I knew that I liked photography as a teenager. Like so many photographers, my first experience was with my dad's old manual Olympus. I took all the classes they offered at my school. At first I was enamored of the mechanics of cameras and developing – I loved making pinhole cameras and watching my photographs slowly materialize as I swished them in the chemicals.

Everything grew from there. I became fascinated with lighting and capturing movement. For me, it was logical to be a photographer professionally because it is my most practical interest! It's creative and challenging and my job is a little bit different everyday. I'm always on the move.

I was lucky enough to apprentice with one of the best wedding photographers in Utah Valley right out of high school and eventually I got through college shooting weddings. So while I got a bachelor's degree in English, I got an equally fine education in photography. My work has a contemporary edge to it – I like to mix fashion photography with photojournalism.

I think the most interesting subject in the world is the human face. This makes shooting any type of event, be it wedding, party, or pageant, a challenge for me. Weddings are such colorful events – happy, tender, nervous, chaotic – it is amazing to see all of these things reflected in the faces of my subjects. Capturing that is what I enjoy most.

I also find it very rewarding to know that a great many people will cherish the pictures I've taken for them for a long time. I am always surprised and pleased to find that all of my photographic interests converge in wedding photography. With wedding photography there is a lot of room for my artistic and photojournalistic skills, and there is always meaning in these photographs. For some photographers, their work is tossed aside after one run through the newspaper or one gallery show, but wedding pictures will be looked at again and again. I am documenting some of the fondest and most important details of real life – that is very motivating to me.

When I'm not taking pictures, I might be planning my next international adventure with friends, sitting in a local coffee shop with a good book, or playing my trumpet in my bathroom – good acoustics!