I am a mixed platform creator with emphases on image retouching, product photography, and set styling. I have more than 15 years of experience within each of these fields, working within the commercial photography and wedding industry.

 

I was born and raised in a rural midwestern village

of less than 650 people. Living in a remote location,

and also being an only child- I created a lot of the

fun and sparkle I wanted myself. As far back as I can remember,  I have had a glue gun or markers in my hands. Most childhood evenings were spent sewing alongside Project Runway (trying to "make it work"), drawing, painting or shooting fictitious magazine spreads in the yard with friends.

 

After college, I moved to St. Louis. This is where I met

a group of girls with similar dreams, and we started building a fashion and lifestyle portfolio.  At the same time, I began shooting wedding photography for friends, which snowballed into an LLC.  I was the lead photographer, retoucher and owner of Blue Garnet Weddings. Only word of mouth advertisement fueled my client base of more than 60 ecstatic clients.

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​I received my first break into commercial design

when applying for a position at Vat19.com, a popular YouTube channel. They are best known for selling things like the World’s Largest Gummy Bear and self-balancing electric unicycles.  Vat19 is where I sharpened my skills, and expanded my photography portfolio.  Each day was something fun and new to figure out, to light and photograph. I also helped with video editing, prop building, set styling and much

more during my time there. We had more than 5 million subscribers, and 2 billion plays at the time of

my resignation.

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The next adventure was moving to the east coast, where I began my job with David's Bridal as their

photo retoucher. With my previous experience as a wedding photographer and product retoucher, this was the perfect opportunity to break into to the

fashion industry.  After five years with David’s, I transitioned to the URBN group, joining Anthropologie as a Creative Content Retoucher. There, I was part of

a small but mighty team dedicated to perfecting lifestyle and content imagery.  Most of my work focused on location-based photography, crafted for marketing campaigns, creative signage, and advertising that brought the Anthropologie brand to life.

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I am excited to currently be back in So. Illinois, where I serve as a Visual Designer for SIH.  You may see me photographing a surgery in the OR, shooting 

headshots for a new set of billboards, helping shape

TV commercial spots, or designing vibrant social media posts that highlights the people, products, and stories within our healthcare system and community.

 

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