With a $20 birthday gift from her grandmother, she outfitted herself, with a Kodak twin lens flip-top camera, launching a life-long passion for photography. She continued to hone her skills the University of Denver, during post-graduate studies at The Art Institute of Boston, and in workshops with such masters as Paul Caponigro, Jerry Uelsmann, Ernst Haas, Michael O'Neil, David Ulrich, and Gene Richards.