Shoot and Share Competition | What I Took Away | Finalist

Finalist against more than 30,000 other photos?! YES, I AM FREAKING OUT!

If you don't know what this is Shoot and Share is a fun and addictive photo competition that anyone can be a part of!  You can add up to 50 photos in numerous categories that fit each niche of your style and passions. 

The photo of mine that made it the farthest was my pancake cake from a shoot last year! This photo made top 100 in it's category coming out to be 25th out of 7,635 photos. <3 Every time i saw my photo when voting my heart would skip a beat and then start to beat faster and I would get giddy with excitment! It is so much fun knowing someone voted for you!

This is my second year entering photos, but my favorite part is the AMAZING talent I see when voting. I have learned that flowy dress portraits can make me sit in awe for minutes where I never want to look away,  movement in photos can cause a almost dreamlike quality to photos, leading lines make wedding photos pop. I learned any time it has a mermaid theme or a corgi in the photo I will vote for it!  It has been such a cool inspiration and new goals that I want to implement in my own photos!  

Here is a little screen shot of some of my favorite photos from this year competition.  The photo by Lexy Parks was my ABOSULTE Favorite from the contest!!  I encourage anyone who love photography to either enter or vote next year! WARNING: Voting for the shoot and share contest is extremely addicting and will steal many hours of your life, but will fill your mind with beautiful photos!

Adult Night at the Minnesota Zoo | Sanchez Adventures | Personal

Do you ever just crave a night out? I sometimes spend hours scrolling facebook events in my area to see what is going on in the outside world and to see if it would be something worth doing.

One event I found was adult night at the Minnesota Zoo! With a free zoo located in St. Paul (Como) I have probably been to the Minnesota Zoo one other time in my life because who needs to pay for a zoo when you have a free one right there! Marcus had yet been to the other zoo so I thought it would be a fun night out and exploring. I was right! 
The entire zoo was open to have you explore; at each big trail they had beverages and food for you to purchase while enjoying exotic animals but this event was 18+ with not kids. 

I found out Marcus could watch monkeys all day and he was completely fascinated by them! The snow monkeys were really fun to watch, but the monkeys on the tropic trail were so interesting to look at. Marcus also really enjoys the bears; they look sooo fluffy I have always been curious how hugging on would feel, but self preservation has won out on that urge. My favorite animal, the red panda, was asleep so not as exciting as a hog with elvish ears that horror movies are inspired from, but I still freaked out when I saw it!

I didn't get too many pictures because I am always torn with the fact that I want photos but I also want to be present in that moment. So for this Sanchez Adventure, I choose to be present.

Overall, it was a fun and new experience for both of us and I am happy we decided to go! It would be an enjoyable date night for anyone who enjoys animals! 

Abulea Wedding Photography | New Years Eve Wedding | Elle & Patrick |

Elle and Patrick's wedding was on the door step of 2017 new years eve . I shot this wedding with Justin Mark Photography as a last minute favor because Justin was pretty stick the day before! Back to Elle and Patrick they decided to get ready at abulea in downtown st paul right by Mears Park and CHS field. The ceremony was held at St. Thomas Chapel. Although it was pretty cold it didn't phase Elle as she was up for the challenge as was the entire wedding party because no body complained with giant smiles in front of the camera!

As the ceremony began, the chapel forgot to take down the life-size nativity scene at the alter! So tip for those choosing holidays for your wedding remember to make sure SOMEONE is assigned to take down the churches decorations! It would not have been that big of deal if it did not take up 1/3 of the alter where these two love birds tied the knot!  

After the ceremony we all meet up at Abulea for a comfotable and GORGEOUS reception!