Like most photographers, I fell in love with photography the first time I stepped into the darkroom. There’s something so amazing about working in a nearly blacked out room, moving your photo paper around in some smelly chemicals, and finally seeing a photo magically appear for the first time. It’s a shame to see that darkrooms are starting to disappear from the high schools now, the new students won’t know what they’re missing out on. I must admit, I don’t do much film photography myself anymore, I do pick up one of my old cameras every now and again though!
I’m still just as exciting taking pictures now as I was when I first started. I didn’t always know I was going to be a photographer though. I went to college to be an architect…and then an engineer, a surveyor, a broker, and finally went with marketing which I liked and got my degree in. In the mean time I was always working on my photography. I backpacked around Europe a few summers in a row and my camera was attached to my neck. I eventually decided I wanted to learn more than I could get out of reading books but I didn’t want to change my major again and thats when I found The Rocky Mountain School of Photography. It was a summer long intensive photography program located in the beautiful town of Missoula Montana. There were about 100 students there with ages ranging from 17 to 70 and from all over the USA. We all had a different reason for being there, some to become a photographer, some just quit there jobs that they hated and needed a change, and some people just wanted to take better pictures. I wasn’t sure exactly what I wanted, only that I wanted to learn as much as I could. Classes were 8-12 hours a day and 5-6 days a week. We were always rushing around like mad to finish up our assignments. It was very stressful but I loved every minute of it. I didn’t know exactly what I would get out of the summer at the start but by the end I knew that this was a path I wanted to stay on. And that began the beginning of my career as a photographer.
After the summer in photo school I had to return home to finish college. I still kept with photography, taking any little job I could get in my spare time. I’ve been back to Montana for some more classes since and probably will continue to. I just can’t get enough! I’ve finished up my college education and now I am doing photography full time. It’s a little scary, a little stressful, but always rewarding. Definitely glad I didn’t stick with architecture. 
