I made it to "Finalist" in Photographer's Forum magazine's 33rd Annual Spring Photography Contest!

                                                       

http://pfmagazine.com/wp-content/plugins/p-gallery/index.php?level=picture&id=17178 My photo made it to finalist! I didn't win, but I will someday! Still, the image is going to be published and that is just AMAZING!!!!!! First time ever, I am so excited!!! Take only photographs, leave only footprints! Ciao Cyndy

Looking toward the future!

                            Some of the GREATEST times of my LIFE!

Everyone is back at school, oh how I miss it! I am thinking of returning next semester, well here in NC, but I also have big plans to get my business started! So after the wedding on Sept. 20th, and my arm should be fully healed by then, I will be focusing completely on marketing, and getting where I need to be to become successful in doing what I love! The most important thing I may have learned in school was from Marilyn Cook and that is that I can do anything I set my mind to! I graduated with a 4.0 Phi Theta Kappa, all while being a full time Mommy! Look out world my BUT is not so big anymore lol  http://sanchezariasphotography.com/2013/07/how-big-is-your-but-stop-sabotaging-your-creativity/ — 

Happily Ever After

Ashley & Carlos were were surrounded by the love and joy of their family and friends as they began their life together 04/13/2013.  The wedding was at Rotary park at Suntree, and the reception was held at Mi Mi's Cafe in Vierra Florida. This is an incredibly sweet couple & they are going to have a fantastic life together! Have a great time on your cruise to the Caribbean & enjoy each other!

50 Reasons Not to Date a Photographer

1. They rather hold their bulky camera, than hold hands with you.
2. On a romantic date, you’ll watch the sun go down and think “Wow this is gorgeous” and they’ll go “mirror lock, tripod, and stop down f/8 at 1/125.”
3. You’ll never be able to enjoy tv, movies, or magazines because they’ll point out all the visual flaws.
4. They like to sit in obscure coffee shop and voyeuristically watch people for great lengths of time.
5. If you’re taking a walk outside and you come across some “interesting light” they will make you sit/stand/pose in public so that they can take a photo.
6. You’ll never get to enjoy freshly cooked meals because they’ll spend 15 minutes taking 20 variations of the same dish with their iPhone.
7. They get angry when your friends go up to them and say “I am interested in photography, can you recommend a good camera for me?  Nothing professional I just want to take pretty pictures.”
8. You’ll wait longer for them to finish analyzing art in a museum than you’ll wait at the dmv
9. Same goes with old used bookstores.
10. When you think they’re giving you their undivided attention, they’re really wondering how they could fix you with a little Clone Tool and Patch Tool.
11. Or they are actually using you to not look so creepy as they people watch everything going on around you.
12. They rather drop $1,000+ on new glass than a purse for you. 
13. You can’t take a photo with them without taking at least five more.
14. If you ask them if you look fat, they’ll say “don’t worry I can photoshop you later.”
15. They’ll never photoshop something simple for you if the content is not up to their “standards.”
16. That photo they randomly took of you yesterday?  Good luck getting them to send it to you.
17. They spend all their time on the computer (and not for porn.)
18. They can’t have a normal conversation without throwing acronyms and random numbers in.
19. They still use film cameras.
20. They spend a lot of time with people cooler than you i.e. models, actors, musicians, successful rich people.
21. They’ll be fussy over the position of a common household object, like a coffee cup.
22. They won’t return your calls or text messages, but you can bet they’re still posting pics on Instagram.
23. They like watching old films that you’ve never heard or will ever understand.
24. They like looking at weird things in general.
25. Instead of having penis-envy, they have camera-gear-envy.
26. If there’s a natural disaster in a far away land, they’re already on a plane going over there.
27. Everything is watermarked.
28. They think everyone else’s photos suck.
29. They want to color correct a lot of scenes from Twilight and Jersey Shore.
30. They hate rainbows, especially ones spinning in a circle.
31. Whenever you’re in a group talking and the conversation goes deep, they’re taking notes in some form of Moleskine.
32. They use over priced Moleskine notebooks.
33. They like trespassing into old abandoned buildings filled with health hazards.
34. They always want to show a new photo they took, but don’t really care if you like it or not.
35. They hate your n00bie friend’s new artsy profile picture.
36. Bright, sunny days make them sad, but cloudy, overcast days are apparently great!
37. They’ll take you into places that have “culture” as well a high chance of getting mugged.
38. Your birthday present will be a portrait that they’ve taken of you.
39. You can’t go anywhere new without them stopping to take a photo of everything and anything.
40. They will always bug you to be a test subject.
41. Nothing can ever be naturally pretty, everything must be fixed in Photoshop.
42. Bringing their camera means, bringing 50lbs of equipment.
43. If you break any of their things on accident, you’ll owe them thousands of dollars.
44. You can’t get them a birthday/Christmas present without spending at least $500
45. They are natural hoarders, collecting and keeping piles of old newspapers, packaging, magazines, and other things that “inspire” them.
46. They are weird and geeky.
47. They have hard drives of photos, but probably have printed 10 images.
48. They are always secretly judging your creativity.
49. If you’re ever in auto mode, they laugh at you.
50. They orgasm every time they learn a new lighting technique.

Photographing Forbidden Locations

There is something about a huge “NO TRESSPASSING” sign that whisks up the curiosity in me. While some will take notice of the warning, for me it’s an invitation to explore what’s on the other side. Perhaps it’s due to that adventurous spirit that’s never truly left me since I was a child, despite now having to acknowledge these things called “laws” as an adult. For me, it’s not only an attraction, but also an opportunity to capture hauntingly beautiful photographs. These are all shot in HDR which means that there are 3 exposures of the same image one overexposed, one under exposed, and one under normal lighting conditions. The 3 are then combined in Photoshop to create what I think are stunning single images!

If a location is completely abandoned, normally I’ll just go and shoot it. Usually I’m more worried about running into copper thieves or tweakers than getting a trespassing ticket. A little bit of risk and uncertainty can produce enough adrenaline to get me into a heightened state of awareness, and I never go alone. Bottom line is this, I am DEFINITELY not your average yes woman. I don't want the photo's that EVERY other photographer under the sun has, I want mine to be original, to stand out. I see so much beauty where you may just see an eye sore, Urban Decay is my FAVORITE subject to photograph! I do a LOT of research on each location and a great deal of it is fascinating material! This location is up for demolition, and the clean up & demo is already underway, I captured these images before the structures ultimate demise, that is why I do this! Nobody else will ever be able to say they have these images, I think that is kind of awesome! I take only photographs, and leave only footprints. I am so glad that I made it here before the move to NC, hope you like them, I had so much fun working on these :)