Sunflowers

I was the little girl who held funerals for dead insects. I didn’t want them to die without being seen. Born in Utah, I changed locations so many times that I was always the new girl in school. I loved art and animals.
As a young woman I searched for a way to combine my earnest desire to heal the world with my drive to create art. I found my first calling in photojournalism, earning a degree from San Jose State University in 2004.
Hired as a photojournalist for The Sacramento Bee in 2005, I spent nearly 14 years there. I loved the excitement of covering something different every day, the latest news, a wildfire or jumping out of an airplane to film a skydiving dog. But my most important work was achieved in the intimacy of people’s personal spaces.
Turning a camera on someone that is often overlooked has powerful connotations. A family living in poverty, a young man grappling with a future as a quadriplegic, a repeat convict who sincerely wants to change his life. The homeless, the poor, victims of crime or accidents, the depressed all benefit from the compassionate outpouring of the community when their story is told.
Sacramento Bee readers always cared. Almost every time I showed someone in need, someone would see it and help them out. Over the years I’ve seen more than $1 million dollars be donated to the people I photographed. I am inspired by the struggle and I am inspired by they every-day hero.
I began my career as a photographer, but my skills quickly expanded to include audio and video. As I dove deeper into video storytelling I realized its great power to motivate and inspire. My first short documentary film, “A Horse, A Convict, A Chance for Change” premiered in 2018 and earned first place in both audience choice and jury categories in film festivals. I was hooked.
In 2019 I left my job at The Bee and began pursuing my second career calling, that of creating socially impactful films as an independent artist. I also teach the next generation of photography students at Sacramento City College, also known as “The People’s College.”
Covid-19 has occurred at the worst time for me, having just started a new business. The COVIDeos project gave me a chance to keep working towards my goals by funding a personal project, one of telling the story of my own family.
I am married to a skydiver, musician and pilot, Jason Payne. We have two wonderful children, Kaia, 6 and and Sylvan, 6 months. We live on a small urban farm nestled in the city of Sacramento where we raise chickens, grow food and bake bread.