Bare with me, I will get to the point I promise.

We’ve all been put in a position where the perfect picture is immaculately played out in your head but you don’t have a photographer or steady tripod to fulfill your desires. That’s precisely what happened to me in this photo. My mom and brother are always in charge of taking pictures of me when we go on family trips and adventures but, sometimes, they don't cut it. They take selfies from odd angles. They have no perception of proportion or lighting and I always manage to look either 15 years older or younger than I actually am. Although I do appreciate their efforts, I’ve decided to take on the challenge of doing certain tasks myself. It was really hard to take this picture but it came out so well and I was super excited about it. It granted me the ultimate power of perseverance, too!

My family is known for spontaneity, adventure, and hikes. This photo was taken on one of those many spontaneous adventurous hikes we have been on. As if I could not prove our commitment to these values any better, hiking in the middle of winter in the snow shows just that. On most Sundays when I spend time with my father, the first thing he always does is ask what I’m up to that day. If I reply that there is nothing on my schedule, it is fair game for him to decide what feat we will take on to seize the day. This particular time, he chose to take me and my sister to the Brandywine waterfall lookout. I have been there many times as a fellow Vancouverite, but only in the summer and never down below to the rushing rivers where you have to climb down the cliff side to see it. My father just bought four new pairs of snow shoes for the kinds of journeys he planned to take us on, and he took this as the perfect opportunity to put his money to good use! Since the waterfall can only be appreciated at an angle far away to the top right from the lookout, the only way to see the spectacular view was to ascend the trail, despite the ice and snow covering the ground. This is where the snow shoes were going to come in handy! We walked the first part up until the ice and snow became unbearable to walk over with the proper frilly hiking boots, which only gave us a few steps to spare free from the extra weight. When it came time we strapped on the snow shoes and continued down the trail that appeared somewhat steep and in my opinion risky, as I always seem to think hikes that go up or down are. We took our time maneuvering over frozen branches and rocks, and eventually made our way down to the level of the river, only to realize there were many groups of families that had the same idea. However when we met with them, they had told us they could not go any further due to the melting icicles falling down from dangerously high locations atop the cliff. They told us not to keep going, since these chunks of solid ice were the size of our heads or more, and at those heights the speed and weight would probably run down the cliff side and knock us out one by one, kinda like bowling pins. But a few pieces of falling ice was not enough to scare us into missing the grande finale view we had all been waiting for. The plan was to run past the one section that was surrounded by fallen icicles, and if we heard a chunk rolling down the hill we were to duck and cover our heads. It was a scary thought, but I tried my best not to think about the melting ice right above us. So we sprinted across the section of danger, and all survived safely further ahead where the danger section had ended. We had made it, and it was time to take our final steps towards the best view possible. I was famished at this point, as we had waited to eat until we got to our final destination, so at this point I was mostly excited to eat than to reach the waterfall itself. But once we got there, the view took us all by surprise as we were looking up at a gorgeously giant waterfall framed with icicles. The water kept running down the cliff, and fell right down into a whole in the ice that had once been a stream. Since we arrived a tad too late to see the sun completely illuminating the waterfall, we were still lucky enough to catch the golden lighting of sunset on the far wall of the cliff. We sat on the rocks by the waterfall in silence for a while scarfing down our sandwiches, and taking multiple photos from our phones. We hadn’t brought professional cameras, we didn’t know the view would be this amazing. We also prefer not to bring them, as that adds extra weight to the trip, and on the way up, everyone would regret bringing the damn thing as we have to rotate carrying it. But yet this gorgeous photo taken by my iPhone is enough to capture the view in its full glory.

I had never seen a sunrise before that morning. June 24, 2019, 5:32 am. Throughout school I would always have horrible sleeps. I have been fortunate to be able to travel and explore the world, but this is also where I would catch up on sleep. Being in a relaxed atmosphere made sleepless nights go away. Being in a relaxed atmosphere allowed me to let go of the things I held onto in my chest. I have always wanted to wake up and see the sunrise, but I never was able to. I was never able to pull myself out of bed on time.

A photography instructor once taught me, "If you see something that you like, take its picture immediately if you have a camera. 'Cos the subject or object may not be exactly what you saw if you were to go back to it later."

The one thing that inspires me the most is music. Ever since I was little my love for music has been an important factor in what connects me to the world and the people around me. My love for music is not just a fun fact about my character, but also has a lot to do with the outcome of this photo.

