To say portraiture is an obsession is easily an understatement. I'm constantly seeing beautiful light, great locations and thinking how I could use an item in a session. 

     My beginnings are quite humble. As a youngster, I used to chase my kitties around to get a picture or set up my sister's toys to creat scenes to photograph with my little 110 camera.  In high school, as part of my Commercial Art class, I discovered the wonders of processing film and printing in the darkroom. From then on I spent my junior and senior year with my teacher's camera, then developing and printing black & white images. I attended the Art Institute of Pittsburgh right out of high school studying Photography/Multi-Media. 

     My real start in retail photography came in 1994 when I started working at a Kinderfoto studio. Since then I have worked in a few studios and printing labs, finally opening my own studio in 2001. 

     I earned my certification as a professional photographer in 2009 and am currently one of 2  CPP's in Chautauqua County. In 2013 I completed the requirements for the Photographic Craftsman degree, which was conferred to me formally in January 2014 at the Imaging USA awards ceremony in Phoenix,AZ. At this time, I have completed half of the requirements for the Master of Photography degree.

     I stay active in the photographic community participating in the Southwestern New York Association of Professional Photographers. I serve as Treasurer in our state organization, PPSNYS.  I am a member of PPA since 2008,  and belong to  the American Society of Photograpy (ASofP), I am a former member of WPPI and served on the Board of Directors of the Ripley Chamber of Commerce. 

     I give back to the community as an assistant to the Area Coordinator and I am a volunteer photographer of Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep (NILMDTS). This organization is made up of volunteers who go to hospitals & hospice centers to provide portraits of infants who will never go home to their families. I am so honored to give these families the gift of portraiture of their precious infants.