The Blog - Weddings, Portraits, Events, and Fun!

A friend and I recently photographed Denee and Malachi at City Park in Denver for a wedding portrait session. We got some great shots for them. Here’s a taste of the chic and intimate session:

Vanessa stopped by the other day with an urgent need for some new photos for her model portfolio.  We started with some studio shots and then walked right outside to capture some natural images in the local Southlands environment.  I always enjoy doing model portfolio sessions.  (OK, I guess I could say the same thing about every type of photography that I do.)  We got Vanessa a nice and diverse selection for her portfolio.  Here’s just a couple examples from the outdoor portion of our session:

Tricia and Dave’s first met at the church featured in the background of some of the photos featured below. I always enjoy doing photo sessions at locations that are meaningful since it adds a deeper sense of significance to the photos. For this session we started on Pearl Street and then headed on to downtown Denver for more.

Thanks Tricia and Dave! See you soon for the wedding!

Now for some photos:

Taylor proposed to Erin in Castle Rock – literally at the rock.  So, what better place to take engagement photos than the place where they were engaged? Congratulations Erin and Taylor. Not long until the wedding!

Here are some of my favorites from the session:

Liz came in for a studio portrait session with the goal of getting some creative, fun, and sexy pictures. Have I mentioned that I love doing creative photo sessions? Well, I love doing creative photo sessions. We ended up with lots of photos I’d love to share, but I’ll keep it to a small sample (for now). Thanks Liz, it was a fun session!

We did this first shot against the red walls of the studio entrance room:

Four Feet:

Don’t mess with Liz:

OK… I’m going to stop here for now or this blog post will turn into a complete photo gallery by itself.

Update:  Liz mentioned to me that she has booked a number of modeling jobs thanks to these photos.  While this session was not aimed at building a model portfolio, I’m adding it to the “model portfolios” category of my blog due to her results.

***
A number of people seem to be finding this blog post while looking to have some sexy or boudoir photos taken.  To learn more about my boudoir photo options and to see more samples, please visit this page of my site:  Boudoir, Sexy, and Artistic Nude Photography.
***

*

I recently had the opportunity to photograph SoYoung and get her some classy black and white headshots. SoYoung is the music director for Rocky Ridge Music Center in Estes Park, Colorado. Thanks SoYoung, it was a pleasure working with you!
Read the rest of this entry »

Are you interested in learning digital photography? Did you get a new digital camera and you want to learn how to use it? Read the full post to learn about upcoming digital photography classes for the Denver area.

Read the rest of this entry »

I just returned from a wonderful wedding photography convention in Tampa, Florida. There were many great seminars and hundreds of photographers all listening, learning, sharing, and having lots of fun. I really enjoyed meeting so many friendly people from all over the world.

The convention was held at the Grand Hyatt Tampa Bay in Florida. Upon entering the hotel the first day, the first thing I saw was “brides” scattered here and there, all surrounded by any number of photographers taking their picture from every angle. Given that there were so many photographers around, many people setup photo sessions in a wedding or bridal theme.

I participated in a session with a small group of photographers the next morning. I’d like to call it “pre-morning” since our meeting time was 6:30am Eastern Time. For me, given it was the morning after I arrived, I still think of it as meeting at 4:30am Mountain Time.

Michelle came out to be a model bride for us. She was wonderful. This was her first time functioning as a model, and you would never know it. It was very cold for Tampa (as you will see in one particular picture) and of course we had plans to get her into the water.

Anyway, on to some pictures:

It really was cold. In the next shot, Michelle is wearing the appropriate clothing for the weather:

We decided to go in and let Michelle warm up. Well, that was the plan. In reality, we also used it as an opportunity for more photos. Here are a couple in front of the window:

And now for some attitude!

It did eventually warm up just a tiny bit, but it was still very cold by Tampa standards. Michelle was brave enough to play in the water. We saved the water portion for last so she could go warm up in the hotel afterwards.

Thanks Michelle, for doing such a great job despite the cold. Thanks to all the wonderful photographers I met at the convention. It was nice talking, sharing, and laughing with all of you.

Update: Some of these photos are also featured on the Trash the Dress (TTD) website. Click here to see other photos from various photographers and models.

The weather is never too bad for family photos. Leena brought her mother, sisters, and their kids to the studio for some family portraits. Outdoor photos are great, but when the weather is bad there is always the studio! Here are some of my favorites from the session. Be sure to view the full blog entry to see more family portrait photography samples with this fun group.

Pets are family to:

Sisters:

Want to see more?

Read the rest of this entry »

I had a blast photographing the Chillin’ Black Tie event for the benefit of the When I Grow Up Foundation. I joined a couple other photographers volunteering a little time photographing this event for an organization that provides career experiences for Colorado’s youth.

