Fall on the Rio Grande

I drove out last night to create a few images of our autumn colors along the Rio Grande River. It was chilly, and I made it just as the sun was beginning to set. I parked and hurried out along the bridge so I could look back to the mountains. It turned out to be not as good of a vantage point as I was thinking, as the mountains were mostly hidden behind the flaming trees. And there was shadow along the river that contrasted starkly with the beautiful trees and mountains. I took a few photos and hurried back to the car after the sun had completely set, shivering. 

Once home, and after the little ones were in bed, I could sit down and reassess what I'd taken. This afforded me the opportunity to do some processing and creating with them. Here are a few:

Beautiful Children

Cousins

I've done a few minor photo sessions lately, but here I wanted to post a couple of fun images we created when my sister visited with her children. The cousins had a wonderful time together the entire week, and my kids were sad to see them go. They live far away and we don't get to see them often.

Flamenco girls:

Unfortunately, my littlest came down with a bad cold and the last afternoon just was not herself. The group photo of all of them together didn't go so well...

Our family loves to go to the local International Rattlesnake Museum. The guy who runs it is not only friendly, but awesome with kids. He had done a fantastic job of creating a museum that displays the largest collection of different varieties of rattlesnakes in the world, but using the museum to truly educate the public about snakes and reptiles. We took our cousins there when they visited, and all loved sporting their shirts here.

4th of July Canyon

I went with my family to 4th of July Canyon over the weekend. The leaves are fading and falling quickly in this large grove of Maple Trees. Here is one image I created of the experience.

I Heart Faces Challenge: Friendship

I am entering the I Heart Faces monthly challenge with this photo of siblings. The theme is friendship. I've been impressed with the quality of the blog posts at I Heart Faces. They are very informative to anyone interested in improving their people photography!

I took this photo a couple of years ago, and even have it printed large (20 inch by 30 inch canvas wrap) in my house. I focused on capturing their hands holding, and in the process also captured their thoughtful faces and the Star Wars themed shirt he wore.  Not only does it capture the friendship between them, but the contrast between who each of them is - her shirt with cat print and his with Star Wars. I took this right before the sun went down, and changed the color in post processing.

My aperture is f/2, speed 1/100s - barely fast enough for catching them with my 85mm lens!

Outdoor Children Photography - Albuquerque

This morning a friend of mine brought her children over to take some photos. We took them (and mine) into the Open Space near my house, and we played and photographed. The light was beautiful, and we used my silver reflector to add a little light. Beautiful children!

Here are a few of my favorites.

Downtown Albuquerque Senior Photography Session

I met up with another lovely high school senior on Saturday morning. We parked downtown and had fun trying out different locations. Brianna is going to cosmetology school full time, having finished most of her high school studies last year, so we included a few photos with that theme. She also brought her sweet energetic dog!

We finished off taking photos by Fire Station #1. Brianna's dad only recently retired from the fire crew, so this was a fitting setting for her. The crew on duty graciously allowed us to use their trucks which were parked in front.


We were taking photos from around 9:30AM to 1PM, so we looked not only for good settings, but also for places where I could work with the light. Her mom was on hand to hold the dog, and my reflector for me! We took many great photos, and I am still editing them, but here are a few that I love: