A native of San Jose, California, Christa Bailey is an amateur photographer who loves botanical photography and art. She received her first camera at age 13. The 35mm was purchased second hand from a family member who was upgrading their gear. She took roll after roll of photos, mostly underexposed, and spent many trips to the drug store waiting in line to pick up multiple envelopes of photos. Even at that age, Christa enjoyed photographing her pets and the flowers blooming in her grandmother’s garden. Although Christa continued to take photographs through her high school years, as is often the case, the realities of everyday life took over and there seemed to be no time to follow up with hobbies or passion projects.
After graduating from Santa Clara University with a degree in psychology, it would be another 15 years before Christa would begin to find her way back to photography. In 2009, Christa purchased a DSLR camera and began experimenting once again with photography. While working on completing a graduate degree in Library and Information Science, Christa’s job required her to learn Photoshop in order to create, update, and maintain images on her employer’s website. The introduction of image editing further encouraged Christa to pick up her camera and get outside as much as possible.
Christa’s artistic inspiration comes from the amazing patterns found in nature and her lifelong love of animals. Whether willing or not, Christa’s cats often find themselves the subjects of her images. Christa enjoys taking photos with both her Nikon D60 and Samsung S9 cell phone.
In April 2019 Christa entered five photographs into Light Space & Time Online Art Gallery’s 9th Annual "Animals" Art Competition. This was the first time her work had been entered into any exhibition. Christa was beyond thrilled when her photograph, Slumber, was selected to be included in the Special Merit section of the exhibition, which can be found at: https://www.lightspacetime.art/animals-art-exhibition-2019-photography-digital-category/
In April 2020 Christa entered several photographs into Light Space & Time Online Art Gallery’s 10th Annual "Botanicals" Art Competition. This competition was near and dear to her heart since she has developed a passion to pursue botanical photography in particular. Achieving recognition was going to be a big achievement. So it was very gratifying and a huge boost of confidence when three of her images were selected. Her image, Peace Garden, was selected for inclusion in the Special Merit section of the Photo & Digital Category of the exhibition. Additionally, two other images, Dreaming of Spring and Trillium were featured in the Special Recognition section of the exhibition. A complete list of the winning entries, and these three images, can be found at the exhibition webpage at: https://www.lightspacetime.art/botanicals-exhibition-2020-photography-digital-category/
When not taking photos of her cats or flowers, Christa can be found reading mystery novels, listening to jazz, and admiring fashion. Her daytime job keeps her indoors helping students with their research needs at a local University. As a result, she likes to get outside and enjoy the California weather as much as possible. Christa also considers herself a lover of food and enjoys exploring the wealth of unique dining options available in the Bay Area.