#microsoftsurface

breached by Brooke Shaden Via Flickr: {Giveaway 8 of 10} READ TO END TO WIN A NEW COMPUTER, valued at $3,500. I started photography because a friend dared me to. She called me up and asked me if I would start taking self-portraits with her. She showed me Flickr – I got hooked. We started our self-portraits that day, and two weeks later, I never wanted to stop. She didn’t keep going, and that in itself was a sign to me that I had found a passion. I couldn’t give it up. Fast forward a few months and I was not only obsessed, but I decided - with this unfounded confidence that I tend to harbor - that I would be a professional fine art photographer. I had very, very few skills. I didn’t properly know what I was doing. But I had vision, and I believed in that vision more than anything. I was going to do it. A year after that I had my first solo exhibition. After that I had 12 more. And then I got my first representation from a gallery. My career began one year after I started photography. Talent, vision, imagination…these things did not separate me. Sticking with it – that’s what separated me. From that first choice to keep going when my friend didn’t, to not giving up when I ran out of money and resources and didn’t think I could keep it up…my only real talent is stubborn resilience. And here we are, 10 years later, and I’m so proud. The giveaway today is massive, and I want to thank Microsoft for supporting my career and celebrating my 10-year photo anniversary by giving away a Microsoft Surface Studio computer worth $3,500. This is the desktop computer I use and love (I get asked a lot about it) and I’m so pleased to give it away to a random winner! To enter, leave a comment below sharing about when you pushed through a difficult time.