being confirmed as a finalist
nothing like this has ever happened to
me before in my life
i still can't believe i made it to this
point i can only hope
that my photographs give people a sense
of who i am
my name is nina ritchie and i live in
chinle arizona which is the center
of the navajo nation
i am a medical doctor on the reservation
there's a lot of things that bring me
joy in life number one is
my family the passion i have for my work
as a doctor
getting out in nature epic
backpacking trips my kids being able to
capture these moments that can be
fleeting
that's really special to see them
discovering things through their eyes
[Music]
brings me immense joy
we live in a small town we live down
there there's two traffic lights
we have a lot of wide open spaces and
can see hundreds of miles
we take a lot of trips almost every
weekend we have a camper trailer
we can drive three hours get to a
national park boone dot cam
in some really beautiful places holy cow
look at you guys
that journey that drive that we get to
share together that's inherently
inspiring that's usually where i find
photographic opportunities
i do need a creative outlet and i think
that it comes from the heaviness of
medicine
dealing with life and death motivates me
to get out there
and do everything i can because tomorrow
tomorrow isn't promised
i think that so far my voice has
probably been more landscape and
wildlife photography
a sunset or a sunrise vibrant colors
that's probably what a nina photograph
looks like in this contest
i want to really challenge myself try to
take photos that i don't normally take
push the limits push my limits capture
things that are outside my comfort zone
i idolize the national geographic
photographer it's so wonderful to go out
there and seek the stories and document
them and move
other people i think it would be
wonderful to win because what that means
is that someone saw the potential in me
there are so many wonderful things that
photography has brought to me
it's in my blood and i'm gonna keep
doing it
you