I always loved photography and videography but in the early part of my life, I had to razor-focus on my work, my career and then my business.
I loved nature all my life. With the crazy long hours I used to put in at work, I still tried to squeeze in some time for gardening tasks around the yard. I love to watch my flowers grow and they do grow every hour! I love walking and taking pictures of the pretty flowers in the parks. My entire body relaxes and winds down and my mind escapes and blends in with the wind and floats to the sky. It’s an indescribable serenity. I used to love walking around the gorgeous Brookside Gardens in Silver Spring Maryland, the National Arboretum Azalea Garden in Washington DC, The Meadowlark Botanical Gardens in Vienna Virginia, and stopped by Green Spring Gardens a couple of miles from my old house in Annandale VA just about every week.
My love for nature probably stemmed from visiting my Grandmother’s farm for a month every summer when I was young. Grandma’s farm had hundreds of fruit trees like mango, cashew nut, guava, grapefruit, jack fruit, star fruit, lime and lemon, pineapple, banana, papaya, sugar apple, soursop, longan, rambutan, sapodilla, mangosteen, and my all-time favorite: watermelon. I walked into a field of watermelon about a quarter mile from the house, patted on a few until I found a ripe melon, smashed it on a wooden fence, ate the entire thing then continued walking to grandma's house. I used to go “fishing” with my aunts. We walked around the large farm where they had dug up a dozen small ponds (more like huge holes) and we scooped out a ton of fish using large rattan baskets. Just like that. Yes, “fishing” we did. Then at night we sat in a little thatch hut on top of a lake stream with a large fish net running across the stream catching fish and shrimp. That unforgettable image and memory of natural beauty and tranquility imprinted on my mind. I wish I were a photographer then. Grandma died during the Vietnam War in an explosion of a series cannon balls. The pretty farm was ruined, burnt down and gone. That’s another picture I can’t get out of my head.
Soon after moving to Florida in 2011, I fell in love with the natural abundance of birds and beaches and the pretty colorful landscapes from the flowers we see all year round. It’s another world of beauty. Having gone through over 35 winters in Virginia with snow up to 3 feet sometimes, Florida is a paradise on earth for me. After settling into the new house with husband Jim, we had a little more time to explore the nature and wildlife of Florida.
One time I was obsessed with a couple of newly born tiny-little-baby Sandhill Cranes, I videoed and took hundreds pictures of them. They looked like yellow cotton balls who just fell out of mommy’s body and within an hour, they waddled around learning to walk. I was so focused on taking pictures of these little “cuties”, I got hungry and tired and started to waddle myself. Same thing happened again and again when I saw nests of tiny white cotton-balls of baby great egrets or the pinkish turkey-neck baby cormorants or the red-top baby common moorhens. They melt my heart.
During the bird seasons in Florida (especially November through April), Jim and I love to travel to rookeries at various locations to photograph the birds for fun. We also traveled to Arizona, Hawaii, Utah and Texas for colorful and unique birds that we don’t see in Florida.
For the last few years I have been totally head-over-heels in love with hummingbirds. They are so cute and their colorful iridescent feathers are so beautiful. They are very inquisitive, territorial, fascinating and extremely fast. Hummingbirds are symbols of wisdom, joy, and good luck — a sweet gift from nature. For hummingbird photography trips, we went to several locations in Tucson Arizona, Utah, and Costa Rica.
We love all birds because each creature has its own beauty, elegance and grace. Taking pictures of birds is just like running a business – it requires lots of passion, patience, perseverance and never-ending focus seeking those few great experiences hoping to capture some. The same is the case for birds - we aim, focus, and relentlessly snap hundreds pictures of those "fleeting" birds for days or for weeks just to get a few good ones, if we are lucky. Birds fill our lives with myriad blissful moments.
Photography is a perpetual process of refinement and appreciation. We research, learn, practice and improve ourselves. We are just having a great time.
Cameras and Lens use: SONY a1 and SONY a9 mirrorless ILCE-9, Lens Fe 4.5 – 5.6 100 – 400 GM OSS, Sony Tele Converter 1.4X extender.
Canon - EOS 7D Mark II DSLR, Lens: Canon Zoom EF 100-400MM 1:4.5-5.6L IS II USM
Living in Florida with the hubby James (Jimbo) Schumm.
Hobbies: Photography and Gardening.
Love romantic comedy movies including international ones, and reality shows like America's Got Talent, American Idol.
Entrepreneurs I admire most: Steve Jobs, Apple Inc; Ron Meyer, Universal Studios; Walt Disney; and Oprah Winfrey.