In 1994 I held my first camera in my hand. It was a Minolta that my mother had purchased for me at a yard sale along with a 50 mm lens. I loved it. I was photographing all kinds of stuff. I would shoot my family's hands, dead mice that we would catch in traps, trees in the Winter. I knew that this was my path. Whether I succeeded or failed, I had to try this thing. I enrolled at the Art Institute of Pittsburgh in 1995 and met a girl named Brook Pifer. Whether she knows it or not, she taught me about the composition of photography. We would often talk about photographs, I would look at hers and she would look at mine. In 1997 I graduated with an Associates Degree in Photography. At the time I didn't really care about what I was photographing, I just wanted to hold a camera in my hand. I was always talking my little sister, Sarahbeth into some weird and wacky photo shoot. So I shot whatever I could, two year-olds, flowers in vases, the leaves in the Fall, naked people, cups of coffee. You get the gist. In 2001 I was hired by Jim Stefanucci at the Meadville Tribune. It was there at that little, small town newspaper that I learned about the "MOMENTS!" Oh, the moments...I was now responsible for capturing feelings of love, life and loss and I loved it. So, now 10 years later my photography has taken me to Hilton Head Island, South Carolina and to Westbrook, Maine. I have seen some amazing things through the lens of a camera. I have witnessed child births, funerals, laughter and tears. I look forward to the future and to where my photography will take me and I look forward to the moments. Photo By: Harmony Motter