Like most people I have always loved taking snapshots: vacations, holidays, family get-togethers, friend’s parties, beloved pet antics… you name it, I snapped it. And like most people I realized that my snapshots weren’t particularly interesting to anyone other than myself, my family, my friends and my pets. I aspired to be a better photographer, but the high cost associated with film processing put me off.

A decade ago I acquired my first digital camera and a whole new world was opened to me. In the first few weeks I owned that digital camera I photographed an event so unusual that my resulting images were published in the New York Times, as well as other national and international media publications. Between the advantages of being able to take hundreds of images of the event to capture great shots, and to have those great shots be available to the media immediately, I was able to scoop the veteran photographers. That event gave me the encouragement I needed to” just say no” to snapping snapshots and to “say yes” to composing photographs. Since that time my images have been published in magazines, newspapers, books and websites, as well as having been aired on regional television broadcasts. Currently a number of my images (ranging in size from 2x3" framed prints to a 20x30" canvas print) are on display at the Socorro County Arts Gallery in Socorro, New Mexico.

Recently I have focused on honing my skills in digital image processing; adding this new set of skills to my toolkit has enabled me to move my photography to a new level. The images displayed on this website represent my work spanning a slice of time from January of 2007 to the present. Browse the galleries and you will discover:

• I live in New Mexico, an incredibly photogenic part of the USA
• I love the sky and photograph the sky in all its color and glory as often as possible
• I vacation on Maui, where every day is a paradise waiting to be experienced and captured
• I offer refuge to many cats that are attractive and cooperative (not to mention cheap) models and never cease to amuse me

Thanks for visiting my little corner of the world! You can see more of my images and products at my other websites:

http://www.zazzle.com/mcgino
http://www.astrophys-assist.com
http://www.dpchallenge.com/portfolio.php?USER_ID=74559

If you have any questions, don't hesitate to contact me! My email address is my name (colleen) at mcgino.com