Introducing Laura Donnelly

Hi Everyone,

This is Angela Gaeto and I'd like to take the opportunity to introduce you to Laura Donnelly.

Laura is an Albuquerque native who has modeled here and throughout the country.

Currently Laura attends Sandia Prep high school, where she is super active in many student groups and affairs.

Laura recently was spotted by an elite agency in San Francisco who recognized her unique beauty and signed her immediately.

Laura asked me to update her portfolio for her and we spent a lovely hour this week down at the UNM duck pond. There were tons of people there enjoying the nice Spring weather but believe me, Laura was the main attraction!

Here are a few of Laura's shots. Take a look, I think this is one girl you'll soon be seeing on the newstands!!

UPCOMING EVENT: Friend Or Foal

Join us on April 5 as we host Friend Or Foal, a large scale benefit show hosted by the Art Gallery 66 featuring the recent works of photographers DeAnna Dimmitt, Rick Meiers and special guest photographer David Cramer. Friend Or Foal will feature photographs from the Wild Spirit Wolf Sanctuary in Ramah, NM and the New Mexican Horse Project in Escondida, NM.

The Wild Spirit Wolf Sanctuary provides a safe, secure, and permanent home for wolves and wolf dogs that have been rescued from abusive domestic situations. Their mission is to educate the public that wolves should never be kept as pets and deserve to remain protected, wild and free.

The New Mexican Horse Project is the largest wild horse sanctuary in North America and provides a safe home for a select herd of wild mustangs all of whom have been proven, via DNA testing, to be descendant from the original horses brought to the Americas by the Spaniards in the late 1400's. Their mission is to protect and preserve this breed of wild horse known as the New Mexican and to establish preserves where these horses that are proven to be New Mexicans may live and prosper as free animals without interference from human intervention.

To further enhance the show experience Leyon Cougar, executive director of the Wild Spirit Wolf Sanctuary, will be on hand with an ambassador timber wolf to talk with the public and field questions regarding wolf conservation. In addition, Carlos LoPopolo, director of the New Mexican Horse Project will be in attendance and will be accompanied by a New Mexican horse. This is a rare opportunity to meet both of these passionate activists at the same event! The show will open on Saturday April 5th from noon to 6:00. The Art Gallery 66 is donating 20% of the proceeds back to the sanctuaries. This is a unique and educational event to enjoy with the whole family to so be sure to join us for an afternoon of stunning photographs and beautiful animals.

If you are unable to make it Saturday a special artist reception will be held on Friday, April 4, 2008 from 5:00 to 8:00.
We hope you all will make it to this very special one of kind event!

The Art Gallery 66 is located at:
373 N. Camino del Pueblo
Bernalillo, NM 87004

For more information please contact:
DeAnna Dimmitt
Dry Heat Photography
info@dryheatphotography.com
505.730.8576

For more information about the Wild Spirit Wolf Sancturay click here www.wildspiritwolfsanctuary.org

For more information about the New Mexican Horse Project click here: www.nmhp.org

Whispering Spirit Ranch

On Friday Rick and I drove out to Sandia Park to visit our new friends at the Whispering Spirit Ranch. The Pozzi family is incredibly gracious and their knowledge, skill, and passion for horses is amazing! They raise world champion Appaloosas and with 50 horses residing on the ranch, Whispering Spirit is a full time job for every member of the family. Even 11 year old Rachel - who was our guide - is already an accomplished horse woman.

Whispering Spirit Ranch is also a sanctuary retreat, far from the noise and distractions of the city, to experience a quiet place in nature. Learning to listen is their motto. Listen with your spirit, mind and body. The ranch offers the opportunity to learn or experience life lessons through land and animals. While the facility is primarily focused around horses and horse development, they also offer quiet spaces, bird and wild life retreats to allow the element of listening to teach us.

These images will be available for purchase at our upcoming benefit art show, Friend Or Foal, on April 5, 2008 at the Art Gallery 66. Friend Or Foal will feature our recent photographs of horses and wolves.

Introducing Matthew and Kate

Matt commissions us to photograph his proposal to Kate at the Hyatt Tamaya on Thursday, March 20, 2008. She says "Yes!" Stay tuned for more...

