I’ve been taking snapshots since I was a kid – you know, the one that always took the Christmas pictures, the birthday pictures, the dog pictures – that was me. I always took pictures – Brownie box camera, Kodak Instamatic, Nikon point & shoot. As I entered my career days (technology, early adopter always!) I kept shooting on film, filling albums with snapshots.

Then came digital cameras, and that changed everything. I shot many more images, did workshops with Moose Peterson & Joe McNally, and was twice published in National Geographic. I taught myself to “post-process” images with Lightroom & Photoshop and other post-processing software – Topaz, NIK, ON1, Smart Photo Editor. These tools allowed me to “play” with the pixels, dramatically changing what originally came out of the camera. I could now convert to B&W, Sepia, and add textures & backgrounds & other effects that would be impossible with the camera alone. And I loved it. I spend hours on each image. Sometimes I have a vague idea of what I want to end up with – but more often I just start working with the various tools trying one thing and another until I get something I’m happy with.

In 2015 I joined The Arcanum, an online mentoring program started by Trey Ratcliffe, and worked with Master Photographer Janice Sullivan for two years. I learned a tremendous amount and had the benefit of not only her knowledge and critiques but also interaction with other photographers worldwide. I’m still learning and “Playing with Pixels”.

As I continued to play, I’ve been making scarves, shirts, bags on VIDA, mugs, plates, pillows, and other products on Zazzle. It is terrifically exciting to see my images on physical products! I’m currently exploring other “Make on Demand” sites and hope to be producing more products this year.