My name is Michaela Byrd. I am a landscape photographer from Southern California. I am a born and raised Southern Californian. I have been taking photos for only 5 years.  At age three, I found out that I had an eyesight problem. My vision is 20/200, which makes me visually impaired (in my right eye), and I have been living with it since birth. Many people have eyesight issues and can be easily fixed through corrective lenses or laser eye surgery, but that isn’t the case for me. My disability is unfortunately non-correctable because my eye is perfectly fine; the part that isn’t correct is how my brain interprets the image. I spent many of my early years patching my left eye (which is my good eye out of the two), using eye exercises, having numerous optometrist visits, putting in contacts, and even wearing glasses. They tried so many different attacks to try and strengthen my sight in my right eye. None of the many things we tried ever worked.

Finding this out when I was so young made it sound like my life would be very limited. Although it turns out they were wrong and my disability has brought many unforeseen strengths into my life. I am most proud of my ability to see the world in a different light, I am passionate about photography. I believe the reason I feel so strongly about photography is due to my vision. In my mind, my camera lens replaces my not so perfect eye. From my vision being different I have a natural gift, and I know how to professionally capture unique settings. Other people see things and think nothing of them; I look and see things like belts hanging on a wall or wine glasses lined up on a table and I immediately get excited and start snapping off as many photos as I can. I love capturing water and landscapes sceneries. To me, there is nothing more beautiful. I believe, my eyesight, has given me this amazing way to express my creativity.

The summer before my freshman year of high school, I started experimenting with my parents canon point and shoot camera and found that I had an eye for capturing unique shots. As a freshman, I took my first photography class and joined the photography club. During my sophomore year, I remained in photography club but was not about to be in the class. That year I received my first camera, a Canon Rebel t3i which I still use to this day. The summer after my sophomore year, I went to Europe with my photography teacher and some other students. My junior year, I became the Photography section editor of the yearbook, president of the photography club, and received two awards. Now I am the Editor and Chief of the yearbook. I have traveled to 13 different countries and have had amazing experiences. Photography comes naturally to me and it is something I love to do. Thank you for visiting my website.