Tirzha Zabarauskas

I've been a photographer at heart from the time I received my first Pentax 35mm point-and-shoot, around the age of 11. Each year or two I would receive my mother's hand-me-down camera to play around with, but film was expensive and I had to earn it! In high school, I was the one that always brought a camera to the party and I have envelope after envelope full of old negatives from those days. I bought my first SLR, a K10D, in 2007 after owning digital P&S cameras. After being afraid to use manual for a very long time, I finally switched to it and was hooked. I'll never look back! I added a K-5 to my bag recently and spend as much time as I can developing myself and my craft. I was alsogifted an old ZX-50 and inherited a couple of older manual lenses that I hope to play around with. I shoot between stints of playing with my daughter and studying for my biology/chemistry degree and education licensure. I also work at a retirement community and am a volunteer teacher at an intervention program....so I have lots of opportunities for interesting photos. The trick is remembering to take time to step back and capture the moments. *My profile portrait was taken by Kathryn Kaye Photography