Awards and Achievements

As a new member of the Professional Photographer’s Association of Pennsylvania, I entered photos in their their 2025 Inspire photo competition.

I was shocked and humbled to find out that not only had one of my photos merited (scored an 80 or above) but had won best of it’s category!

Pet portraits is something that I’m passionate about being a life long lover of animals, and I’m so happy that one of my photos was able to win an award.

Meet Pinto, the resident barn cat at Brownhill Farms in Tunkhannock.

During my tulip sessions at the farm, she gracefully wandered over and posed just like this — as if she knew she was meant to be photographed. The clouds rolled in at the perfect moment, casting dramatic light across the scene.

I submitted this photo to the 2024 Luzerne County Fair, where it won 3rd place in the Nature category.

In 2024 I was hired to take photos of local bowling legend Joseph “Hutch” Hutchinson in Old Forge, PA. The photos were published in the February edition of Bowlers Journal International.

It marked the 45th anniversary of his victory at the televised Magicscore Open in 1980. Hutch’s career includes numerous other milestones, including four PBA event wins, 12 top-5 finishes, and induction into the Pennsylvania State USBC Hall of Fame.

It was truly an honor to be invited into his home to capture portraits to be featured in the article.

Visit Luzerne County had asked for people to send in photos from around the county to use for their upcoming Visitor’s Guide.

I love supporting local businesses and attending local events so I submitted a good bit of photos, and two of mine were chosen to be featured.

This included a photo from Purrfect Mugs Cat Cafe and a concert I attended at River Street Jazz Cafe featuring Angelo Maruzelli, an NEPA native who plays for the bands University Drive and Cold.

In July 2025, I participated in another PPA of PA image competition. I worked with my mentor to select photos to enter and critique. I was pleasantly surprised when 5 out of my 6 entered photos earned a merit.

Entering Image competitions and working with my mentor from PPA of PA has helped me learn and grow my photography skills and work towards my CPP and Master of Photography degree with PPA.

When attending the PPA of PA Capture weekend, I had already known that I had earned 5 merits overall and was super proud of my performance. Then at the awards luncheon they announced my photo as the best of the Nature Image Category.

This image was entered into a previous competition and did not merit, but I took the feedback and critiques I was given and entered the photo a second time, not only earning a merit but best of it’s category.

As someone deeply passionate about nature and wildlife, winning Best Nature Image at the photo competition was truly meaningful to me.