Moab and Twin Lakes Trip

Me Gabby and Skye took a trip out to Moab, Utah to visit her friend. We had a blast out there, camping, swimming, fishing 4x4ing on trails and jumping off cliffs! It was really nice to get out of the city and into the wilderness. Something about having to cook your food using a camp stove which I actually enjoyed, and gathering firewood to build a fire to keep you warm really humbles you. You really take a lot of things for granted like being able to walk down the street to a nice restaurant and eating a nice meal without doing any work, or sleeping on a nice mattress as opposed to a blow up mattress that doesn't even stay inflated.

I really enjoyed the time we spent out there and I was glad to get some good photos. I had never been to Moab, but it's a gorgeous place and a great place to camp. Our friends actually got caught in a flash flood at Delicate Arch, which is the famous rock arch Moab is known for. It rained a lot we'll we were out there, but we were pretty lucky to stay dry.

The last day we were there we went to Mill Creek, which was this place you had to hike back too. The hike wasn't too bad; you just had to avoid poison ivy, bugs, and scorpions. The hike was well worth it. It was a waterfall and small creek. The water got to about 6ft deep and got pretty cold. Skye had fun jumping around in the water and I had fun jumping off the cliff with some of my friends. It was a pretty high jump. Definitely and adventure though! : )

After that we hiked back to the car and headed for Twin Lakes, Colorado. The drive there was gorgeous as you can see in some of the pics Twin Lakes is known for it's fishing, and it's another place Gabby and I have never been to. We got just before it started getting dark and were able to pitch a tent, and start a fire. The campsite was located in the San Isabel National Forest. The next day we headed down to do some fishing. Unfortunately it wasn't the best fishing experience. I broke my pole within the first hour. I'm not to experienced with fishing, and I had only done it once before. Gabby on the other hand has been crab and salmon fishing being from Alaska and all. I can't wait to make it up there sometime soon because I've heard so many good things about it, just never been. We didn't like the fishing at Twin Lakes so we headed out to Turquoise Lake which is in Leadville, which we heard about from a local in the town.

The place there was nice, there was a nice room to put the chairs, and there were only 2 other people there. It was 2 older man, and they were very friendly and welcoming. One of them had one leg, and was on crutches and was still fishing! He was catching them like a cold! By the time we left he had caught about 35 fish! The other guy that was there gave us some fishing tips and lent us some fishing tools. Unfortunately our fishing lines kept getting tangled and we had to keep re-doing our line. Gabby fortunately was able to catch a small rainbow trout though!

After fishing we headed back to the campsite which was in the San Isabel National Forest. We cooked some food on the camp stove, started a fire and roasted some marshmallows for smores. You can't go camping without having smores! After that we decided to take a drive around town at night and do a bit of exploring. We were able to find some really cool 4x4 trails in the back country, and we tested our Jeep out for the first time! It did great, no flat tires or other problem with the car. It was a blast.

We headed back to the campsite pretty late, and decided we were just going to drive home in the morning. We were planning on staying a couple more days, but we figured we would get back to the city and wind down. So we left Friday night for Moab, stayed there until Monday, than drove out to Twin Lakes Monday night, and stayed there until Wednesday morning. I was having fun every minute of it, and can't wait to do it again.

Trips like this humble you, and let you appreciate nature and all of its beauty. Enjoy the photos and I'll blog you later!

Brazilian Jujitsu | Sports & Action Photography

Well i'm back. Back with Sports & Action Photography.

I have noticed a lot of people are in need of Sports photography, so I figured why not add to my portfolio. People's assumption is usually, if they can't see you've shot it, than you can't shoot it.

Due to this ignorance I must make 2 new portfolios starting with Sports & Action Photography, and than Wedding, Event & Engagement Photography. Also I am going to add a gallery to my website that has just before and after images to display my post production and editing skills.

I feel the more people see I can, the more likely I'll get work.

My buddy Colin was nice enough to let me shoot at his Brazilian Jujitsu practice.

Here's the images.... Enjoy.

"Documentary Photography" The Denver 420 Rally 2010 at Civic Center Park

Well, my love and interest for Documentary Photography has finally convinced me to start shooting as a documentary photographer. Although I haven't studied fully into the art of being a documentary photographer, or what the standards, codes and qualifications are, I just jumped in the pool and never looked back.

