Most people would, naturally, be hesitant to employ a blind photographer.

But those people would be missing out.

“People ask me, ‘How do you do it?’” said Tara Miller, a Winnipeg photographer with 100 Acre Woods Photography.

Miller said it wasn’t until a few years ago, when digital photography technology caught up to what was normally only possible on film, that she was able to pick up an old hobby she gave up after she began to lose her sight as a teenager.

Miller said she works in conjunction with her husband, who is also a photographer, and she tethers her Nikon D300 camera to a 27-inch monitor that she carries around. Blowing up the photographs to 200 per cent, Miller is able to tell if she has a good shot and if it’s in focus.

“I shoot only in manual,” she said, with the exception of having to rely on automatic focus. She relies on the little vision she does have to frame her shot, then takes the photos she needs to ensure a good result.

Now one of her photos is a finalist in the Eye Remember photo contest, sponsored by the Canadian National Institute for the Blind.

The photo, of a lighting storm approaching Winnipeg over a sunflower field, is one of five finalists in the contest. If she wins, she gets to go on a trip to a scenic spot in Canada, like Jasper or Niagara Falls.

“I told my friends and family, if they go online and vote for me and I win, I’ll take lots of pictures.”

You can vote at eyeremember.ca.