Chris and I spent New Year’s Eve in El Paso, Texas, where he shot the Sun Bowl and I enjoyed the game from the stands with his good friend,  El Paso Times journalist Felix Chavez. To be honest, I am not a football fan. I grew up in an all-girl household and my father, whose high school team was No. 1 in the nation during his senior year, never stood a chance at watching the game on TV. Not one of his daughters, including me, ever asked to attend a game, either. But, I have to say that I thoroughly enjoyed 2009′s Sun Bowl and my crash course in football.

Felix was fantastic company, explaining to me which team was doing what and when, whenever something happened, which seemed often, because people kept waving their arms, throwing flags and declaring time-outs. It didn’t help that I kept getting the teams mixed up because Stanford’s color is Cardinal and Oklahoma’s colors are crimson and cream. However, I settled in, soaked up the sun and took in all the festivities, spotting the Sooner’s covered wagon and Stanford’s drum major, whom, dressed as a skunk, alternately waved  an oversized gerbera daisy or Cardinal-colored love heart, embossed with a giant “S” over his black and white-furred head. Read the rest of this entry …

Saturday was Hyatt Regency Tamaya‘s first-ever Santa Paws event and we were the official photographers. Several months ago, I was visiting Tamaya and had the opportunity to share, not only several of our wedding books, but one of our original Puptales™ with dog-lover, Jena Marquez, who is also the hotel’s director of public relations and marketing.  Since Tamaya is a dog-friendly property, Jena explained she’s on the lookout for fun doggy events to host. And host she did this past Saturday. We had the world’s friendliest Santa, who listened patiently to every pup’s (and some children’s) special requests and wish lists. “I didn’t get bitten or peed on. Everyone was soooo well-behaved. And, I mean everyone–dogs and their humans!” exclaimed Santa, whose name cannot be revealed here for obvious reasons.

Over 50 humans and 100 dogs participated in this, the inaugural Santa Paws. Pounds and pounds of food were donated to one of the Hyatt’s favorite charities–Animal Humane, New Mexico. Humans who donated bags or cans of pet food had their pups’ photos taken with Santa. For an added surprise, we set up our Go-Crazy Booth and let everyone ham it up doggy supermodel-style. The Hyatt rolled out the red carpet, proving that organization, enthusiasm and a supportive staff are the key ingredients to making any doggy event a success. Of course all the Hyatt-style bells and whistles created a relaxed family feel that made both those with four feet and those with only two feel equally welcome and at home.  This cozy feeling resulted in absolutely no doggy fights–not even a raised lip or a growl. Everyone was smiling and on his or her best behavior.

It was a beautiful sunny New Mexico day  and humans strolled the grounds with their four-footed friends, while Hyatt catering staff kept a watchful eye on the beautiful hand-crafted hammered copper water dish, making sure it was always filled to the brim with fresh water. Humans of all ages nibbled on homemade cookies and sipped hot cocoa, while pups danced, sniffed, romped and gobbled up this photographer’s stash of dehydrated organic chicken treats. All the while, dog-themed music from the canine-grammy award-winning cd, “What Kind of Dog Am I,” played in the background and kept everyone’s feet tapping to the beat. Kristen Trujillo, designer-extraordinaire, was my fabulous assistant, who kept track of the who, what, when and where, making sure that every dog had it’s day in the booth and on Santa’s lap. Read the rest of this entry …

Earlier this week, Chris (with the dogs in tow) left Albuquerque and drove through a blizzard to a Las Vegas shoot. Sometimes, when we get the call from a PR firm or from a wire service, we receive very little information about what we are headed out to shoot and more times than not, we are pleasantly surprised or learn something or have a blast or all of the aforementioned. This was one of those times. The word was, Chris was headed out to shoot a new product promotion that would feature a national celebrity. The PR firm’s client, of which we were made aware, was Purina. Being dog lovers, our appetites were whetted that much more. Read the rest of this entry …

A lot of really good things come out of our Go-Crazy Booth. One of those “good things”  is Albuqueruque’s Brian Nguyen, who after “going crazy” in our booth on two separate occasions, called us up and asked us to shoot his birthday bash. “No, I’m not looking for a wedding photographer,” began Brian. “I’m still single, so my friends like to go all out for me. We’ve got over 225 people on the guest list for my third annual birthday party at QBar and we’ve got Vanilla Pop playing, so it’s gonna be hot,” he explained. And, hot it was. Brian’s posse heated up the dance floor all night long and we had a blast photographing all the fun. Chris and I especially enjoyed meeting Brian’s mother and father, who made a brief appearance, showing off their fancy moves on the crowded dance floor.

