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.

Engagement Shoot - Union Station downtown Denver

Khristina & James have one of those loves stories that belong in a movie.  James & his friends decided to take a guys trip to Los Angeles, while at the same time Khristina went on a girls-only vacation too, also to L.A.  Then as faith would have it, their trips collided & a match was made in heaven…or uh, California to be exact.  They both went home to separate states but stayed in touch long distance.  Then when James got a job transfer to Denver to work on the remodeling of the Union Station, Khristina followed him out here & their love for each grew, as well as their love for Colorado, of course.  Now they are happily engaged, loving Denver, & having a wedding this summer at St. Ignatius Loyola Catholic Church with a reception to follow at the Brown Palace.   They both love the city, but since we will also be taking pictures downtown on their wedding day, I recommended we do the photo shoot at night to get a much different feel & look from their daytime wedding pictures.  And since James is working on the reconstruction of the Union Station it only made sense to get some memorable shots around the building that actually brought them to Colorado.  Here are just a few of my favorite shots from our night out downtown.

Amanda & Chuck are big fans of the Colorado Rocky Mountains & the great outdoors.  So for there engagement session I met them at their home in Broomfield and then we drove west into the mountains were we found some great spots for pictures.  In the shade it was quite windy & chilly, but Amanda & Chuck were great sports & didn’t let the windchill get to them.  Amanda & Chuck took a drive out here a few days before the shoot & were lucky enough to be welcomed into the home of a local that lives up the mountain with spectacular views around his house.  He invited them to come back for the photo shoot, and we borrowed his patio for sunset, which we were extremely thankful for.  I’m looking forward to photographing their wedding this summer in Broomfield…and even more so now that they told me their reception music will focus around trance & techno  (a wedding with more unique tunes then the typical  “YMCA” & “Electric Slide” is always a big plus in my book!).

I recently met up with Faith & Tim in the Benders parking lot where we started their photo session.  When I heard Tim drove a Lotus I knew we had to incorporate his car into some of the shots.  Unfortunately, since Tim is currently living in England & his Lotus has not been driven in a while, they had to jump the car to get it to the shoot, but it was worth it to get this fine looking automobile in the pictures.  After some fun shots with the car we headed down to Lodo together to capture some urban city pictures downtown.  Faith & Tim have a unique funky vintage style, with a love of metal & art,  so the Union Station as well as sculptures around the Millennium Bridge were perfect backdrops for their photo shoot.  Faith & Tim are having a steampunk wedding this summer at The Mile High Station in downtown Denver.  I’m very excited for what is sure to be a very unique & fun wedding to remember!

Engagement Pictures on 16th St. Mall in Downtown Denver

I was lucky once again for moderate winter temperatures for Valerie & Timothy’s engagement session.  OK, it was still cold, but stayed above 30 & no snow storms to trek through.  We met by the Performing Arts Center, on 14th & Curtis St. in downtown Denver.  I just recently discovered this little area when participating in a Bridal Soiree at Kevin Taylor’s Opera House.  This area of downtown has amazing architecture, fun sculptures, & a bunch of funky spots for pictures.  I couldn’t beleive I had never seen this part of downtown until recently.  I suppose if my husband wasn’t so anti-theatre and would actually go to a play with me I would have discovered it long ago    We also took some night time shots around 16th St. Mall & a couple of other various spaces around downtown.
Thanks Val & Tim for leaving it up to me to pick a place for photos, I always get really excited to shoot around new places I find!  This beautiful couple is getting married this summer at the Lower Lake Ranch in Pine, CO & having a reception at the Crystal Rose in Highlands Ranch, Colorado. Play the slide show below to view more of their engagement pictures around Denver.

Picture Preview: Jessica & Eric’s Engagement Photo Session at Red Rocks in Morrison, CO

Take today to tell all your loved ones how much they mean to you, stop to smell the roses, and cuddle up to that special someone.  Happy Valentines to all the wonderful couples out there!  Here is just one of them below….

Red Rocks Engagement Pictures

Jessica & Eric met me at Red Rocks in Morrison, CO for their engagement shoot. Every time so far this year that I have scheduled an outdoor photo shoot the weather has warmed up for us. There will be a foot of snow & -20 degree weather a few days before, but by the time my photo shoot day gets here the weather warms up!  Perhaps I need to start scheduling a photo shoot every day!
I was actually hoping for some snow covered red rocks, but that’s OK because no matter the season or weather, Red Rocks always looks amazing for pictures!  One of my favorite shots is a portrait I took of Jessica & Eric that looks like a raging fire is in the background.  The sun was setting over the rocks which made the rocks glow like fire, play the slideshow below to see what I’m talking about.   I also had a lot of fun playing with some textures when editing these photos, see if you can tell which ones have a canvas or torn texture layer blended to the image.   These two lovebirds are getting married this summer at The Franciscan in Centennial, CO.

Engagement Picture Preview: Jennell & Rick

I met up with Jennell & Rick for a fun &  funky engagement session in downtown Denver.   We started about an hour before sunset, which gave us  dramatic lighting & shadows to play with.  Then as the sun went down we headed to the bridge that runs over Platte River for a view of the sun setting over downtown.  And then the fun really began as day turned to night & we kept shooting with the city lights as our background.  I scoped the area the day before because I heard there were some new sculptures that lit up at night, and I was really excited when I discovered these red fiery sticks.  Photographing at night is really challenging, but I think that’s why I like it so much…and you can get some amazing shots if you know how to do it right!  By the time the sun went down it did start getting really cold, so we had to move fast.  But luckily Jennell & Rick were great sports & snuggled up & kissed a lot to try too stay warm.

Jennell & Rick are getting married this summer at Della Terra Mountain Chateau in Estes Park.  So it worked great to have these edgy urban winter pictures for their engagement photo shoot…a stark contrast from the mountain nature summer setting we will have for their wedding pictures.
Keep scrolling down to see a few more of the pictures from their downtown Denver engagement portrait session.

Downtown Denver engagement photography

Denver Couple Portraits

Night Engagement Photography around Denver

New Orleans Engagement Photography

Kay & David met up with me for their engagement shoot near where they live & love, in downtown New Orleans. It was a frigid, windy day (yes, it does get cold in New Orleans) and we even considered rescheduling their photo shoot. However, we decided it would be best to just do it anyway and I promised to find some fun indoor spots to shoot. We met in New Orleans’ warehouse district and quickly walked around the neighborhood moving & shooting fast to stay warm. Luckily Kay & David had no problem snuggling to keep warm, and they were still able to have fun with the shoot, laughing & smiling the whole way. I really wanted to get some shots of them on the streetcar, but being the last stop on the line, it was so crowded that we didn’t think we would fit and opted to drive down to the French Quarter instead. We then took an Abita beer break at the W Hotel, where we warmed up and found a bunch of really cool spots for pictures. Once the sun went down we went to Coliseum Square Park where they got engaged and David got down on one knee to replay the proposal. We got a few more night shots but with the temperature dropping, we moved fast & called it a wrap. Thanks Kay & David for being good troopers, you guys were a blast to work with!

New Orleans Engagement pictures

downtown French Quarter

W Hotel in New Orleans

Colisseum Square Park in New Orleans