My husband and I moved many times over the last 16 years but perhaps the best move was to Japan in 2005. I didn’t have a good camera at the time, but once I figured out that postcard-worthy moments were around every corner, I quickly bought my first SLR camera and made short work of learning how to use it. From that time on I’ve been taking pictures seriously, documenting our travel, our two years in San Diego and the southern California deserts and mountains, insects, our pets, flowers and birds.

I’ve always been a biologist in some capacity and relegated photography to hobby status, but when we returned to our hometown of Lancaster last year I found that biology jobs were almost nonexistent. Earlier this year, the job/hobby polarities reversed and now photography is in the forefront of my life rather than as a fun leisure activity.

Pet photography seemed like the natural thing to do since I had more pet photos in my collection than any normal person should and out of all the things I photograph, our dogs lying around the house were always my favorite subjects. I just never tired of trying to capture their personalities. It’s a dream come true to be able to do the same for other people and to experience the moment when they see, for the first time, that they’ve got completely unique and fantastic images that will last a lifetime.