Realizing I Want to Be A Photographer

My Scholarship entry - A 'place' I have visited

Namibia | Monday, January 14, 2013 | flickr photos

There I was: a bungee cord attached to my legs, toes wiggling over the waters of the Zambezi. I look down expecting fear to leap into my throat. Instead, I find myself admiring the way the horizontal lines of the platform cut across the vista and how my toes are framed by a double rainbow. The scene is a perfect encapsulation of what it feels like to stand at the edge of the Victoria Falls Bridge. I think, "Man, where's my camera." Then I jump.
Starting at the age of 10 when my sister said I had an "artistic eye", I have spent my life taking pictures, seeing the world and every situation through a viewfinder. But I only recently realized that I could be a professional photographer. I have a BS in Geography and spent 5 years as an officer in the US Army; being all I can be. In 2012 I left the Army, started a blog, and traveled through Africa, where I rediscovered my love of telling stories through photographs. Whether jumping off a bridge or walking down the street, I find myself  thinking "Man, where's my camera". I want to use photography to inform people about their world and share what I experience. I am on a different kind of edge, wishing for a camera and ready to jump.