I had the pleasure of meeting this amazing family recently at the CU Boulder campus for some fun, relaxed family photos. I don’t do a whole lot of family stuff, though I do find myself doing them more and more lately. The weather was perfect, and thank god, the campus was pretty much empty. Anyhow, enjoy…..
Allison and Paul had a beautiful wedding recently at Red Rocks Park with a reception at The Curtis Hotel in downtown Denver. There is not really much to say, as I believe the photos mostly speak for themselves. As usual, Haley Poulos gave me a hand and provided hours of entertainment throughout the evening.
After a late night at the Evergreen Lake House the night before, I was right back there the following afternoon for Heather and Jim’s wedding. I generally am not a big fan of shooting at the same place too much in one season, especially one day after the next, but these two weddings were so different, that I didn’t realize I was in the same place. When I first met Heather this past winter, her personality was for sure one to remember. On top of that, when you put her and Jim together, things get a little crazy. No matter what the other one is saying, the other one is laughing. I love it, as these two are a joy to be around. Despite the downpour of rain, which again I love, the wedding was beautiful, and was a blast from start to finish.
Well, I don’t think there is a lot to say on this one. The water dogs were amazing, and the pig races were strangely cute. Other than that, wondering around the 4H exhibits makes for some great entertainment.
So, I usually don’t blog many of my senior portrait sessions, but Jana is absolutely beautiful, and totally rocked this shoot. I tried to mix it up a little bit with a few candid type of photos, but I understand that for the sake of yearbook photos and what not, some more eye contact can generally help out a bit. We aimed for a sort of urban style shoot, and Old Town Fort Collins provided the perfect backdrop. Huge thanks to Jana for putting up with my silly requests and being such a perfect model.
So where to begin? Dia and Garret are amazing people! I started talking to Garret months ago when they were still in the pre-planning stages of their wedding. I love it when there is not much planned yet, but they want to talk about photography, what can be better? After a few emails Garret and I talked on the phone for over an hour about all sorts of stuff, including cameras, photography, cinematography, you name it. Both Dia and Garret work in the film industry, so it means a lot to me when people of their experience and visions, come to me to document their wedding. I had a great time with Dia at her mothers house photographing girls being girls, in the usual getting ready scenarios, except this was outside, so the lighting was perfect! When I arrived at the Evergreen Lake House, we were met with a downpour of rain. Which for me is perfect! I love weather. Maybe it was the 2 hardcore semesters of meteorology in college, or the fact that I love gloomy grey skies, but I was quite excited. It provided the perfect setting for a lakeside wedding in my eyes. Of course, like all weddings, the weather lifted in time for the ceremony, and the rest of the day went off without a glitch. Thanks to both Dia and Garret for being all-star clients, and hope to stay friends down the road. A big thanks to Haley Poulos, for helping me out, and getting some AMAZING shots too.
On a personal note: I received about a 5 minute voicemail from a client today, and it almost made me cry. Not that it was bad, but it went on and on about how amazed they were at some photos I took a little while ago. Some of the things that she said really made me think about the photographer I have become. I realize, as in the first photo I am posting, I am not your stereotypical wedding photographer. Perhaps thats why my clients pick me, and I have a pretty successful business. However, I love the little moments like below, that are REAL. A lot of times I see a wedding blog, and its the pretty photo of the eye shadow going on the eye, with a pretty photoshop action that makes everything look dreamy. Thats nice and all, but its not really who I am. I like to show the behind the scenes things, the not to pretty, “perfect” parts of weddings, and the stuff that really makes a day memorable. Sure, I do posed stuff, and I do detail shots, but its because I feel it helps complete the picture. If my client spends a lot of time and thought into their decorations and details, I want them to have a good record of it. However, I don’t think that those things are my strong points, and I make that as clear as possible when I meet my clients, and generally, I think thats why they hire me. I actually think my posing is pretty darn good if I say so myself. I try VERY hard to keep things not too cheesy, and encourage my friends to speak up if I do go down that road. I shot with my awesome friend Julie recently, and had a great long conversation about photography, art, and business, which was very much needed after a crazy 3/4 of a season, for numerous different reasons. Julie, who has been everything to me and my photography for years now, and she will be getting her very own blog post soon, (haha) and should be giving her annual “State of The Industry” rant and rave coming up shortly, according to her. It is one of these “Jerry McGuire” speeches which made me take out my debit card, and buy quite a bit of camera equipment a little over 4 years ago and pursue this passion of mine. I guess what I am saying is, I love my job, I love my clients, I love what my business has become, and I can’t wait to keep doing it. I know I’m pretty unconventional, I don’t hang out at the big group get togethers anymore, and don’t chat much on the forums. But I am here, I am real, and love sharing my work, and hopefully can inspire someone, somehow. (that is all)
Amanda and Phil made the trip from Iowa for their destination wedding in Vail Colorado recently, and had a beautiful intimate ceremony on top of Vail mountain. Like many of my couples from out of town, I didn’t get to meet both of them until the big day, and in Amanda’s case, we didn’t get a chance to meet until after the ceremony. I can honestly say that these two are totally my type of couple, and I had a blast hanging out with them. After joining these two for a couple beers at 11,000ft, I was thrilled at the fact that they wanted to do some trampoline bungee jumping, which was quite the center of attention, as you don’t see a bride and groom 30ft in the air too often. A big thank you to both Amanda and Phil, as well as their wonderful families for allowing me to be a part of such a special day.
Recently, I had the extreme pleasure of being invited on a mission with the Colorado National Guard on behalf of the 137th Space Warning Squadron which was organized by the ESGR. The day began with a mission briefing by Capt. Mike Holton and Capt. Andrew Gold explaining the role the 137th SWS plays in the security of our nation. Next, we were met by a UH-60 Blackhawk and a CH-47 Chinook from the Army National Guard Alpha Company 2-135th “Wolfpack” which transported us to Camp Guernsey Army National Guard Base where we landed on the top of a mountain and observed combat controllers from the Army Special Forces unit instruct a flight of two F-16 Vipers to drop ordnance on a simulated combat environment. We then departed the “war zone” for the base headquarters where we were treated to an awesome cookout, followed by some weapons training which included M16’s as well as a simulation of driving a convoy down the streets of Iraq. We then loaded up and headed back to Greeley Airport where it all started. I personally want to thank each and everyone from both the Military and ESGR that made this trip possible. Everyone was more than accommodating, and really made me build an even greater appreciation for the job that are men and women do who serve our country.
Jessica and Mike recently had their beautiful wedding in Golden at the Boettcher Mansion on a day filled with lots of great family and friends. I had a great time on their engagement shoot last year, and couldn’t wait for the wedding to finally get here. These two, besides being extremely smart and intelligent people, are honest, down to earth, and so great to be around. I included a photo from the photo booth I set up which was absolutely out of control, mostly with Mike’s grad school buddies. I also love the candid photo of the photo booth itself, which though was on my camera, I think my wonderful assistant Haley Poulos might of snapped that particular photo. Thanks to Mike and Jessica for being so awesome!!!!
So, I just photographed Heather and Jim’s wedding last night, and can’t wait to get to work on their wedding photos, but I wanted to share some photos from their recent engagement shoot we did in Golden, CO. Both Heather and Jim live in Michigan where they work and attend grad school, but are counting the days until they can come back and live in Colorado. They are both outdoor type of people, and can’t wait to get back to the Colorado way of life. Also, I wanted to mention as you can probably tell from the photos, these two are absolutely NUTS, and the round of beers we had prior to the shoot only added some fuel to the fire…….. Thanks guys for being so awesome!!!!!