Katie and Taylor Rich

Some of you may recognize Katie Rich as the owner of Stems Floral Botique.
Our partner, Angela Gaeto, shot Katie and Taylor's wedding two years ago and since then Katie has opened her flower shop and is now a well known name in the Albuquerque wedding community. Stems has provided us many bouquets for promotional shoots and is also partnering with us for an upcoming art show called Spirit Blooms.

Introducing Misty and Adam

This is Misty and Adam. It occurred to me while posting the previous session for Annemarie and Mark that Adam is Annemarie's brother and we are also shooting his wedding but we shot this session before adding the Blog to the website. They wanted the urban look so we headed downtown to the 4th Street Plaza. It was pretty cold outside but they were troopers and hung in there for an hour long shoot in the crisp winter air. Misty and Adam are getting married in November at the UNM Alumni Chapel with a reception at Four Hills Country Club.

Introducing Annemarie and Mark

Annemarie and Mark are such a fun couple! Last week we took them out to Elena Gallegos Open Space to shoot their engagement photos. They had us laughing the entire time. The Ciepiela family has become one of our biggest clients seeing as how they currently have two weddings booked with us! That's right - two. We are also photographing Annemarie's brother's wedding. Anyway, Annemarie and Mark will be tying the knot in September at the Prairie Star. I asked them to tell me a little about themselves - here's what Annemarie had to say;

I was in limbo, moving back to Arizona from Los Angeles, when I made a pit stop in Albuquerque to visit family. During that visit, Mark and I connected and began and developed a friendship over about 8 months. After dozens of emails and phone calls, I flew into town for a weekend to be able to go on an official first date. Our mutual love for adventure and snowboarding spontaneously landed us in Telluride, CO for the weekend. We went snowboarding that first day for our official first date. That was the day I fell for him. And, surprisingly, he says the same thing. A couple months later I moved to Spain for 5 months and didn't really expect to continue a relationship. While in Spain, our friendship continued to grow and deepen, and in December of 2006, I moved to Albuquerque. We've been inseparable ever since.

On September 1, 2007, we were in San Francisco visiting friends. San Francisco is my favorite city, and when he had asked me how I would want to be proposed to, I said privately at sunset in San Francisco. I knew a proposal was probably coming, but I was predicting it would be months later while back in Telluride for snowboarding season. The morning of September 1, continuing our love of adventure and spontaneity, we groggily decided to skydive out of a perfectly good airplane. While 14,000 feet in the air, on camera and surrounded by about 10 people (including my maid of honor, who was in on the whole thing) he pulled the ring out and asked me to marry him. I was completely surprised! We jumped out of the plane after that and spent the rest of the weekend celebrating with friends.

I can't wait to be his wife! I'm in love with his sense of humor, his integrity, his heart, his intelligence. I want to marry him because he makes me laugh every day, I trust him, I respect him, and I can depend on him. He makes me a better person and respects and celebrates all the things that are important to me. He really is my best friend.

Introducing Bethany and Jesse

This is definitely the time for Engagement sessions! As the wedding season is fast approaching there are many engagement sessions on the books. It is an exciting time for us to get to know our clients better. This evening I shot Bethany and Jesse's engagement photos in the Dry Heat Studio which is, of course, located inside the Art Gallery 66. Their wedding is in April at the Sandia Casino. I'm finding that, rather than me trying to explain about the bride and groom, it seems to work well to allow them to speak for themselves. Here's what Bethany had to say;

"Jesse and I went to middle school together and had mutual circle of friends in college but didn’t actually meet until our friends Reece and Noelle got married in April of 2004. Jesse and Reece have known each other since diapers and Noelle and I worked together at Bath & Body. Jess and I were just friends for quite a while, and then one day the stars aligned and we have been inseparable every since.Jesse proposed in front of my ENTIRE family on Christmas day of 2006, although I had been hoping the engagement was coming soon I was completely floored when it finally did. I don’t think I’ve ever been so overwhelmingly happy in my whole life.Jesse is an Engineer at Eclipse Aviation and I am an Assistant for Daskalos Developments and Investments. We both really enjoy what we do and are so excited to be becoming husband and wife.I think of our Wedding as an amazing opportunity to have everyone we know and love in one spot at one time. That’s slightly overwhelming but completely amazing at the same time. I’ve dreamed of my wedding since I was a little girl and Jesse is making all of my dreams come true."