Judith Lombardi 

White River Junction, VT 

Photography has always been a large part of my life. Growing up with a camera in my hand allowed me the freedom and creative license to capture the beauty that surrounded me. Looking back on those pictures, I always seemed to favor picturing nature and “wildlife” (generally my dogs and cats) over posed family photos. 
My twenty years as a Naval Officer afforded me the perfect opportunity to travel the globe and truly see the world through my camera lens. Whether it was a picture of a striking volcano in the Philippine Islands, or the incredibly beautiful fog-bound coast of Oregon, I was in constant pursuit of the “perfect picture”. Capturing sunrise or sunset from the deck of a ship on the open ocean is truly indescribable.
After I retired from the service in 1990, I happily returned to northern New England, taking the helm of the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Emergency Department as Nursing Director. I transitioned in 2001 from film to digital photography. The new digital SLR cameras afforded me new opportunities and challenges. I loved eliminating the “middle man” to whom I had relinquished my canister of exposed film, always hoping that the end result was truly what I had seen through my lens. Now the ability to develop my own pictures was at my fingertips. I left my Nursing Director position in 2004 to concentrate on nature photography full time. I started my own small business, and began marketing myself and my work throughout New Hampshire and Vermont. One of my key goals was to achieve state juried status with the League of New Hampshire Craftsmen, which I successfully accomplished in November 2004. 
I so enjoy the conversations that my work stimulates ,often as a result of how the photograph has touched the observer. The connection that people make with my photography is always the best part of this new adventure.