New Orleans Engagement Pictures with St.Charles Ave. streetcar

Jenna & Norwood met & fell in love in New Orleans.  However, just a few weeks ago they moved to Denver, CO where Norwood got a great job offer and where Jenna also happens to be from.  So when they found me online and realized that I work in both New Orleans & Denver, it couldn’t have been a better fit!  They wanted to do their engagement pictures in New Orleans to capture the unique art and enormous oak trees of City Park, as well as the historic streetcars of  St.Charles Ave.  We had fun playing around at City Park, and then headed Uptown and crossed our fingers we would catch some streetcars.  Well, we couldn’t have gotten any luckier!  We saw a few streetcars parked and just chilling on the street, so we immediately pulled over & parked and I started quickly photographing them in front as the last rays of daylight drifted away.  Then, when we realized this streetcar didn’t’ appear to be heading anywhere anytime soon, I sweet talked the conductor into letting us hop on for some pictures, and he gave us about 10 minutes to have full reign of a streetcar all to ourselves, it was perfect!  Night photography is not the easiest, especially when you have moving objects involved that only pass by every 15 minutes, so we could not have gotten luckier then to have one stop for us for and allow us to do pictures on board,  a photographers dream come true, hehe.  This beautiful loving couple is planning to host their wedding in Denver, where their lives now continue together.  Play the slideshow below to view the engagement book design I created of all of their favorite pictures from their engagement session.  For the best view make sure to click the “Full Screen” icon.

I photograph a lot of weddings, but its rare for me to actually get to document the beginning of a couple’s engagement – the actual proposal.  And this marriage proposal certainly topped the charts! Jeff and Amy are from New York and were planning a vacation in New Orleans , the future groom-to-be, came up with the perfect unique idea to propose to Amy on their trip.  Jeff hired Second Line Weddings and Events to come up with a scheme that involved having her husband, and partner in crime, pretend to be a college friend meeting the couple at Cafe du Monde, the famous cafe au lait & beignet stop in the French Quarter.  I hid behind the Cafe du Monde green draped wall until Katie, from Second Line Events, came by pretending to be doing a random 2nd line parade to help market the Baby Boyz Brass Band.  Kaite got the couple and everyone around, to join in on the parade.  So I pretended myself to be a camera happy tourist that joined the parade just for fun.  It was difficult trying to catch candid pictures of the couple dancing without my lens aimed at them raising any suspension….the last thing I wanted to do was ruin the surprise.  So I kept a safe distance and tried to make it look like I was taking pictures of everyone and everything.  The band led the crowd through the French Quarter, around Jackson Square, and then up to the Riverwalk.  Once they walked a ways down the Riverwalk the brass band slowed down their tempo and that is when Jeff got down on one knee and made his move!  The crowd circled around to watch and everyone started cheering & clapping.  It was truly magical to witness such a romantic moment, I even had to keep from tearing up myself.  We then headed back to where everything started, at Cafe du Monde, and I took a few quick portraits of the couple with their new diamond ring.  It was so romantic and a fantastic idea for a surprise proposal!  Hit play on the picture below to watch a mini-music video I put together of some of my favorite pictures (and I recommend hitting the bottom right button to view full screen).  Congratulations Jeff & Amy, I hope to see you again for a wedding in New Orleans!!

One of Sarah & James’ favorite things to do is have a cocktail at the unique speak-easy themed Green Russell bar in downtown Denver.  There wedding will also be set in a 1920’s Prohibition era theme, so it made sense for us to do their engagement pictures there.  Luckily, my associate photographer just happens to work here so she was able to hook us up and let us in on a Monday night when they are typically closed.  We took a bunch of pictures around the bar where it was warm and cozy, then bared the cold for a few more shots outside under the lights of Larimer St.  Click the link below to see a few of their engagement pictures.

Engagement Picture Preview: Molly & James Celebrate Love & Halloween in Colorado

A Love Scare in a Corn Maze

Halloween Engagement Pictures in a Pumpkin Patch

I got really excited when Molly first came to me with the idea of doing her engagement pictures in a pumpkin patch, and I knew just the right place! Molly & James were so fun to work with, they were really laid back and had lots of creative ideas. They weren’t afraid of experimenting with my ideas either, even if it involved barbed wire (play slideshow below to see that one!). We may have had to do a little sneaking around this farm into closed off corn mazes, but the scariest part of the day was just dealing with Denver traffic, ughhh! Reminds me how lucky I am that my normal work day does not involve rush hour and I can leave my car parked & untouched for days at a time. Anyway, these two artists met doing what they love, tattooing, and certainly have a lot of fun creative ideas in mind for their wedding day. Unique & artistic engagement sessions like this one really inspire me and get me even more stoked for the wedding….which will be held on the Day of the Dead, Nov. 2nd 2012. They haven’t found the right venue yet, but I’m glad they found me, as I’m sure their wedding day will be killer!

R.E.I. downtown Denver engagement session

Ashleigh & Evan will be getting married in just a few months at the Mile High Station in downtown Denver.  Ashleigh & Evan both love the outdoors & architecture, so R.E.I. was a great fit for their engagement session in Denver.  In the heart of Denver it’s surrounded by great photo spots with Aspen trees, a river, bridge, train tracks, ect…all nearby.   Ashleigh & Evan both went to Texas Tech so they brought along an outfit full of red and TT paraphernalia.  Ashleigh also brought a few props such as a large frame, an “&” sign, “I Do” letters, and a large fake diamond ring which was fun to play with and added some unique elements to the photo shoot.  Play the slideshow below to see more shots from their engagement photo session.

