Mandy, meet Nikon. Nikon, meet Mandy.

I have been an artist for as long as I can remember. From the moment I could steadily hold a crayon, I have been doodling on every surface within arms reach. I have always considered myself to be a creator. I've sewn my own clothes, and designed outfits for my friends, I've decorated homes, I've drawn and painted portraits. It was not until Christmas of 2009 that I discovered my love for photography.
    My husband was deployed to Afghanistan last holiday season. We were on one of our sacred 20 minute, 2am phone calls when he asked me what I wanted for Christmas. I wanted to tell him that I wanted HIM to come home to me for Christmas, but that wish obviously could not be granted. Then I casually mentioned that my little pink digital camera was broken, so maybe a new camera would be ok.
    Two weeks after Christmas I received a big brown box from Best Buy. Nestled inside all those layers of cardboard and Styrofoam was a creative outlet that would forever change the way I look at the world. It was not just any camera. It was a Nikon D5000. A big fat DLSR camera, with a big fat interchangeable lens. I immediately began taking pictures of everything, everything, everything.
    Six months and lots of camera studying later, I booked my first client...

Above: One of the first pictures I took of my three year old niece, Lilly.