In 1999 I was a college student double majoring in Electronic Imaging and Photography. I remember distinctly the moment we first began talking about digital photography. I was standing outside my school’s darkroom, agitating a developing tank while processing a roll of 35mm black-and-white film, and I asked my professor if she thought it was cheating.
She didn’t.
I remember losing interest in her answer. I wasn’t ready to hear it.
I absolutely loved the process of shooting photographs, developing film, and creating prints in the darkroom. I’d been doing it for years. In high school, my mom helped me temporarily turn our bathroom into a darkroom — thick black plastic over the window, red bulbs in the fixtures, trays laid out on a board over the counter, and a small enlarger tucked into the closet. I spent hours there as a teen.
Film photography felt like magic to me…a moment in time visually captured through the quick lift of a shutter. That brief instant allowing rays of light to pierce a piece of film which I would later develop and turn into prints in the darkroom. It was fascinating.
Back then, digital photography felt like it would strip all of that away.
And in some ways, it did, but in other ways, it opened everything up.
By the time I graduated in 2001 with my BFA, I had fully embraced digital tools. I became fluent in Photoshop, taught myself HTML, and began building websites. Digital photography was cheaper, faster, and more flexible. No film canisters. No processing fees. No rationing shots. You could experiment endlessly and see results instantly.
Creating didn’t feel smaller — it felt bigger.
Eventually, I stopped seeing digital as cheating. I started seeing it as access.
Being both creative and technical became my sweet spot. I could design, build, and communicate. That blend shaped my entire career. For the last 25 years, I’ve experimented with tools and technology and I’m endlessly grateful that many things have gotten simpler.
Especially visual content creation. That’s why I ❤️ Canva.
For years, Photoshop was my go-to. It was powerful, but it was also expensive and complicated. If you weren’t trained, it could feel overwhelming quickly.
So when Canva showed up in 2013, I almost didn’t take it seriously.
It felt too easy. Too simple. Too…friendly. And honestly? That’s exactly the point.
Reflecting on the reasons I love Canva brought me back to that first conversation about digital photography in college. Back then, I worried that technology might take the magic away. Now I see it differently: tools that make creating easier don’t take away creativity — they simply let more people create.
What is Canva?
Canva is a beginner-friendly, graphic design tool that helps create social media graphics, website banners, flyers, digital downloads, presentations, videos, and so much more.
It is filled with customizable templates, photos, and graphics you can easily drop into your designs, so you don’t have to start from scratch (unless you want to!). Everything works with an intuitive drag-and-drop interface, and you can collaborate with others to get feedback in real time.
It works right in your browser (or on your phone or tablet), and the free version is more than enough to get started. They even offer a huge library of tutorials through Canva’s Design School, so if you learn best by watching, it’s definitely worth checking out.
Designing with Canva
I use Canva for both personal and professional projects. It is my go-to tool for visual content creation. Here are a couple of recent print marketing projects:
Learn Canva with Me!
Canva helps small business owners, nonprofits, and everyday people show up visually without a design degree or expensive tools.
If you’d like a little guidance, I offer 1:1 sessions, and I’m building a virtual group workshop too. You can sign up for updates and join when it’s ready or schedule a time to chat soon.