In Santa Fe, the city different, at George R.R. Martin's personal theater, the Jean Cocteau Cinema, HBO and GRRM hosted a Game of Thrones Season 5 premiere with a tiny red carpet on Saturday March 28, 2015. Now I just might be a Game of Thrones fan... so needless to say I was excited to shoot the event for the Albuquerque Journal. This also meant assistant arts editor and UpFront columnist Adrian Gomez and I were able to watch the first episode of the new season a few weeks early. High five! George R.R. Martin is a very cool cat and extremely generous. I even overheard him tell some fans that were passing by and stopped for a photo with him to wait around to see if any seats opened up so they could come in and view the episode. I don't know if they made it in or not, but for an invite-only event that was fully booked that was very kind of him. He and the theater also had earlier screenings in the morning for locals willing to wait in line. It was so popular they added an extra screening at the last minute.

Santa Fe is a great place for a celebrity of any caliber to live or visit. The city and state are so laid back that celebrities can really just be part of the community. During the after party a group of actors currently in Santa Fe filming "The Ridiculous Six" stopped by and mingled with party goers and of course took some time to pose on the red carpet, but more importantly, pet and pose with Flurry, an Arctic wolf that was visiting from the Wild Spirit Wolf Sanctuary for the premiere. By the end of the night it honestly felt like the wolf was more sought after for a photo than any of the celebrities.

George R.R. Martin has lived in Santa Fe for many years, before the Game of Thrones empire took off. The theater he now owns, the Jean Cocteau Cinema, closed down in 2006, and he bought it, renovated it, and reopened it in 2013, much to the delight of many New Mexicans. It's a neat little theater and he pretty much shows whatever tickles his fancy.

Overall the premiere was quite laid back, heck the red carpet was all of 10 feet long. Whereas the season 5 premiere in San Francisco appeared to be what you would expect from such a popular TV show, with a much longer red carpet that stretched past the piles of media waiting to interview and photograph the show's celebrities. I watched the red carpet portion live on meerkat a few days before our own Santa Fe premiere. They were completely different experiences and I wouldn't trade ours for anything.

Read more about the premiere in Adrian Gomez's UpFront column: "Hollywood comes to the City Different." See more photos on our Albuquerque Journal photo page: Game of Thrones Season 5 Premiere.

Game of Thrones Premiere Santa Fe Jean Cocteau

George RR Martin Game of Thrones Premiere

The Ridiculous Six at Game of Thrones Premiere

Meet Aaron and Laurel, two of my best friends. I've known them since I moved to Albuquerque almost eight years ago. They have been together even longer than that and are finally getting married! Wahoo! Together they make up such a strong team that nothing, not even cancer, stands a chance at weakening their relationship. They are both vintage aficionados so naturally a vintage engagement session was right up their alley. We decided that the train depot in Santa Fe was the place to start. It was a FREEZING cold Saturday in late February but you can't tell from the photos. They were troopers and really didn't let the cold bother them. We did make sure to bundle them up in between shots. Luckily (for us) the Santa Fe Southern Railway service is currently suspended (perhaps because it's winter?), which meant the beautiful teal train that can be ridden for tours and events, was parked in place and not going anywhere. It made the perfect spot for their photos. We were very lucky. Laurel even brought along a vintage suitcase as a prop! We really hadn't planned everything so down to the detail, but everything fell into place better than we could have imagined.

During the shoot we all needed a break from the cold and wind and wandered into the Sanbusco mall nearby. There I spied a local bookstore with piles of books. Laurel is a constantly hungry book worm, so I knew this would be a great spot for some photos. With the store's permission we did a few quick photos in there too. Thank you op.cit. books! We made a few more stops around the area after we had thoroughly defrosted, including outside the Jean Cocteau Cinema and an art gallery with a beautiful blue LOVE art piece out front. Our final stop was to Kakawa Chocolate House for some hot chocolate to warm up. It was a great afternoon with some very dear friends.

Congrats again to you two and can't wait for your big day! Love you both so much! ♥