Chris and I had another one of our wonderful whirlwind days, yesterday. After taking care of office business, which involved many many pieces of paper that needed shuffling, we packed up all of our gear, including our recording equipment and our photo booth, and we headed down to Isleta Casino.

First off, I should mention that Rick Wright of the Albuquerque Journal, wrote an amazing article detailing Chris’s research on the history of boxing in the state of New Mexico, and the article appeared in the morning paper. So, it was no surprise, when we assembled our recording gear at Isleta one hour before Holly Holm’s press conference, to find over 30 people hailing from as far as Wagon Mound, seated in chairs waiting for Chris to deliver an animated talk about some boxing highlights spanning more than 100 years of history. Read the rest of this entry …

Yesterday, I met the Jam Lady, or should I say, the Lady who really jams, while visiting Haight and LoPour’s Smiles By Design, for my 6-month check-up and  cleaning.  Heidi’s Raspberry Farm Red Chile Ginger jam is a favorite of mine. It’s great on just about anything, but best on scrambled eggs and bestest inside a cream cheese and jam omelette. So, when I found out Heidi was dropping off some jam for  Paige LoPour, a client of ours, Paige personally introduced me to her.

Having learned all about Paige’s horsey endeavors when her husband commissioned us to create  a one-of-a-kind book of devotion for her as a surprise gift, I was not at all surprised that the two women were swapping horse stories right there in the waiting room. Although, Heidi’s horse stories had a unique twist–they were really all about donkeys. Always an animal lover, Heidi has more recently  taken on an activist role by providing a safe loving home for homeless and abandoned donkeys on the Greek Isle of Mykonos, where her family has a home.”Donkeys are like big dogs. They have so much personality. I have really been learning so much about them. They are completely different, though equally as lovable as horses.” she explained. Read the rest of this entry …

By 8 a.m. on Sunday, everyone at Chloe and Nate’s house is up and about, hustling and bustling. That’s what it’s like in a house with twins. And when you’re shooting twins, you better hustle and bustle, too. The action is fast and there’s twice as much of it, so you’re on the move, double time. Read the rest of this entry …

Albuquerque the Magazine’s (ATM) Larryl Lynch, a fan of the Complete Wedding Book, hired us for his magazine’s annual Hot Singles Party, held in downtown ABQ,  this past Friday. Everybody got in on the fun, including Linda Durand and her team at the Hyatt, the ATM magazine posse, all the singles and even a few married couples. “That’s right,” said Larryl, “The party is so cool that even non-singles show up, with their spouses in tow. And they have a blast, too.”

In anticipation of the big event, I swung by Hobby Lobby to picked up wooden letters that spelled L-O-V-E. I spraypainted them red and when they dried, popped them into our prop treasure chest. We had so many props that the Hyatt brought us a colassal-sized coat rack on which to hang them. I hung the letters up and before I knew it, the “L” had gone missing, leaving us with “O-V-E” instead of “L-O-V-E!”  With the booth packed and grown men fighting over who was going to pose with a parrot-on-a-stick, I had no time to set out searching for the missing letter. About two hours into the event, a Hyatt employee produced the missing “L”; it was leaning up against the legs of a Tarot card reader’s booth. With the mystery solved, the games began. And, the games, I might add, were muy caliente!

Here’s a sneak peek of the photos. If you want to see more, click here.

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Chris and I first met Hanna when she commissioned us to photograph and write a book about her dog Phoenix. Fashioned after the famous Little Golden Book, “The Pokey Little Puppy,” we put together a book that shared “P’s” first year. It wasn’t  long before we received what we thought was a call about documenting year two of P’s life. The call, it turned out, was for a maternity shoot. Hanna was pregnant and she wanted to surprise her husband, Scott, with some photos. “Wouldn’t it be awful if we had more photos of Phoenix than of the baby?” she asked us. “Let’s start now, so we don’t fall behind.”  Since Phoenix’s favorite playground is the beach just below the Trump golf course in Palos Verdes, it made perfect sense that we would head there for a shoot.