Amanda & Julio are both from Vail, Colorado so they wanted a mountain landscape setting for their engagement pictures, but wanted a location that wasn’t too far from where they are now in Denver.   So we decided to do their photo shot at the beautiful Chautauqua Park in Boulder, CO.  In Colorado you never know what you’re going to get with the weather, so I brought along a large umbrella in case of rain. Well, instead of rain we had bright sunny skies with not a cloud in the sky.  So instead of using the umbrella for rain we used it to shield the sun for a few pictures.   We also made use of Julio’s cowboy hat and played around with the shadows for some artistic unique pictures.  We had a great time walking along the trails, talking about their upcoming wedding day, and playing around with different objects we found to incorporate into the pictures….such as a huge stick we used for a game of tug of war.   Thanks Amanda & Julio for being such great models, glad to hear you love your pictures!

Chautauqua Park in Boulder, CO

Chautauqua Park in Boulder, CO

To view some of my favorite most unique & artistic pictures from their engagement session, play the slideshow below:

Funky, Fun, Artistic Denver Engagement Pictures

Rebecca & Derek’s Engagement Photo Session & Love Stories….

I love hearing stories of how engaged couples first met.  If I was a waitress or accountant, or a list of other jobs, it would probably seem odd to ask the people I work with, “how did you first meet and fall in love?”   Lucky for me as a wedding photographer I can get away with it. 

For this lovely couple it was their dogs that brought them together at a neighborhood café in Denver.  Perhaps Derek had some influencing that day over his dog’s behavior when he spotted a pretty blonde sitting by herself.  But either way, it was fate that brought them, and their two dogs, together that day.  And lucky for me, I get to document the continuing love story of Derek & Rebecca.

Press play below to see some of the pictures I took of Rebecca & Derek to capture the story of their love.  Their main goal was to find snow, but since this warm weather had melted most of it away, we went up to  Red Rocks in Morrison, CO to  play in the snow.  And  for a little more color and urban variety we also made a quick stop amongst some colorful walls & graffiti in the  Santa Fe Arts district near downtown Denver.

Rebecca & Derek are getting married this summer at the Breckenridge Lodge & Spa & hosting their wedding reception at Beaver Run Resort, in Breckenridge, Colorado.  They both love the outdoors & the mountains so this serene location will be perfect for their wedding day.  I only wonder…will they invite the dogs that brought them together??

Tosha & Jason’s Engagement Picture Preview

Denver, CO engagement photographer

One chilly Saturday morning I met Tosha & Jason at Belmar shopping center for a photo date.  We started with some pictures around the modern buildings of Belmar then headed to Lakewood Heritage Park to romp in the snow. I had not done pictures in Belmar before, so I was super excited to do something new and different. Tosha had spotted this red barn before and always wanted to do some pictures next to it, which worked out great for our photo shoot.   We also got lucky that the clouds parted enough to give us a couple of shots with the Colorado Rocky Mountains in the background.  I could see during our photo date how opposite this couple is…Tosha loves to model, is outgoing and girly.  While Jason is quiet and probably not nearly as excited to get up early on a Saturday morning to have his picture taken.  But together they were a perfect team, opposites do attract, and you can see how perfect Tosha & Jason are for each other.  I’m looking forward to documenting Tosha & Jason’s wedding day at The Wellshire Event Center in Denver, Colorado this May.

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.