I have always loved rain.

Maybe that's not surprising. I grew up in Phoenix, Arizona, in the middle of the Sonoran Desert—a place that, if you stop and think about it for too long, seems like it really shouldn't exist. A sprawling city built in a landscape defined by heat, dryness, and a water supply that was never meant to sustain millions of people. Growing up there, water was something you noticed. You noticed when it rained and I noticed it perhaps a little more than most.

I don't remember a time when I wasn't fascinated by the night sky.

When I was little, I would look up at the stars and wonder what was out there. I didn't have the words for it then, and I'm still not sure I do now. There was simply something about the vastness above me that felt familiar. The stars seemed impossibly distant, yet somehow deeply connected to me—a quiet reminder that there was a universe far bigger than the little world I knew.

Unfortunately, my first camera - the Canon EOS Rebel T7 - finally bit the dust. I really loved that camera and I brought it everywhere with me. It was the camera that taught me the fundamentals, that got me out of the house, and that encouraged me to dive further into this hobby. That camera taught me to notice the way that light was interacting with the world around me, and it gave me the chance to document special family moments. I will miss my Canon, and I will always be grateful for everything it gave me.

Life rarely goes the way we expect, and mine has certainly been no exception. After spending too much of my life in a city I wasn’t meant for, I left the metropolitan sprawl of Phoenix, Arizona to pursue a life closer to nature. I’ve had the privilege and honor of serving in the US Navy, living in Hawaii, hiking across the Grand Canyon, swimming with sharks, sailing alongside blue whales, and getting to love some of the most wonderful people this world has known. Notably, the parts of my life that have stuck with me the most are the connections I’ve made with nature and the people with whom I’ve made those connections.