It started with a disposable camera at a Lithuanian summer camp. We were each handed one for the trip — nothing special, just a little plastic box with 27 exposures. But something clicked for me that week, literally and otherwise. Capturing moments with friends, preserving them before they disappeared — that feeling of anticipation, waiting at the Walgreens photo counter to see how the shots had come out, was unlike anything else. I was hooked before I even knew what photography was.
From that disposable camera I graduated to a compact, then spent an entire summer saving up for my first Canon Rebel DSLR. That camera changed everything. With real manual controls and the ability to see results immediately, I started to understand what photography could actually be. It was around that time I discovered what other photographers already knew — that morning light is in a category of its own. I started waking before sunrise, heading out into the quiet with just the sound of birds and the shutter, chasing that soft golden hour that makes the ordinary look extraordinary.
Growing up with Lithuanian roots meant I was fortunate enough to explore Europe with my family long before I ever lived here. I always packed the lenses, the tripod, the extra memory cards. Every trip was a chance to document and preserve. The moment that cemented everything came at Königssee in Germany — golden hour hit the mountains and that impossibly clear blue lake in a way I still can't fully describe. I printed that shot when I got home. It's still one of my favourite photographs. That was the moment I knew I wanted to share these experiences with the world.
In January 2023 I made the move from Chicago to Amsterdam, and Europe went from a place I visited to a place I live. Medieval cities, ancient forests, coastlines, and fjords — all within a few hours. In 2020 I added drone work to the toolkit, earning my Part 107 certification in the US and my A2/A3 licence for Europe. There is something about the aerial perspective that ground photography simply cannot replicate — the geometry of a landscape, the scale of a mountain range, the patterns that only reveal themselves from above. The world looks completely different at altitude.
The journey has also taken me beyond Europe. A honeymoon through Singapore, Malaysia, and Thailand introduced me to a completely different palette — lush, humid, dense with colour and life. Every new place recalibrates your eye. I believe that's true whether you're flying a drone over a Norwegian fjord or simply stepping out your front door with your phone. Beauty is everywhere. You just have to slow down enough to see it.