I had a great time with Talia & Kristopher for their engagement session in Denver and I’m so excited to be photographing their destination wedding in Venice, Italy…now just weeks away!.  We started off in Washington Park then took a margarita break at Mezcal & talked about their upcoming wedding in Italy.  After Mezcal we took a walk around the Bluebird Theater on Colfax St. where Kris used to perform back in his musician days.  Then we took a ride to north of downtown Denver to get a night shot with the city-line in the background.  And while I wish I could tell you all of my engagement photo shoots come with a fireworks display, we actually just got really lucky for this one!   Play the slideshow below of their engagement photo book we are anxiously awaiting to come back from my print lab.

Love in the Rain - Wash Park Denver, CO

Rain or shine, the show must go on!

Katrina & Tim won an engagement session with me from the Botanical Gardens Wedding Showcase I participated in last summer. We had to wait quite some time for Tim to finish school & move down to Colorado, and then we had to postpone our first scheduled photo shoot because of torrential showers. We almost thought we were going to have to postpone again when we found out last minute that their was a huge concert at Red Rocks where we had planned to do the shoot, and the sky was looking grim….but not wanting to have to put off this long awaited photo session any longer we decided to take our chances with the weather and go to WashingtonPark in central Denver. We played on the playground, talked a lot about the sexual reproduction of insects (Katrina just got back from doing intense research on caterpillars up North), and then…..well, we got some rain anyway! Thankfully I was prepared with a matching umbrella & rain protection for my gear. Katrina & Tim even happily climbed some trees to stay dry from the rain, and we ended the shoot with some of my favorite shots under the umbrella right before the torrential rains came in, and my husband called to warn me of tornadoes! Luckily we all made it home safe, my equipment didn’t suffer any casualties, and we’ve got some great fun shots to show for it!

P.S.  The next Botanical Gardens Bridal show will be Friday Sept.16, 2011 and is sure to be great once again!  This time I will be there helping out at “The Wedding Connectors” booth.  If you have not heard yet of TWC, check it out!  We are a group made up of some of the most talented wedding vendors in Colorado and offer a great recourse for brides!  You can check out the website or our new Facebook page specifically made for brides.

Engagement Photography at REI in Denver, CO

I was supposed to have Alexis & Kevin over last night for their “Image Unveiling,” but a huge rain storm decided to get in the way & we lost all electricity.  As amazing as digital photography is, when there is no power, there are no pictures….well at least until the prints & books are made at least.   I think that is one reason why I love the actual prints so much, they don’t require a computer to look at, and will never become obsolete.
So instead I had to sat in the dark, catching up with phone calls & Facebook until my phone died….crazy how much we rely on electricity.  My husband and I did sit outside as the sun set and placed bets on which of our solar powered yard lights got the most sun and would turn on next (I won)…..now only if my computer could run on solar energy!

Anyway, since I couldn’t show Alexis & Kevin their pictures last night I wanted to at least put up a picture preview for them on my blog.   This cute couple lived across the hall from each other in their college dorms.  It was great hearing how his family first met Alexis at his sister’s wedding.  I’m sure they didn’t expect years later to be planning their own wedding together.
I loved Alexis & Kevin’s idea to take pictures around REI.  There are so many great spots for photos right outside along the Platte River, and the architecture of the REI building is really amazing.  Play  the picture slideshow below to see what I’m talking about.
After REI we headed on a graffiti search.  My favorite graffiti wall of the Denver skyline was unfortunately covered by lots of cars, but we had no problem finding lots of other interesting & colorful graffiti in the neighborhood.  We also stopped by one of their favorite breweries, the Great Divide.  9am  was a tad too early for a beer, but it was a great spot to stop for some pictures.

Alexis & Kevin are big fans of the the great outdoors, and I’m excited to be heading up to the mountains with them in September to photograph their wedding at Breckendridge Lodge & Spa

Thankfully my power is back on today….now if the rain could just stay away for my photo shoot tonight.

Engagement pictures at Red Rocks in Morrison, CO

I had a lot of fun photographing Lisa & Mark at Red Rocks for their Engagement session.  It was a little chilly, but thankfully they were great sports & just had fun with it.  I have been doing a lot of night photography lately, but this was the first time I did night pictures at Red Rocks.  It’s a lot more difficult to capture good night shots without the glow of city lights, but Lisa & Mark did a great job holding still for some really long exposures, like this one which was taken right after sunset at about 1/10 of a second.  This fun loving couple is getting married this September at Holy Ghost Church followed by a wedding reception at the Grand Hyatt in downtown Denver, both beautiful wedding venues that I’m very excited to be photographing at again.

I just recently had Melissa & Lionel’s engagement book printed from my lab.  The colors & quality is even better then I expected, it looks amazing in print!!   I wish you could see it in person, but you can at least check out the online version below.   I had a great time photographing their engagement pictures at the Bonnet Carre Spillway.  The last time I was at the spillway I was wake-boarding with some friends about six years ago and fell in the swampy water next to an alligator (at least according to my friends, I never saw it).  Melissa & Lionel will be getting married this fall right outside of New Orleans, Louisiana at the Jerusleum Shrine Center in Destrahan.