:: Dry Heat Photography ::

A new blog/website with a new look

dryheatphotography — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 19:24:50 +0000

Hello Everyone,

Please be advised that the Dry Heat Blog has now been fully integrated with the Dry Heat Photography website and all of it can be viewed here http://www.dryheatphotography.com

Introducing Desiree and Mark + family!

dryheatphotography — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 01:31:05 +0000

Meet Desiree and Mark! They will be getting married later this year in August and this is their Engagement/Family portrait session from October 28th in the Bosque. Desiree really wanted to do some family photos while her brother was in town so her whole family came out for this session.

-DeAnna Dimmitt

Dry Heat Photography

Desiree with her brother and sister

Mom and Dad

To contact Dry Heat Photography please call 505-730-8576 or email info@dryheatphotography.com

Introducing Johnette and Aaron

dryheatphotography — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 03:07:08 +0000

Meet Johnette and Aaron! They’ll be getting married in July and this is their Engagement Session from January 3oth at Elena Gallegos Open Space.

-DeAnna Dimmitt

Dry Heat Photography

To contact Dry Heat Photography call 505.730.8576 or email info@dryheatphotography.com

Help The Placitas Wild Horses

dryheatphotography — Sat, 13 Feb 2010 17:00:47 +0000

As most of you know DeAnna and I are avid supporters of wildlife and especially wolves and wild horses. We have heard some bad news in regards to the wild horses of the Placitas area. I have attached a letter we received from a good friend of ours outlying the current plight of the Placitas wild horses. Please do what you can to help, a few simple e-mails to the right people can make a difference.
Thanks for taking the time to help,
Rick Meiers

Hi Everyone,

I’m writing to request your assistance. If you have kept up with the news on the status of wild horses throughout the western United States, you know that the Federal Government, and in particular the BLM, has been rounding up thousands of horses from managed wild horse areas. Now it looks imminent that the Placitas horses are soon to be rounded up. Placitans and supporters of the horses have worked hard to protect these animals and have tried to communicate their importance to our community to the local BLM office. As we have received little recognition, and the BLM has been secretive about their plans, another option has been to work with the State of New Mexico to develop an interest in creating a State Wild Horse Park. We have received signs of interest in this endeavor. There are several ways you can help us protect these animals from round up. Writing an email, and copying it to me, is the preferred first step. That provides us evidence of your interest, and can help in future negotiations. If you decide to also place a phone call, please send me an email detailing the call (whom you spoke to, date, topic of conversation, response received from their office).

1. If you live outside New Mexico and I have guided you to view/photograph the horses, please write an email to the following individual and express how much your visit to New Mexico was enhanced by the experience:

Jennifer Hobson, Deputy Secretary for New Mexico Tourism Department of Ecotourism
email: jennifer.hobson@state.nm.us
phone: 505-827-6674

2. Email the following individuals to express your desire for New Mexico to establish a Wild Horse State Park. If you live out of state, let them know how much you enjoyed visiting our wild horses.

Dave Simon, Director New Mexico State Parks
email: nmparks@state.nm.us
phone: 1-888-667-2757

Governor Bill Richardson
internet: http://www.governor.state.nm.us/email.php?mm=6&type=opinion
phone: 505-476-2200

3. If you are a resident of New Mexico, please contact our local federal representatives and ask them to assist in the following:
+ Please hold a mediation and include WHOA and all stake holders per WHOA’s request.

+ What did they knew about this round up plan.

+ What new proof does the BLM have that San Felipe owns these horses as they have denied it through the years.

+ Has the BLM used mining permits or other “incentives” to gain cooperation from the honorable San Felipe Pueblo?

+ Did the grazing permittee gain his new permit from the BLM in the middle of this BLM RMP by agreeing to “safe passage” of this secret round up across his property?

+ Will you please stop the round up at least until the BLM’s RMP is done and disputes are settled?

+ Ask them to request a delay in any attempts by the BLM to round up or relocate the Placitas wild horses.

Congressman Martin Heinrich (ABQ office)
internet: http://heinrich.house.gov/index.cfm?sectionid=72§iontree=7,72
phone: 505-346-6781

Senator Tom Udall (ABQ office)
internet: http://tomudall.senate.gov/?p=contact
phone: 505-346-6791

Thanks to all of you for your help!

David

Placitas wild horses. I shot this on an outing with @David Cramer.

Placitas wild horse. I shot this on an outing with @David Cramer.

Haitian Earthquake Relief Effort

dryheatphotography — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 17:21:34 +0000

In response to the recent and devastating earthquake in Haiti, starting January 14th we will donate $25 from every wedding booked until February 28, 2010 to the American Red Cross International Response Fund. Your wedding can provide aid for others in need!

To check availability and to schedule a consultation call 505-730-8576

We look forward to hearing from you!

-DeAnna Dimmitt and Rick Meiers

Dry Heat Photography

Intoducing Jessica and Sean

dryheatphotography — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 06:30:31 +0000

Meet Jessica and Sean! I shot this Engagement Session on November 27, 2009 at the UNM Duck Pond. Jessica and Sean will be tying the knot in August at the Prairie Star.

-DeAnna Dimmitt

Dry Heat Photography

Introducing Katie and Skyler

dryheatphotography — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 03:59:49 +0000

Meet Katie and Skyler. As it turns out when Katie and Skyler first came to see us at the gallery they recognized the work of one of our artist’s as their good friend, David Cramer. Well, we all hit it off and the rest os history. This Engagement Session was on October 23, 2009 and Katie and Skyler will be tying the knot in October of this year.

-DeAnna Dimmitt

Dry Heat Photography

Introducing Stephanie and David

dryheatphotography — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 16:55:11 +0000

Meet Stephanie and David! This Engagement was a couple months ago in September at Elena Gallegos Open Space. Stephanie and David will be tying the knot in September 2010!

-DeAnna Dimmitt

Dry Heat Photography

Defining Success

dryheatphotography — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 06:21:56 +0000

Just now I was checking up on my facebook wall and right away the status update of a friend of mine caught my attention and sent my brain off on another one of my benders. I know I’m not always the most popular kid on the block because I speak my mind, and I do it for two reasons. One, because some things just need saying and two because deep down I feel the need to be an advocate for my peers in the photography industry and especially to be an advocate for the most important people of all, my clients both current and future. So here goes nothin’; speaking up about something that has been weighing heavily on my mind lately. By the way, the aforementioned status update read Don’t chase success, chase excellence. Success will follow.

January is the time of year commonly known to wedding professionals as bridal fair season. We all pack up everything we own and schlep it across town to various venues that host huge trade shows catering to the newly engaged bride who is just embarking on her wedding planning journey. Bridal fairs can be hugely valuable in that regard because it is an excellent marketing opportunity. You go, you meet people, make connections and ultimately close deals, at least that’s the plan. We’ve done quite well with the shows this year and I am pleased with our success, as it were. The thing that eats at me is when I see other mass produced photog studios actually bragging about their numbers and not only that but bragging about how little they charge and about how big the discounts they offer as booking incentives are. So they might as well say “your wedding cost less at Wal-Mart” and then show a touching photo nicely lit with diffused lighting to induce a sense of calm. I’m sure a lot of brides, not really knowing what’s going on see a deal like that and think to themselves how awesome a find this must be. Now, to be clear, this is not an essay of shameless self promotion because like I stated earlier I am an advocate of the true professional photographer and I am an advocate of the client who wants the best and needs to know how to find it. Whether “the best” is Dry Heat or another studio is purely besides the point.

What I actually want to talk about is how we define success. What does success mean to you? Well, to me it means seeing a return on an investment, accomplishing a goal, taking pride in my work and knowing that I act with integrity. So in a nutshell, I work extremely hard for years to hone my photography skills. After working for someone else for a considerable amount of time I open my own studio where I actually work even harder to produce an outstanding product and the success of it is that people hire me based on merit to photograph the most important day of their lives. I am committed to my clients and they know it, they see me working hard for them and they appreciate it. I am reasonably priced for my demographic and I do believe in fair compensation. Does this sound like a reasonable definition? Here’s what I don’t understand; why a photographer would work for well below industry standard wages and then offer a huge discount to boot and brag about it to top it all off. Let me just turn it around a little bit so that we can see eye to eye. Let’s say you go to work tomorrow and your boss tells you that your pay will be cut by 40% but don’t worry because your hours are being doubled. So that means you will now work twice as hard to make only %10 more money than you were in the first place except now you are over taxed, burned out and doing a half assed job on everything because there is simply not enough hours in a day to do any better. Would you call that success? Furthermore, how motivated would you feel to actually carry that work load? Think about it, you know the answer. So if this scenario is true for everyone else, why would it not also be true for the photographer? Sure, photography is an incredible career and every working professional feels (or ought to feel) eternally grateful for being able to turn this passion into a legitimate job but make no mistake folks photography, and especially wedding photography is time consuming, physically and mentally demanding, and most of all while it can be taught to an extent, having the ability is something you either do or do not have. I have to ask, why would you intentionally sell yourself short so that you can run to stand still and let your quality control slip between the cracks and then call that success? Who wins in this situation? Not the photographer and most certainly not the bride.

Thus concludes tonight’s edition of me running my mouth in public

-DeAnna Dimmitt

Dry Heat Photography

Samantha and John – The Wedding

dryheatphotography — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 04:58:42 +0000

You’ve all seen Samantha and John in their Engagement Session and now here is their wedding album featuring Dry Heat Signature Album Design! Samantha and John were married on August 1, 2009 at the La Fonda Hotel in Santa Fe, NM.

To Samantha and John, thank you so much for making me a part of your special day!

-DeAnna Dimmitt

Dry Heat Photography