My name is Steve Bottoms, and I've been an avid photographer for years!  Having started out in IT, I was no stranger to sitting behind computers all day and night.  Until one fateful day when a co-worker had a minor stroke on the job after a routine 80 hour work week, I had no intention of changing anything.  But that was all I needed.  Shortly after that I took up another passion of mine: backpacking.  I over-packed a backpack and headed into Sequoia-Kings Canyon Nation Park for a long weekend.  That day I had only a small 35mm point-and-shoot, but that trip opened my eyes to what I was missing during all those years sitting behind computers, staring at pixels on a screen, and thinking I had all the answers.

Fast-forward to now, and I can't imagine my life without photography.  I'm still in the IT game, but it doesn't hold the passion it once did.  These days I spend every spare minute I have wandering across the western US, shooting anything that strikes my fancy.  And I wouldn't change a thing.

You have to find what you're passionate about, and explore and indulge in it.  Live that passion.  You'll be rewarded.  =)

Steve