Southwest Snow - Albuquerque

March 6, 2015 Morgan Petroski

During Feb. 26-28, 2015 Albuquerque received the most significant amount of snow since 2006. My main concern throughout the two nights of snow was to make sure our photo staff at the Albuquerque Journal did a great job covering the storm in photos. So my days were filled with planning and anticipating what was going to happen across the city that needed to be documented. The only times I got a chance to take some photos myself were at night right before crawling into bed. Both Thursday night and Friday night, my fiancé and myself ventured out into the cold falling snow. We hiked from our house down to Central Avenue. Both times were really just excursions for myself to snap some photos. I grew up in Florida, so to some degree snow still excites me even though I've experienced it many times by now. And I love night time landscape or cityscape photography. Things just look different at night and I love that. Anyway, here are some photos from our excursions on both nights as the snow was still falling. I shot them with my Fuji X-E2 that I really wish was weather sealed. I may have to grab the X-T1 next, as my Fuji has become my camera of choice and I obviously don't fear shooting in extreme weather conditions...

For more snow photos, check out: Southwest Snow. It's my most recently edited Exposure piece for the Albuquerque Journal, featuring the collective hard work of Journal staff photographers.

Chuck Hawley Group - Albuquerque Band Portraits

January 28, 2015 Morgan Petroski

A few weeks ago I shot some quick portraits of the Chuck Hawley Group around the Albuquerque Museum. I was hoping for some nice late afternoon light, but of course it ended up being one of the few overcast days we've had in the past month. Eh, soft overcast light? I'll take that too. Just goes to show, you can plan everything else, but not the weather.

Heights Community Center 75th Anniversary Party

January 13, 2015 Morgan Petroski

A place where I've spent many Tuesday nights dancing and hanging out with friends, Heights Community Center celebrates 75 years of happy feet walking through its doors (and dancing on its floor).

Rail Yards of Albuquerque

January 12, 2015 Morgan Petroski

Any excuse to visit and photograph the Albuquerque rail yards sounds good to me. Actually I wasn't even scheduled to shoot this on Friday, but due to more important breaking news I "unfortunately" had to scramble to get there on time. Gosh darn. The city of Albuquerque has come out saying "Dangers abound at the city's rail yards." After shooting ASH I could help with this lecture. I won't get into specifics, but yes, the rail yards are dangerous. While filming we were constantly reminding each other of this, even though it was so obvious. Despite its danger it's a beautiful place. The light, the dirt, the space. Here's a few of the photos from last week's short tour.

Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta 2014 - Albuquerque Journal

October 17, 2014 Morgan Petroski

For this year's Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta I soared above the event with KOAT, covering the fiesta from the sky. I've done this now three separate years and each year is just as exciting. It might sound glamorous but each year it means getting up around 3:30 am to get some breakfast and get to the airport in time to catch my ride. That's pretty darn early, but so worth it. Our photo staff at the Albuquerque Journal covers every single day of the nine day event each year. Our staff photographers are out on the ground each morning, inside and outside of the park, photographing the balloons as they blanket our city. Everyone has their favorite spots to view the balloons from after covering the fiesta for years. It's always interesting to see how everyone sees the fiesta through their lens, as each photographer documents it differently each year. To see more photos from the entire photo staff at the Albuquerque Journal check out our gallery: Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta 2014.