Boulder Wedding Photographer | Boulder Portrait Photographer |

Colorado is a land of epics:  epic skies, epic mountains and, in the spring, epic winds.  After several snowed out sessions, the ground dried up, and the sun finally came out from behind the clouds.  It was going to be a glorious day, or so I thought.  Then the winds came; 20-30mph gusts barreling down the mountains, headed right for the scenic spot we had chosen in the south Boulder open space.  Becki was my lighting assistant for the day, and was on the brink of being lofted into the air, beauty dish and all.  Katie and Phillip were troopers through all of it, and we managed to find a rhythm and time our photos in between the freezing gusts of wind.  It was like an old game of street hockey back in the day;  ”CAR!”…..”GAME ON!”  And so it went for most of the afternoon:  I’d proclaim, “SHOOT ON!”, and off would come the jackets and scarfs, and Phillip and Katie became entangled in an explosion of laughter, Katie’s airborne hair and Phillip’s giant grin.  The wind carried their laughter down across the plains in a cacophony of sound that receded into the distance.   Phillip never faltered in his ability to make Katie laugh out loud, despite us shooting in conditions that would have most people huddling in front of their fireplace, watching old sunday afternoon movies on AMC.

The couple will be married outdoors this august in Boulder, Colorado.  The sun will be shining, the flowers, brilliantly colorful, and the damn wind can stay home for the day–or else!

Last week Kristyn called me up to tell me about a new life coaching and personal training business venture she’s starting up.  She understands the value of strong imagery in branding her business and hired me to create a series of urban and sporty images that will help define her brand (e.g. herself).  She wanted a combination of urban lifestyle and athleticism for the storyboard summed up by the following values:  confident, loving life, focused yet approachable.  For being such a small town, i’m always amazed at the variety of portrait photography locations that Boulder, Colorado has to offer.  We scouted a few photography locations around Boulder, and I was able to find an urban alleyway off Pearl Street that has a big city urban feel while being less than a mile from the mountains.

You gotta love Colorado Natives:  ”It’s so warm out!” exclaimed Crystal, donning a little black dress and heels on a sunny 48F day in Denver, Colorado.  I was a little surprised when Crystal showed me photos of her outfit choices a few days before their engagement shoot in Denver, and her selections included outfits typically reserved for summer time in Southern California.  This was february, in the middle of a winter–we got 8 inches of snow the next day!  There’s no denying that Colorado creates a unique type of personality, one that loves being outside, basking in the  300+ days of sunshine the rocky mountain state receives every year.  The sun’s rays are warmer up here–closer to the big blue sky that presides over the land–and if that wasn’t enough to keep Crystal warm, then there’s her fiance Roberto.  Crystal and Roberto met a little over a year ago at the Denver Latin dance club La Rumba , and they go nearly every week.

When I first talked to Crystal about her wedding and engagement photos, she expressed concern that both her and Roberto were a little camera shy and have never really had their photos taken by a professional photographer.  After meeting them for the first time, I quickly realized that their shoot was going to be easy; the couple has amazing chemistry, and Crystal just lights up in the presence of Roberto.  Two is better than one.  By the end of their engagement session in downtown Denver, I barely remembered that these two were supposed to be camera shy.  When you take two people that are crazy about each other and place them together, their chemistry takes over; they soon forget all about the camera, and they get lost in their own little world.  My role at that point becomes not so much a creative director as simply providing suggestions and letting them interpret them through their own ways of interacting with each other.  Part of what keeps my job fresh is that there’s a unique subtlety to every couple’s interactions; it means that you never know quite what you’ll end up with, and it’s always rewarding to see a couple’s unique personalities show through in their wedding and engagement photos.  One observation I noted about Crystal is that she lights up when Roberto touches her.  I realize this sounds cliche, but their engagement photos speak for themselves.  See for yourself!

I’m really looking forward to photographing their Denver wedding at the Grant Humphrey Mansion in April.  Thank you guys for inviting me (wink, wink).

Meet the team at Voit Real Estate.

