It all started for me at a very young age. My mom, an avid antique hunter, often dragged me against my will to flea markets and garage sales. Antiques never interested me all that much but old cameras seemed to be an exception. In their deteriorated states, most of the cameras I was drawn to were only good for decoration. For that reason, as a young child I never ended up acquiring one. As I grew older, and camera technology became more obtainable, the family camera often found its way in to my hands. I was always out with my cousins and siblings trying to make the next Star Wars film and taking pictures to give to my family as gifts for the holidays. At about 16 years old, I will never forget the day I held a professional camera for the first time. My uncle had just purchased several high-end cameras for his business’s new venture, creating promo videos for local restaurants. Knowing that my cousins and I were so passionate about creating short films, he brought the cameras out to show us. I can still remember, he asked us if we’d like to try one and I was so nervous to hold it that I almost said no. I ignored my nerves long enough to take it from him and as soon as that camera hit my hands I knew that I was going to do great things with it for the rest of my life. I spent that entire weekend with that camera and have been pursuing and growing my photography career ever since.