Before I had my Nikon D40X I used a Canon Powershot point-and-shoot type camera.  I didn't know much about photography except that I enjoyed it.  I hadn't learned much and mostly based my photos off of my eyes.  On a trip to the UP of Michigan and the Porcupine Mountains I took this photo on the shore of Lake Superior.

Little did I know I would be submitting this photo to the Porcupine Mountains 2 years later as part of a photo contest.  I hadn't taken the picture in RAW so I couldn't fix the photo up much except to brighten it and add some contrast. 

I ended up being one of 5 winners for the contest, and received $50!  That just goes to show you don't need a fancy camera to take great photos.
The 5 winners can be seen at http://www.quietlywild.addr.com/photocontest.html

After a high school internship at the South Shore Convention & Visitor's Authority, I had several photos and graphics featured in their annual tourism guide.  The photo seen here is of the Shrine of Christ's Passion in St. John, IN.

I also had another photo of the Shrine featured, as well as some graphics.

As part of my high school newspaper, I traveled to Washington D.C. for the National JEA competition.  I was competing in the Newspaper Sports Photography category and I received an honorable mention.

At the State JEA competition, my category was Photography: Portfolio (much larger, better collection than my sports work) and I received first place.

I also had one of my photo entries chosen to be used as the back cover of their Visitor Bureau guide.  It was an honor to have my photo and name on the back cover.  Check below to see the original photo before they cropped and edited it!

I entered 6 photos into the annual South Shore & Visitor's Authority photo gallery.  To the left is a picture of me with my photos in the exhibit - to see the actual prints check my flickr for the tag 'sanctuary' here!