Hello, it’s me!

I’m Anna, pronounced AH-nuh like from Frozen. (If you call me An-nuh, that’s okay too – I’ve been called worse!) I’ve been taking photos professionally since 2011!


Origin Story


I grew up in Thousand Oaks, California, before moving to Idaho when I was ten (part of the California invasion before it was cool!). In high school I enjoyed digital art so much that I wanted to take art classes in college, except that to get into fine art classes at my small liberal arts school, Willamette University, you had to declare an art major. So I did, and it stuck! My first introduction to real cameras was a film photography class my sophomore year and I loved it.

Toward the end of my senior year, I dived into portrait photography by taking a few friends’ college senior photos, using them in my design and photography portfolio after graduation. I originally planned to emphasize graphic and web design, but the more I realized how much coding it involved, the more I realized how much I hated coding. Eventually I ditched the design part entirely, focused solely on photography (pun intended), and here I am!


Style


I love color. I love contrast.

I love mixing landscape and portrait photography, highlighting the crazy beauty of this epic state we live in. I love fantasy and fairytale-inspired magical vibes.

I love changing up styles depending on what the scene calls for, from light and bright to dark and moody.

I love using whatever light sources best suit a session, mixing both artificial and ambient light. I am not a “natural light photographer,” but I’ll shoot natural light if it’s genuinely the best light source.


Favorite…

Thing I’ve ever photographed

The Northern Lights in Borgarnes, Iceland. Magical to watch, and (almost) even more magical to photograph – the colors and patterns the camera picks up go so far beyond what you can see with the naked eye! That’s me pictured trying to A) Believe the show the aurora is putting on, and B) Stand still for a long exposure while sinking in the wet sand of a fjord.

Place I’ve ever been

Paradise, New Zealand. Yes, it’s a real place outside Queenstown on the South Island bordering Mount Aspiring National Park. They couldn’t have picked a better name!

Photo I’ve ever taken

Impossible to choose! But I’m pretty fond of that one time I cloned myself (header photo at the top of the page!).


Favorite…

Accomplishments

  • My National Geographic catalog cover (Humantay Lake along Salkantay Trek to Machu Picchu, Peru), licensed through my stock photography portfolio with Getty Images. Worth the altitude sickness I got shortly afterward!
  • My 40-something book covers (below), also licensed through Getty or other stock agencies

Animal

Corgi! No, red panda! No, mountain goat! I really love most animals, except for snakes and ticks and mosquitoes.

TV show

Game of Thrones, except for, you know, season 8. Or Parks & Rec if I’m in a lighter mood!

Book

Lord of the Rings, Pride & Prejudice, Harry Potter, Throne of Glass, Wheel of Time, the Gemma Doyle trilogy, and way too many others to count

Drink

Coffee coffee coffee coffee coffee coffee coffee coffee


Favorite…

Story that makes me sound cool

Since I always have a lot of time to kill while editing at my computer, often I put on comedy shows in the background to pass the time, with Stephen Colbert taking priority of course.  One time I was watching and as he was about to interview the PM of New Zealand, he used my photo of Hobbiton (licensed through Getty) as the feature image!  I’m not saying it was the proudest moment of my life, but I’m not NOT saying it… okay, I take it back about me sounding cool.


Fun facts

  • I love traveling whenever and wherever possible, and am forever grateful that I can fund my addiction by having my camera glued to my face half the time and selling my travel photos later. So far the list includes most of the US, a large part of Canada, England, France, New Zealand, Australia, Israel, Iceland, Denmark, Sweden, Croatia, Slovenia, Bosnia & Hercegovina, Montenegro, Peru, and Ireland.
  • I’m a huge Lord of the Rings nerd and proud of it, so much that I spent a semester in New Zealand and couldn’t resist going back again to visit five years later…and back for a third visit five years after that!  Best country on earth, hands down.
  • Life-long vegetarian here who loves to cook!  I use my Pinterest account almost exclusively to save recipes, many of which I’m probably never going to make, but, you know, goals.
  • I spend most of my spare time climbing mountains, which is always a challenge making it up the peak while hauling my heavy camera!  In 2021 I summitted 73 peaks, so I’m not joking when I say it consumes a lot of my life.  Some of my favorites have been Thompson Peak in the Sawtooths, Standhope Peak in the Pioneers, and Mount St Helens in Washington.
  • When I’m not climbing mountains, I’m training for climbing mountains by trail running!  (I’ve tried road running too, but it’s the worst.  Nope!)  The last few years I’ve run Race to Robie Creek, which kicks my butt every time, but in a good way.  I’m also a n00b mountain biker as of 2023, which is way more fun than running, at least on the way down when I’m not white-knuckling it!
  • If I’m not out doing any of the aforementioned activities, you can find me downhill skiing, playing movie themes on my piano, trying to pick out a new YA novel to download on my Kindle, and staying up until 1am because apparently I’ll never be an adult.  Woohoo!


Camera bag

  • Sony A7IV
  • Sony A7III
  • Sigma 16-28mm f/2.8
  • Sigma 24-70mm f/2.8
  • Zeiss 35mm f/1.8
  • Zeiss 55mm f/1.8
  • Zeiss 85mm f/1.8
  • Tamron 70-180 f/2.8
  • Godox AD200 Pro
  • Godox V860-II
  • Godox TT600
  • Godox XPro-S trigger
  • Neewer NW-860 Tx wireless remote
  • MeFoto Carbon Fiber RoadTrip tripod with Desmond DB-44 Arca-Swiss ballhead and Neewer L-Plate
  • Tiffen ND 1.2 filter
  • Haida ND 3.0 filter
  • Afga circular polarizer filter


Only some of which fits in the Lowepro Flipside 400AW camera backpack!

Things that don’t fit in the camera bag: softboxes (the Glow EZ-lock series is my favorite), reflectors, a handful of shoot-through/reflective umbrellas, too many light stands, and one portable backdrop system.

Software

  • Adobe Photoshop (the gold standard)
  • Adobe Bridge (which I’ve always used instead of Lightroom for no reason in particular)
  • Adobe Premiere Rush (for creating IG Reels, when I have to)
  • Evoto AI (for portrait retouching – don’t knock AI until you’ve tried it, it’s AMAZING!)
  • Topaz Photo AI (for advanced sharpening and upscaling)
  • ON1 Effects Suite (for creative effects layering)


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