Our family album shows me at age four using a Brownie camera. Little did I know it was the beginning of a life of photography. Whether it was hauling a view camera up the side of a steep canyon or leaning out the door of a helicopter shooting while my boss held my belt, the camera was always there. I progressed from being the photographer for my high school yearbook to getting one of the first MFA's in photography from Claremont Graduate School. A second masters in Communications led to a broader career, but one in which writing, photography, film or video always played a part. I earned a blackbelt in Aikido. I spent three years sailing in Mexico and documenting my travels in a weekly blog. Although my early serious photography garnered some significant recognition, it wasn't enough to ensure the kind of livelihood that allowed marriage and family. Now that I can pursue serious work without career constraints, the broader skills I had acquired have become surprisingly important. During my career I transformed traditional film and darkroom expertise into equivalent digital skills. At United Way, working with people who are hurting taught me to quickly gain trust and weave stories and images together. Aikido allowed me to relax and confidently pursue stories and intimate images of people who can be intimidating. I am now putting all my experience into a portfolio of photographs that I hope to publish in a book as meaningful to readers as producing it was for me.