things.

My strongest element in photography would have to be still life. I love the outdoors and love natural lighting. I will take a venture every now and then with some crazy projects with lighting and things like that but I like to keep it simple. I try to get it right the first time but that doesn't always work. PS5 even with the manual is somewhat difficult, so I try to avoid editing as much as I can because with the amount of pictures I take, it is almost impossible to edit EVERY one. I work now just as freelance but am getting into galleries and bigger projects.

Another favorite is flowers. I am obsessed with them and color. There is so much intricacy with flowers that it just amazes me.

Over my years of photography, I have a collection of well over 15,000 photos. Are they all good? Nope! Guess that is something common for all of us. You can see by looking through my photostream that there has been much improvement over the years.

As I am sure you all will agree, I don't even look at things the same anymore. I see angles, color, lighting, shadows, uniqueness, etc. that I would have never seen before. I have learned from others as well but was self taught until January of 2011 where I have began taking some elite classes to better myself. At the pace I am going, I should be done very soon. It usually takes about a year and a half but I am almost already half-way through. Wish me luck.

I have noticed that a lot of you guys are doing the 365 project. There may be something out there already like this but my goal is to shoot and stream two photos each day. I will be setting a theme for myself daily. They will be included in my collection called "VERISIMILITIDE".