Favorite Cows... So Far

Every now and again, you discover something about yourself. You've lived in your skin for so long, but you get a new revelation... you like something... maybe it's waking up early, or reading your morning news. Maybe it's something more quirky, like ketchup on eggs. I like certain things as well. In photography though, I enjoy the challenge of photographing cows. 

Why? Well, cows seem quite frightful at times, and can easily be startled. My favorite lens in a my 16-35 f/2.8. So to get a nice shot of a cow, you need to be closer. It takes time to get close to a cow, as do most things in life. I get quite a bit of satisfaction to capture a nice portrait of a cow and have accepted my photograph quirk as a challenge to face each time I encounter one. 

With that aside, below are my all-time favorites!

 

Canyonlands- The Needles & Island in the Sky

I like to think of myself as a National Park Geek. I enjoy visiting parks nearby whenever I have the chance and primarily go with a close fellow photographer. Recently we set out to go to the Canyonlands, which we discovered were only 6 hours away! Quite good news since Utah is surrounded with stunning landscapes. 

During our road trip we encountered a wonderful moment of light! After a little bit of rain, the light was quite soft on Chimney Rock, as seen in the first image.

At the southern-most entrance we camped at Elephant Hill in The Needles District. We decided to do the long and challenging hike to Druid Arch, since the info sign described it as having the "most stunning views." After getting lost only twice, and with the help of fellow hikers, we finally reached our destination. The hike did have amazing views, just as the sign suggested. 

The next day we entered through Island in the Sky. This part of the park is quite popular, offering a number of viewpoints that are easily accessible for anyone in the family. There are also many ranger talks that add more value to your visit in understanding the history of the park and how it came to be place where visitors can know about and explore personally. 

Canyonlands National Park is definitely worth exploring again. There are two more districts I was unable to visit, but I hope that one day I will be able to! Until then, I have these wonderful nuggets to remember.

Chimney Rock en route to the Canyonlands

View of The Needles at Elephant Hill

Druid Arch

View of the Needles at Elephant Hill

View of La Sal Mountains from Island in Sky entrance

Traveling in New Mexico

New Mexico is not called the "Land of Enchantment" for no reason! The landscape is adorned with cliff dwellings, canyons, mountains, volcanos, caverns and so many more gems that are still waiting to be discovered by the people, including me!

I recently visited Fenton Lake in Jemez Springs, NM. It was quite chilly on this day in mid-April, but still quite beautiful. The faithful few were fishing, and others exploring the area with their dogs.

Later I visited Carlsbad National Caverns. There is always a new part of this National Park to be discovered and appreciated! This time we camped in Rattle Snake Canyon Trail in the scenic drive area of Walnut Canyon. Of course, the name of the spot was not too reassuring, but my boyfriend and I survived the night!

Here are my favorite images of stalactites, stalagmites, soda straws, popcorn and draperies! Believe it or not, those are the actual terms for the underground formations in the caves! 

Walnut Canyon

Stalactite

Detail image of texture

Draperies reminiscent of jellyfish 

Doll's House

Do you see the owl?

These of course are my favorite images of the recents enchanted travels that I've been blessed to venture on! Enjoy!

Northern NM

Over the weekend I explored a small nugget of northern New Mexico. Thank you Julia for modeling for me on this fun adventure!

With the image below I tried a new technique. I wanted a daytime photo to appear as if it was taken at night. To do this you must underexpose the frame and add a pop of flash. After finding the correct settings, this was the image that came out. 

Favorite Photo Shoot of 2015

On the last day of the year I had a wonderful photo shoot with Loesa. She is a creative sort and was fun to photograph and open to many ideas! We discovered a few new locations for shots and highlighted some of her artwork.

Enjoy!

Wedding at the Railyards

I had a wonderful opportunity to photograph a wedding at the Albuquerque Railyards during fall. Every detail had a wonderful backstory and was inspirational. In my book, it was trendy and can inspire so many for others to be artistic. Below are a few of my favorites.

Anniversary Portraits

Portraits are a memorable step in a relationship for couples. It marks a moment unique in time, with an image to look back upon. In the case of the Davis', they can look back at their one-year anniversary and remember their first year of marriage together. Many years down the road they can remember how they looked and acted when they were young in their lives together. I had the wonderful honor of documenting these moments of two people in love. Enjoy!

Petrified Forest National Monument

The Petrified Forest National Monument is a wonderful place to visit! It was so great that I went twice in one week. It is reminiscent of the Badlands, but with views you drive through and appreciate immediately.

It is illegal to collect petrified wood and rocks here, so please everything in the moment or take photos to make them last!

©Vanessa Sanchez

©Vanessa Sanchez

©Vanessa Sanchez

©Vanessa Sanchez

Matador Fight in Madrid

Quick Update:
This has a been a wild, fun & busy year! During summer I had the wonderful opportunity to spend time in Europe. In my motherland I photographed a matador fight. I will post more photos of Europe and other shoots that I've done!

 Bullfight in Madrid:
 The images below are from a bullfight from the late summer of 2015 at the Plaza de Toros de las Ventas in Madrid. This is considered the home of bullfighting.

This was my first matador fight, and it was quite different that I had expected. There was matador fighting a bull, but there were also other fighters that helped wear down the bull before the matador was one-on-one with the bull. This disappointed me because it would be more impressive to see one man versus one bull. I understand that it would be more dangerous and more traumatic to see the man die, but I think the art of fighting a bull would be more monumental. Goodness, either way I would not want to be in the same ring as that bull. It would take a lot of courage, confidence and skill to fight the bull.

After watching the fight I also gained much more respect for the bull as an animal. It is resilient, forceful and strong. It won't take what you're shoving at it and is a clear image of the common phrase, "No Bull." It was quite an experience to be engulfed and it does leave saddened that the bull does die at the end.

I hope you gain more insight through the images below, but please take note that some are more graphic.