Hearts and Horses

Being a member of the Art for Conservation website means that I have to donate a portion of my profits to a cause that I support each month. Since I am involved with several organizations that I care deeply about, I have decided to do a featured charity of the month.

Each month I will be promoting these charities, and will be donating 15% of my profits to that charity.

This month I have chosen Hearts and Horses. Hearts and Horses is a therapeutic riding center that works to promote the physical, cognitive, emotional, and social well being of people with special needs through equine assisted therapy.

To learn more about Hearts and Horses, visit their website: http://www.heartsandhorses.org/.

And to learn more about their volunteer opportunities visit: http://www.heartsandhorses.org/volunteers.html.

I will be donating 15% of all of my profits this month through the Art for Conservation program to Hearts and Horses. So Support this great cause, and get a great piece of art!Http://www.artforconservation.org/artists/mariamontano

Other News

I have entered three of my images into the Center for Fine Art Photography's next competition, "The Art of Nature".

I also have three new images for sale online through the art for conservation website.

Don't forget, that you can be a fan of my photography on Facebook! See the widget below to become a fan today! I always run specials, and give aways through facebook, so become a fan and you can win a free print!

Hike to Dream Lake

When trying to decide what I wanted for my birthday, the only thing that I could think of was to go to Rocky Mountain National Park, and take some pictures of sunrise.

Of course, this meant getting up and leaving my house at 2;30 in the morning, but it was totally worth it!

My partner and I left early in the morning, and were treated to a wonderful early morning hike up to Dream Lake in the park.


We had our headlamps out, but with the near full moon we could have hiked the trail without them. This was Deanna's first time up to the park, and she was excited to see what it looked like coming back down.

The best part of the hike, was sunrise at Dream Lake. the moon was setting just to the right of Hallet Peak, providing for an interesting photo opportunity.

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The starburst in this image, is actually the moon setting over Hallet Peak. I was hoping for better color on Hallet for sunrise, but it just didn't happen.

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After the moon set, I wanted to move up a bit, and get a different angle. This part of the lake was so still, I was able to get a perfect reflection off the water of Hallet.

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After I took the Hallet shots, I was looking around, and almost missed this one. This is one of my favorite shots of the day, I really love the way the rocks are lit up, and the depth of the trees in the background. It is easier to see this when you click for the larger view.

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After we were done at Dream Lake, we decided to go the extra little bit up to Emerald Lake. The shot above, and the one below were both on the trail on the way up. You follow the river that feeds into all the lakes on the way up to Emerald. Gorgeous hike, I highly recomend it.

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This is the last picture I took. This was up at Emerald Lake.

Birthday Sale

It is my 28th birthday, and I have decided to have a sale on all of my work though the Art for Conservation website!

From now, until the end of August, I am lowering my prices 28% off their normal prices!

You can get an 8x12 fine art photographic print for as low as $36.00! Normally $50.00!

You can also purchase gallery wrapped canvas giclees of my work, they come with wire, and hanging hardware, so you can take it out of the box, and it is ready to put on your wall!

You will not only be supporting me with your purhcase, but a percentage of all sales from the website go to support conservation causes around the world!

So go to: http://www.artforconservation.org/artists/mariamontano before time runs out!

Art for Conservation

Several of my images have been selected to be availalble for sale through the Art for Conservation website.

This website is dedicated to promoting artists and photographers around the world who are dedicated to using their images to promote conservation or social justice causes.

Each piece of artwork on the site has been jurried in, and a portion of all sales goes to support conservation causes around the world. I am honored to be a part of this select group of people chosen for this!

So go to: http://www.artforconservation.org/artists/mariamontano and buy some of my photography. Your purhcase supports conservation, and the conservation photographers who are dedicated to making this world a better place to live!

Also, become a fan of Maria Montano Photography on Facebook! When I hit 100 Fans, I will have a drawing, and the winner will recieve the print of their choice!

Become my fan!

Nature Photography Day

Each year over the past four years, I have taken part in National Nature Photography Day. Each year I try to get out on the same day, roughly the same time, at or near the same location as the year before.

I am in awe of how I have been able to capture such a wide variety of different images over the past four years, and I thought I would share them with you, starting from the 1st year back in 2006.

Not only is it neat to see the landscapes change, and how the same place can look so drasticly different in a years time, it is fun to see the progression you make as a photographer. To see how my tone has shifted as I finally found my tone this year, and the way I see is different too...fun to look back at these!

This is on the Poudre River taken in the early morning on June 15 2006. A fairly typical summer morning, created some stunning light on the trees.

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This is the same location, same day, exactly one year later. This morning had some warm morning light that was being filtered through some really think fog. I was so excited when I looked outside my window to see the fog!

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This was taken the same morning as the one above, but on the Colorado State University Campus. This one was serendipity! I was trying to rush to a different location to get a shot of the fog before it lifted, when I got stuck at a train...argh! While waiting, I looked over and saw this gorgeous field with the fog, and had to pull over and shoot it.

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I decided to mix it up a bit in 2009. This image is taken farther north of the Poudre River here in Fort Collins. This is a pond that is reserved as a "natural area" by the city that is adjacent to the Poudre. This was taken in the evening..and I was being tortured by mosquitoes while taking this shot!

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This is taken the same time/year as the one above. Just a little bit earlier in the evening, and a slightly different location. I was loving the reflection of the clouds in the water, but my favorite part is in the lower right hand corner with the star burst coming through the reeds.

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This one is taken roughly the same time, and at the same location as the previous two, but at a different view of the pond. This is turning into one of my favorite pictures from this series, and I almost didn't go out that night!

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the FACES project

Each year for the past four years, I have been working on a project with the Sexual Assault Victim Advocacy Center (SAVA) called, the FACES project.

The goal of the project is to raise awareness within our community that the impact of sexual assault has on the lives of men and women who live here.

The statistics are overwhelming.

1 in 4 women and 1 in 18 men in colorado will be sexually assaulted in their lifetimes. This project helps put a face, and a story to that statistic.

For more information on how you can help raise awareness, and help put an end to sexual assault please visit: http://www.savacenter.org/. Donate money, become a volunteer, help staff the 24 hour rape crisis hotline.

Save the Poudre

I was recently invited to donate an image of mine to the Save the Poudre foundation. They are working to defeat the Northern Integrated Supply Project on the Cache la Poudre River.

This image, "Poudre Summer" will be available as a 16x20 gallery wrapped canvas giclee print.

This is a great cause, and I am happy to be a part of it. My image will be featured in their next fundraiser on April 30th.

JUNERISE CELEBRATION & PADDLING FILM FESTIVAL
Thursday, April 30, 6 pm happy hour & silent auction; 7:30 pm National Paddling Films
The JuneRise -- the start of boating season on the Poudre -- is just around the corner, so we're having a fundraiser and film festival to celebrate!
Where: Avogadro’s Number - Back patio 605 S. Mason St., Ft. Collins
Tickets: $10, available at the door
Come watch great paddling films from the National Paddling Film Festival and enjoy great food & drink with all your Poudre-loving friends! Shop at our Silent Auction.
For information, contact Gina at info@savethepoudre.org.

Don Ana Church

This is an image that I found while going through my archives last week. At first I wasn't sure what I thought of it, but I am really liking the way that this one is coming together.

One of my good artists friends had an interesting statement about this image:

"It's oppressing and hopeful at the same time."

I would love to hear your thoughts on this image!