Where it all started.

I still remember it like it was yesterday, being 14 years old and my dad taking me on a trip to Montana to meet my Aunt Jacci and my 10 cousins that I had never met (not counting when I had just turned 1 ). It was a long trip all the way from Michigan, especially when you have a penny pinching dad that stands outside my shower door as my security guard at the trucks stops because all the hotels are a waste of time and money, but that trip is where my dreams became reality.

Just a few weeks before we left for our trip, my mom bought herself a very expensive camera for around the house and to get all those childhood shots of all of us. I remember her giving my dad the speech when we were leaving of how careful he better be with it if he takes that camera with us, and it better come back in one piece. To this day, I'm shocked that she let it leave the house with us! And if you knew my dad and technology, you'd understand why I say that.

We set out in my grandpa's comfy, red Buick for the 2 day trip. Along the way, I kept telling him how I couldn't believe how beautiful everything was. I remember seeing an old wooden mill along a creek and said I bet that would make an awesome picture. Being used to Michigan's flat land, every abandoned cabin or shed I saw nestled in the mountains became a mental postcard for me!

I think we were about halfway through Montana when we pulled off to stretch and take in some of God's beauty when my dad handed me my mom's BRAND NEW camera! He said, " It's yours for the trip. You better be careful with it otherwise you have to answer to your Ma. Go have fun with it". In that moment, I became a photographer.

I had always dreamed of being one, but had never had the resources, or camera, to be a real photographer,...until that day on the side of that Montana road.

We arrived at my aunt's house and got the grand tour for the rest of the week of what Montana is all about. And let me tell you, gorgeous is an understatement! I fell in love with it out there.

That's us. My dad right between me and his sister that he missed so dearly for all those years. I was wearing my ever so favorite, stylish (not really) brown sweatshirt and jeans that I'm pretty sure came up past my belly button. I think it's safe to say that my dad fit in just fine with all those mountain men.

Once we had our emotional goodbyes, we headed down to Wyoming to Yellowstone Park. There wasn't a single time that my dad didn't pull over for his newly photographer daughter to get that perfect shot. And I went through a lot of film on that trip! We hiked every trail and drove every road that had the perfect view of a waterfall or overlook. We saw every kind of wild animal that I could think of and even had a Bison come stick his head in our car window!

Yellowstone was a dream for me.

There we are again...mountain man and my all time favorite brown sweatshirt again!

Sadly, years later I lost a lot of the photos from that trip in our house fire, but these and a few others were able to be saved.

I've always been a "Daddy's Girl", and that trip made me more of one. Looking back at all those pictures that I took, 99% of them are awful! But he always believed in me. He always made sure to tell me how great my photos looked ( even when they obviously didn't), and supported me in my dream. And most importantly, made it a reality.

Eventually we had to start heading back east again to head for home. We hit South Dakota and Mount Rushmore, which I was very thankful that my dad splurged and got us a hotel room AND a cabin on another night! The hotel even had cable! I was forever grateful at that point.

A few days later, we made it home safely. Even with mom's camera in one piece. The last thing I wanted to do was hand it back over to her, but she still let me use it on occasion though.

A few years after that trip I was wandering around Ritz Camera Shop in the mall one day and fell in love with a Nikon Pronea 6i. I think I was literally drooling over this camera! So what does a Daddy's Girl do?! You guessed it! Went straight to his office and put together my best business plan and speech I could come up with within the 15 minutes it took me to get there, and begged for a loan. After a few questions, he not only gave me the loan but told me that if I worked hard to pay it off and not give up, then he'd split the cost with me. So that's what I did. I still own that Nikon Pronea 6i and that now worthless camera has more value to me than the expensive professional one I use today!

My dad has since lost his glasses, long hair and beard, but has never lost the amount of support he has given me to follow my dream. As an adult, when I would do daycare or little side jobs to try and make a little extra money, it would always end up pulling me away from having the time to pursue photography, his famous words still ring true in my ear today.......

"Honey, good is the enemy of best."

It's so true. Photography is what's best for me. It's the only place I can feel confident and forget about everything. When I'm behind a camera, I feel something that I could never put into words.

I can't describe what that Montana trip did for me. It changed me. It made me.