Throughout the night there was a group performing incredible dance moves for the entertainment and amazement of everyone. Check it out:

I was honored to photograph a surprise birthday party at the JW Marriott the other day. This was a party to celebrate Ian’s 60th birthday. With a couple hundred guests in attendance, I’m sure it took quite a bit of work to keep something that big a surprise! All those involved did a great job. It was a wonderful event with an amazing skit performance to tell the story of Ian’s life so far.

Congratulations, and happy birthday!

Kourtney and Justin were married at Mt. Vernon Country Club in Golden, Colorado. I photographed the rehearsal dinner the evening prior to the wedding. It is always fun seeing families and friends coming together from out of state. The emotion and excitement is always more than apparent. Everyone was clearly having a good time.

Here are some of the photographs from their wedding:

Read the rest of this entry »

Deviree and Dan had incredible wedding at Keystone Ranch in Colorado. It is amazing how often the weather changes for the better at a wedding. We started off with a light rain and cloud-filled sky just moments before the wedding. We ended the ceremony with a beautiful Sunset and parting clouds.

Here’s a couple shots as the sun set and put the warm color against the yellow Aspens, it made for a stunning backdrop.

The band Vanilla Pop was awesome! And they know how to dress too!

Okay, I could go on forever with the pictures. Instead, here’s the highlight slideshow:

Read the rest of this entry »

Here’s a few shots from Jade and Randy’s recent wedding at the Crystal Rose in Littleton, Colorado. They had a beautiful wedding and quite the fun reception with the dance floor being packed right up to their departure.

I love the white suit and white gown combination:

Sometimes the low lighting of a reception dance floor makes for the perfect chance to capture the little moments all about the mood. I like the way the light is coming through Jade’s veil while also giving a silhouette look to the guests in the background. Sometimes just capturing the light as it is rather than artificially lighting the room for the shot gives the best look.

I recently had the opportunity to photograph MsEasy (a local performance artist) before she went out to perform. If you could only see the room where we took these shots… Sometimes part of the fun in photography is taking a place that has no intention of being used as a photographic backdrop and finding that little spot that is perfect. I have photographed MsEasy previously (see earlier posts), and her pictures usually call for vibrant color. In this case, the NASA-grade space suit really works in black and white. I wonder why the astronauts are still using the big bulky suits when these are available?

Read the rest of this entry »

Andrea and Steve were married at Gold Lake Resort and Spa. What a beautiful backdrop for a wedding!

On this shot I love the look on Andrea’s face as she’s in the moment. The sparkling water backdrop isolates Andrea while the tops of the heads of those in attendance all add to the feeling and emotion.

You know that saying about how you should not go to the grocery store when you are hungry because you will buy things you might otherwise not have purchased? Well, I think there should be a saying about looking at photos of food when you are hungry.

Read the rest of this entry »

Martine and Richard flew in from New York for their wedding at the JW Marriott. It was a blast!

I love to analyze photographs as well as other forms of art. Yes, I even analyze the photographs I take. There are lots of ways to define what makes a good photograph, and that definition will be different to different people. I always prefer the definition that says you can determine how good a photo is with a stopwatch. In other words, how much time do you spend looking at a particular photo, thinking about it, admiring it, etc. The more time you spend looking at a photograph, the more it probably means to you.

Well, this is one of my favorites, at least among those photos I’ve taken. What I love about this photo is the amount of emotion evident. Look at how many faces you can see all with excitement. You can just imagine (or see!) the excitement personally for each individual, and collectively as a group.

Kari and Kevin had a wonderful wedding in Colorado Springs at Bethel Lutheran Church. After the ceremony we headed out to Garden of the Gods to catch some photos with the wedding party before heading to the reception at the Fire Rock Grill. Here’s a few photos:

I thought I needed to tell the story about the shot below… about how the limo broke down and they hitched a ride in the back of a pickup truck, etc. Too bad it didn’t really happen that way (at least for the story).

I participated in a fun workshop held by David Beckstead and attended by about a dozen other Denver photographers. We spent the day running around town capturing shots of a few models in various settings. It is always fun working without time constraints just focusing on coming up with something a little different. If you’ve been surfing the websites of other photographers don’t be surprised if these brides look familiar. They were models playing bride for the day. Thanks to Tessa, Jenn, and Krista – especially for putting up with all of us in the intense heat all day!

Here’s one crawling around at Red Rocks.

Read the rest of this entry »

I had a fun time with Kourtney and Justin, taking their engagement photos on Pearl Street and nearby Washington Park in Denver. A couple things stood out to me as I went through their photos: they both have great smiles and the both look incredibly happy all the time.