In May 2009, I graduated from Truman State university in Missouri with a bachelor's of fine arts in visual communication. Since then, I have lived in Katy, Texas and recently moved to the suburbs of Sydney, Australia, where I still have trouble deciding if I'm dreaming or not.

Regardless of where I am, I love my camera and indulge freely in shooting photos of friends, family, strangers and my surroundings. It's rare that I don't have at least a point-and-shoot camera on my person these days and I love roping friends into being "models" for my photos. I've lost count of how many times I've dragged them into the woods, out onto marshes or down the street to that "perfect location" for photos.

I'm very lucky in that they generally don't mind.

My father's the one that taught me to first use a camera. He let me take photos on his Minolta and later let me use his darkroom equipment to set up my own miniature printing studio when I was in high school. We still trade tips, tricks and photography sites regularly and when we're together, we frequently take photos or try new techniques we've read about.

When I wasn't taking photos with my dad, it was rare to find me without pencil and paper in hand as a kid. My class notebooks were often covered in sketches, doodles and design thumbnails and even now sketching is how I calm myself down or focus restless energy.

I've wanted to be a designer since I was young--very young. Pre-teens kind of young. I used to dissect packaging to see how it was put together and bought books based on which had the nicest covers. I used to save post cards, brochures and business cards I liked in a special "inspiration" box in my room. Even now, I often find myself more in love with the design of a product or its ad rather than the product itself.