Meet Amy C., Kindergarten teacher by day, passionate amateur photographer by weekend.

“When I was in my teens, I was incredibly shy. I never wanted to go anywhere or do anything because of some strange fear. For my high school graduation, my aunt and uncle bought me a camera. ‘Let the lens be your guide. Go out and see the world,’ they said, and things have never been the same.”

“I love taking photos and going places and experiencing new things. As foolish as it sounds, having a camera and sort of owing it to the camera to take it places and let it see beauty has really helped me.”

“My favorite images are those when I am able to capture a single thing in all it’s own beauty. I just love how when you take a moment to slow down and look at things from a different perspective and look at an individual organism, like a flower or bird or something, just how incredibly beautiful that one thing is.”

“I think that is a lesson in life, we all need to slow down some times and look at our friends, family, coworkers, and even strangers, as astonishingly beautiful individuals with quirks and peculiarities, and not just as part of the crowd.”

“Photography will probably always just be a hobby for me, but it is one that truly gives me a lot of pleasure. Being outdoors, enjoying the sun or even the rain, experiencing things in real life that you’d never get to experience on television or on the internet, that’s what make photography so special to me. Sometimes I feel like I am literally capturing through my lens, the earth’s smile.”

“I’ve been many places since getting my camera and I can’t think of any greater passion than exploring the world through it’s lens!”