If you want to know how I became a photographer, there are no sappy stories about my grandpa giving me my first camera when I was 6 years old and igniting my photography passions...because that didn't happen.  I became a photographer at first because of two seemingly unrelated things...I had a crush on a guy and I love technology gadgets.  A long time ago, I was a professional engineer starting work at "real" job.  To stay in shape, I decided to swim on my lunch breaks at the public pool nearby.  There was more than just swimming on my mind though.  A cute guy was a local high school water polo coach.  I'd see him over on the side of the pool coaching his team...and I'd wait for him to ask me out.  Wait.  I'd wear a great looking swimsuit, walk across his line of sight. Wait again. Nothing.  Finally, I got brave and asked him out.  We had a great time together, but he always seemed to be busy coaching that water polo team.  In an effort to woo him, I attended a lot of water polo games.  Unfortunately, no matter how much I watched that first season...I didn't seem to be getting any smarter about the game.  I decided to bring along a camera to mask my continued ignorance of the game.  It was a great diversion and I had a blast sharing the pictures with the team.

And, here comes the expensive part...then Canon put out its first digital SLR camera.  The D30.  I didn't buy it (one of the last times I ever resisted the urge to buy camera gear).  A year later, Canon released the D60 and I finally jumped.  The idea of a digital SLR was just too fascinating to resist finally.  That first DSLR camera body cost $3000, was only 8 MP, and had terrible low-light performance.  BUT...it was perfect for water polo games.  At the urging of the team, I submitted the photos to the local newspaper.  What do ya know?  They liked them enough to publish them regularly AND hire me as a local photographer.

And that's the story of how a crush on a guy and my inability to resist technology lead to a photography career. It's also the story of how I met my husband, the cute water polo coach.

Eight years, two kids, 6 cameras and 16 lenses later...I am still madly in love with my husband and photography.