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Maria Camila Bernal uses her iPhone to shoot video of abandoned horses in Arizona. Martine Powers | NYT Institute

New Technology, Old Love

Yes, I shot all the video on my iPhone.

It might not be anything new, but since it was my first time doing it, I thought it was pretty amazing.

Growing up in Colombia, I learned to ride, respect and love horses.  For me, there is nothing better than the feeling of freedom I get while galloping in an open area.

But when I learned about the abandoned horses in Arizona, I needed to find out why horses — creatures I’ve cherished for so long — were being left to die alone.

Luckily, I was able to visit a rescue shelter, a place where these abused and abandoned horses get a second shot at a better life.

I wanted to be able to capture the desert, the cactuses and the heat, the kind of scenery you only see in this part of the U.S.

The video just made perfect sense.

Although the video turned out to be pretty short, I think I was able to capture the love that these horses are receiving from the shelter.

I was able to work with two incredibly talented people, Martine Powers, a reporter from The Boston Globe; and Deborah Acosta, who works with video at The New York Times. (Both were Miami natives like me, which is probably why we made such a good team.)

I learned lessons in video editing, which I hope to continue developing, and I saw my hard work pay off.

In the future I hope to continue writing, doing videos and adding social media to my stories.

And the iPhone thing … pretty cool!