I documented my first event "The Denver 420 Rally 2010" at Civic Center Park. In other words National Weed Day. Marijuana now has it's own official holiday. When it comes to marijuana, politics and a lot of pot heads coming together in one place, this is it. This was a historic event not only for medical marijuana users and pot heads alike, but the politics behind it. There are a variety of marijuana dispensaries in the state of Colorado, and getting marijuana has become more easier than ever. You have a medical reason to get a marijuana license from a doctor and its that easy.

This event was a rally to legalize marijuana. They're were about 80 Denver Police Officers stationed for the event, and they're only objective was to keep the park safe for everyone to use. This shows blind eyes that marijuana has become an accepted drug for medicinal and recreational uses.

Your grandparents may not agree with the "legal" use of marijuana, but in Colorado the words "legal" and "marijuana use" are going to become very believable and very true...

Graduation.... Statement of Career Intent.... The Curtis Hotel.... and a Hidden Jewel

Graduation

I apologize to all my followers for not updating this since late January of this year. A lot has happened since my last post. First off I am graduating next Friday, and receiving my Associate of Applied Science degree in Photography. So exciting!! My portfolio is finished, and all my marketing materials are printed and ready for use including; letterhead, business cards, envelope, resume, cover letter, leave behind (I had silver aluminum material cut out in the shape of luggage tags, and had my logo, website and phone number engraved in black on them.) My website is up and running. www.alucerophotography.com.

I had my logo engraved on my silver aluminum portfolio, which is 13x19, and my portfolio is printed on the beautiful Pictran Kyokushi paper. The best paper i've ever printed on. I had a total of 19 prints total in my book. If you go to my website and look at my Travel Gallery, that is pretty much my portfolio. The first 19-21 images at least. I just have to finish my presentation board, than i'll be ready for Portfolio Review and Graduation, and I'm having a Grad Party Friday night too!

Statement of Career Intent

My Statement of Career Intent is what I do, why I do it, and how I plan to make money doing it basically.

Angelo Lucero has a passion for traveling and photography. The idea of waking up on any given day to the smell of different foods, and the allure of various cultures drives his passion. Angelo uses existing light to capture colorful eye-catching images. As a travel photographer, he sells his work to travel magazines and catalogs, hotels, restaurants, lodges, and the occasional stock agency.

The Curtis Hotel

This past weekend we stayed at The Curtis Hotel in downtown Denver for a night. It was a beautiful hotel that had some great food! We were able to take our Husky, so that was convenient. The main reason I went was because I wanted to get a nice food and hotel shot for my portfolio. Luckily I was able to! "The Office" which was their restaurant was beautifully designed and lit on the interior.

For the interior of the hotel I set the camera on the table, and tried to get some depth of field by placing the hotel key on the table. As for both food shots and interior of the restaurant, those were hand held and all images were using existing light. The diptych image with the delicious looking ice cream and the hotel card is what made it in my portfolio. The other one inside the restaurant with the eggs benedict will be on my website.

A Hidden Jewel

I was going through my hard drive a few weeks ago and stumbled across this image I took when we went on a camping trip in Colorado. It was taken on highway 24. The color was beautiful, and this made it in my portfolio! It is titled "Untitled, Highway 24, Colorado."

Until next time......

Farwell.

Loveland Pass Ski Area

Loveland Pass Ski Area
Since I am graduating this quarter, I still have a couple more shoots to do before I can put down my camera and worry about all the other stuff that is involved with graduating. Resumes, marketing materials, business plans, printing my portfolio and getting a final website up. Gabby, Skye and I headed up to Loveland Pass Ski Area this morning, somewhere we've never been. I checked the weather conditions last night, and unfortunately all I remember is seeing that it was going to be 20 degrees and partly cloudy. I forgot the 60% chance of snow part. Well on the way there down I-70 West the skys were clear, and weather was just a little cold, but not a flake of snow. We get off the Loveland Pass Ski Area exit, and all we see is white. Good thing we have a 2006 Jeep Liberty with 4 wheel drive. (Just bought a couple week ago)

We got there and let Skye run around for while, because he "loves" the snow and cold. I was a little bummed that it was snowing, and not clear blue skies. We headed up to the bathroom where I got a chance to get all my camera equipment organized and ready. I figured we made the hour drive, I might as well attempt to get some good shots, even with the conditions. After I did some shooting we headed back up to eat some Fried shrimp and onion rings with Chipotle cocktail sauce and a hint of lemon. It was pretty tasty. (Check the picture!) We than headed back home, where I was sleeping the majority of the way. : )

Until my next travel journey, or other important exciting thing to update you on.... Blog you later!