Based in Northern California, Ahbeck has been a staff photographer for ANG Newspapers since 1999. She currently shoots for Argus, ANG's main daily in Fremont, where she's won first-place honors in three California news photography competitions. Ahbeck is a New England School of Photography graduate. In 1997 she participated in the Eddie Adams Workshop before moving into newspaper photography. In 2005, Ahbeck went on a self-financed trip to Uganda where she hustled and produced four photo essays. She has plans to travel to India next.