Kristen M.

Kristen's interest in art started at a young age, when she got her first film camera as a Christmas gift from her dad. It took a special 110 film, which is virtually impossible to purchase today. She loved riding with her parents to the drive-through film processing shop to pick up her photographs - there was so much excitement in opening the folio to see the pictures from a family vacation. The anticipation and excitement she experienced as a kid with film photography had her hooked! While Kristen eagerly embraces digital technology — including her Nikon Z7 and Leica M10 — but she also creates much of her artwork with traditional analog film. Her collection of film cameras includes an Ebony RSW45 large format camera. Kristen develops her own film in her studio using traditional darkroom processes.

Kristen is a graduate of Virginia Tech and Penn State University. In 2014, Kristen was fortunate enough to spend three years living overseas in England, before returning to the Washington, DC area. When not adventuring, Kristen works as an analyst for the United States Department of Defense.

Lauren W.

Lauren’s love of the outdoors dates back to her earliest childhood memories; she has traveled and hiked extensively throughout Michigan and the United States. She has hiked portions of the Appalachian Trail, skydived over Florida, and kayaked the Great Lakes… and that’s just the beginning.

Her love of the outdoors spans beyond the normal pursuits of hiking, kayaking, and the like; when she isn’t on the trail, Lauren is often found riding her Harley-Davidson motorcycle through the back roads of Maryland and Virginia.

A native of Detroit, Michigan, Lauren moved to the Washington, DC area over 10 years ago to be a camp counselor… and she never left. Being someone who loves working with her hands and being active, she was attracted to the firefighting profession as a volunteer, before eventually becoming a professional Firefighter / EMT for Fairfax County in northern Virginia.