I started entering and winning contests shortly after digital cameras came out. I’ll never forget when my husband, Chris gave me a Canon 2 mega pixel camera with a zoom lens for Christmas. Since we lived in Sunny Santa Barbara, where the weather was always in the high ‘60s, even in the Winter, we rushed out to Butterfly Beach in Montecito, and I photographed 2 kayakers paddling. It was a calm day, so there was a beautiful reflection on the water. I went online and searched “Free Photo Contests” and found one for a spice manufacturer that focused on spices to go on fish. Three months later, I received an email to let me know that I won. I received a gift basket full of their goodies, and I was hooked!