“Victoria is my Baba's middle name (Ukrainian grandma on my dad's side). I was given her middle name as mine and just loved it more than my first name. She also gave me my first camera when I was in grade school—an old, film camera that I used non-stop."

"It wasn't until high school that I became more interested in nature photography, and my parents got me my Nikon Coolpix 820. I didn’t put the thing down! I loved capturing what others didn't see every day—close ups of insects, flowers and plants, landscapes.”