I was 12 years old when my father gave me a camera. After years of tagging along with him while he was on assignment as a newspaper reporter, it seemed like the natural thing to do. That summer, I took my camera to a beach music concert at the fairgrounds. The next day one of my photos was on the front page of the newspaper. The publisher wrote me a check for $20! I was hooked. That was more than 30 years ago and I still get excited when I take a good photograph.

As an award-winning photojournalist in North Carolina, I've had the opportunity to document historic events and meet thousands of amazing people. I have been fortunate to get to travel around the country and the world doing what I love.

I am the former President of the North Carolina Press Photographers Association and have won the title North Carolina Clip Photographer of the Year three times. I have also won awards from the North Carolina Press Association, Atlanta Photojournalism Seminar, the Southern Short Course, the Society for Newspaper Design, and the National Press Photographers Association.