Journey to the Land of Great Apes

My Scholarship entry - A 'place' I have visited

Uganda | Monday, January 14, 2013 | flickr photos

I have two goals that fuel my passions...visit at least as many countries as I am years old and capture an image that is worthy to be printed in a magazine. At thirty years of age, I have visited thirteen countries outside of the United States and have admired my photos only in self made books.

At 23, I spent two weeks backpacking solo through Europe and came back a changed person. While in Europe, I shot over 2,000 photos with a basic point and shoot camera and couldn’t wait to share my adventure with others. I soon realized that the amazing sights I thought I was capturing, came out poorly. I knew that I needed to educate myself to understand what I could do to fix it. I bought a DSLR camera and started taking pictures daily. I understand the basics but I still lack the knowledge to capture a great photo. I rely to heavily on shooting in Auto mode and still fear Manual mode.

I want to share my work with those that may never get to see the sights I am able to capture. If I am able to provide a dream to just one person through an image I capture that gets published, I would feel as though I have repaid some debt to those that provided me with fuel for my dreams.