I am a nature lover. I live in San Antonio, Texas and I like to hike in the cooler months. I have my own pond with Western Mosquito fish and a turtle (Trachemys scripta) and it serves as a breeding ground for Gulf Coast Toads (Incilius nebulifer).
My interest and skills in photography were kindled by my father who built his own camera and developed his own film at times. I learned myself at a young age how to develop pictures the old fashioned way in a darkroom with a red safelight. Little did I know all this would be irrelevant knowledge in a few decades. My father also took very close up and detailed photos for his scientific career in Neuroscience. He also took wonderful close ups of flowers and insects. Not wanting to lug camera equipment around, I did not do much photography till the iPhone 6 came out, then it became convenient to take pictures. I use an iPhone 13 now for my photos and with still hands and a proper sense for lighting and color, I can take some pictures that look like I used a much more sophisticated camera. I hope new and better technology will allow me to take more detailed photos with a small camera size like an iPhone. I like to take photos anywhere I go where I see an insect, a flower, or any form of life. Living in a large urban city, I still see an amazing variety of life within the city, even taking several photos of insects that wander into the hospital I work at and even photographed a gecko lizard running across the hall.

My education is a bachelors in Nursing and 33 years experience in Psychiatric Nursing. Now I visit patients in the countryside and I see so many wildflowers that spark my interest that it is tempting to pull over to take photos. I have visited most all the state parks in central and south Texas and my favorite is Palmetto State Park. I think it is very therapeutic for me to do this and I appreciate INaturalist for providing this opportunity to be a citizen scientist.