Last spring, I went on a school trip to parts of Germany and Switzerland. I loved every second of it, and when our trip was coming to an end, one of our last stops was at Mount Pilatus (one of the mountains of the Swiss Alps). The weather was perfect; there was just enough snow for playing around and climbing but not too much that you couldn't go anywhere. The temperature was cold enough to keep the snow from melting, but it was still warm enough that we didn't need gloves. There was a huge snowdrift at one side of the platform, so naturally, some of my friends and I used it to climb over the platform and up to another level with a maintenance door and a shoveled out snow cave. While two of my friends were busy making the snow into snowballs for a siege on our comrades below, I spotted this lone icicle, which had held out against the warm weather but, slowly, was also melting. I was enchanted by the solitary beauty and resilience that that singular icicle projected, and I thought it would make a great picture. So I quickly snapped a few until and my friends called me back to help them make more snowballs. We went to the top of the mountain and then went back to the lift to take us down, and I thought nothing more of the picture I had taken.

My landlord periodically places flowers outside on the grass or over a stone slate. I always wondered why. Was it to dispose of the flowers? Was it in memory of a lost pet? Or maybe it was a ritual of some kind. I’m still not 100% sure why she does this, but I have concluded that it’s probably because one of her animals was buried out there. She loves animals, like loves them. To the extend that she puts pieces of food out for squirrels and regularly puts food in the bird feeders. She knows the names of all the birds that fly around her house. No kind of animal is unloved by her. That’s why if an animal really was buried out there, it would be especially sad. She cares for every little sparrow and insect. So, the loss of a pet must have been so hard. A dog owner myself, I know how animals become a part of the family. I’ve had my dog for six years, and I’m proud to say he’s my best friend. He knows me better than anyone I know. You do so much with your pet. You laugh together and cry together. You play and train together. You talk to them whenever no one is around or will listen to your thoughts. They comfort you when you cry and kiss you to make you forget that the world can be a mean place. My dog senses when I’m about to cry and starts licking me like I’m made of peanut butter. To anyone else, that can be gross, but I know he just wants to lessen my discomfort and feel better. He’s my emotional support. To some, it may be strange to think so highly of an animal. To that, I say you haven’t had a pet, and if you have, you haven’t found your pet. The one you really connect with.

Brisk winter air and sun rays of warmth highlight the skin of my good friend Taylor as we embrace our Sedona film journey. If you've ever experienced Sedona Arizona first hand, you may know the exact air I am talking about. It is so pure, as if you were drinking the finest mineral spring water through your skin. True nourishment for the soul.

I have a fascination with derelict houses; places that were once homes but have long been left to decay. I began photographing a place I have named Forlorn House in 2019. My goal was to capture ita fading beauty in each of the four seasons. I was pleased to get an excellent shot in the fall of 2019. The winter of 2019-20 was warmer than usual. When there was light snow, I decided to wait for a better winter shot. To my utter disappointment, it did not snow again that winter. So, when I awoke in January of 2020 , to find it snowing hard, I decided to venture forth lest I miss another winter without a good shot.

It was a hot day in July and we had all gone to swim at friends pool. I am the proud Grandmother of three beautiful Grandkids. Two boys and one girl ages anywhere from ten to four years old at the time. The kids had been swimming but my four year old Grandson had fallen asleep. When he woke he was grumpy not wanting to do anything but fuss because of heat. Everyone was trying to get him in a better mood but he storms off a few feet from us. We all I started to do our own thing some swim so I'm eating some drinking just having fun. We saw the youngest grandson pick something up off the hot cement. It's like he stopped in amazement at what he found. It was a dragonfly and he was not moving. We can ask him just to put it down because it was dead he's in a go about his business back but he refused. He began to blow air onto the dragonfly with no response of course. That we tried is making a no go play and he refused totally refused hey Steph I will bring the dragonfly back to life. Of course we didn't want his feelings to get hurt and be disappointed so we tried to encourage him to to put it down and just keep going. This four-year-old wouldn't have no part of it. He went to the shade and continue to blow like he was breathing like back into it. Five maybe 10 minutes went by he still completely refused to stop. Hello Voice if they were that dragonfly and then all of a sudden it's wings flutter. He began to cry with happiness. See I told you he said see I told you that and dead. Still we were thinking there's no way that dragonfly is alive. If that little four-year-old continue to insist that it was alive. He probably said that another five minutes or so with no encouragement from us and all of a sudden a dragonfly begin to flow to his wings and flew away and total amazement. We were all completely shocked that this little boy spent that much time basically resuscitate that dragonfly because he said he knew he was not dead. That day that little boy told us I will listen don't give up on something you love that is beautiful because it might not be dead.

Once I'd seen the Mobile Moments challenge and read the brief, I knew exactly what it was that I would capture. I picked up my iPhone, threw on my boots and made the 10-minute walk from my house to a street I've walked down hundreds of times since moving into the area in 2014.