Being part of a community is pretty important for an entrepreneur. There is no better community for an entrepreneur to be a part of in Albuquerque, New Mexico than 1 Million Cups. I have been going nearly every Wednesday for 8 months straight and enjoy listening to the stories of the presenters about how they started their business, and the challenges they are currently facing. The presenter asks the audience for feedback and with any needs they have. This benefits all in attendance at the event. I always take away one nugget or thought to keep in mind as I go home to work on my photography and drone business. Today it is about keeping my work space even tidier than I normally do per the advice of Feng Shui with Connie K. There are also free donuts and coffee each week too, if that appeals to you!
My second time photographing the annual Twinkle Light Parade in the Nob Hill neighborhood of Albuquerque, New Mexico. Various types of vehicles adorned in a variety of twinkling Christmas lights slowly drive down Route 66 (aka Central Ave) to the delight of thousands of on-lookers. The usual favorites like Rudolph and The Grinch are always present, along with some twists like Mr. Potato Head and Darth Vader!
Photographing ribbon cutting events in Albuquerque, New Mexico is usually pretty fun and exciting, and the one for Rusty Taco in the Coronado Mall was no exception. The cold temperatures outside did nothing to slow down the staff of AHCC getting everyone ready to celebrate this ribbon cuttingevent late on a Friday evening. You have to be careful with those ceremonial scissors though!!
What a great time at the Albuquerque Convention Center photographing the WEEF-GEDC 2018conference for Airbus! They hired me to photograph happenings at their booth in the vendor space focusing on their hashtag of #embracediversity and their chief engineer Jean Brice speaking at a panel and lastly their big awards dinner! This was one of the most fun events I have ever photographed. Who ever says engineers do not know how to have fun?? Thank you so much to Alina and the rest of the Airbus team for letting me be a part of this!
It was a very interesting evening photographing the NAWBO 17th Annual Legislative Speak Out in Albuquerque, New Mexico at the Embassy Suites by Hilton. This event featured an innovative format where people running for and currently in political office sat at a table with attendees to have a discussion based on three presentations given by different speakers. After each presentation the politicians would get up and rotate to another table getting to know and converse with another group of people. This was a very clever idea and the conversations I heard were all civil and constructive! Thank you Sue and DJ for bringing me on as the photographer for this very unique event!
Air Force Research Laboratory gives out awards in ABQ!
The AFRL Awards make the second event I have photographed in the Lobo Rainforest building in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The first mostly featured politicians actually, while the second was all about giving scientists and engineers awards! However, I did see some of the same people at both events. It was interesting to learn just how many patents one person can hold in science and/or engineering! I never would have thought one person would have so many, and many of the award winners had multiple patents. It was impressive. In a side note, the catering at this event featured the best vegetarian food, and best variety of vegetarian options, I have ever had in my 9 years of photographing events! Thank you Tiffany for choosing a fantastic caterer and for choosing me as your photographer for this event!
Not only is this a belated balloon fiesta post (due to tech issues with my laptop), but it is not an amazing one because, in the terms of balloonists, it was a static morning on the second day of the fiesta here in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Jessica and I tried to get to opening day, but even at 5am traffic was backed up for miles. We got up at 3am and at the park well before 4am the next day, no traffic, we got right in. Great, right? Nope, at ground level there was a slight wind, which means at altitude way too much wind for the balloons, a static morning. Most balloons did inflate, so the photos you see are all of them floating, but still firmly tethered to the ground.