This is going to be one of those posts where I post an ungodly amount of engagement photos and then, as a photographer, I scold myself for not doing a tighter edit and only showing the best of the best.  But you know what:  that doesn’t apply in this case—because ALL of these photos kick major @ss.  They kick so much @ss (and I use the LOL-speak spelling of ‘@ss’ only b/c google will chastise me for using foul language and thusly lower my search engine rankings), that if they were thrown into The Octagon with Chuck Norris, Chong Li and JCVD, these foes would face a bitter end

(I’m sure Roy will be able to appreciate this, being from my generation, which grew up watching real action movies the likes of Blood Sport, Rambo, and Delta Force–not the nancy, sissy cr@p they play these days).

So, where we were?  Yes,  Ashley and Roy.  I could tell you all the classic stuff like how they met at a co-ed softball league and hit a home run (ok, maybe I added that last part ), or how Roy proposed to Ashley while they were out for a Vespa ride and almost missed the opportunity when Ashley rode ahead of him and almost didn’t stop at EXACTLY the top secret spot he had picked out, or how they share a mutual love of dressing up their cats, Stormy & Sawyer, for the holidays (and job interviews), but I think what should be noted the most is the strength of his embrace and how she just falls into it like home—and on that note, I think I’ll get started on my first harlequinn romance novel (j/k j/k).  In all seriousness,  I don’t get a ton of time to get to know my couples; after all, Ashley and Roy have spent the past four years together going on many adventures.  So I have to go on what I see in the moment, which tells you a lot, actually, about how comfortable a couple is with each other that they can forget the world around them (and a certain photographer) and just lose themselves in the moment.  These guys were so utterly lost in the moment that you’d think they were still using Apple Maps™

Ashley and Roy, I had a blast photographing the two of you in your idyllic seaside town that smells like a giant botanical garden (apparently year round even in the middle of winter–so jealous);  I LOL-ed along with you as we repeatedly got photo-bombed by dogs running amuck; and I loved that you invited me over for dinner and that said dinner consisted of two very delicious deep dish Chicago style pizzas that Roy made by hand (and very successfully defended his family’s honor with).  Thank you guys for having me.  I’m really looking forward to photographing your wedding in august at the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History.

Erik & Colleen’s wedding at the Omni Hotel in San Diego was an absolute blast!  I love how special their son Finn is to them, and I love how they made a point to design their whole ceremony around him.  It’s not often (actually, practically never) that you get to witness a mother and bride looking into both her baby boy’s eyes and her soon-to-be-husband’s eyes during a ceremony.  It was definitely a sweet moment that they will cherish and share with their friends and family.

It’s always fun meeting new  couples and learning things about them;  I love doing engagement shoots for this very reason.  It’s laid back, fun, amazing photos come as a result, but best of all, by the time the wedding rolls around, it’s like we’re long time friends.  That level of comfort makes the wedding day photos so much better.  During their San Francisco engagement shoot, I learned that Colleen has a fantastic sense of humor and is extremely resilient–she did, after all, sit on a pile of dog poo accidentally when I asked them to sit on a grassy knoll during their engagement shoot.  I don’t know what was funnier: her sitting on the pile, or the ‘ick’ faces Erik was making afterwards.  Hahahahaha.  Fortunately, there was a hose near by.  I learned that Erik loves sailing, plays rugby and takes his Honda enduro bike on adventures into the mountains and dirt roads.  –all very manly things, of course.  I can see why Colleen was attracted to him.  During the wedding, I learned that Erik also likes rocking out to Hannah Montanna’s song “Party in the U.S.A.”…and does so shamelessly, nay, triumphantly!  I can’t say that I saw that one coming.

Thank you for inviting me to be a part of your special day.   I wish you guys the best.

My last wedding before moving from southern California, and one of my most beautiful weddings to date:  Ann & Geno’s wedding at the gorgeous cliffside hotel known as the Surf and Sand Resort in Laguna Beach, California.  I LOVE shooting in the Laguna Beach area.  The smell of the ocean on this blissfully sunny summer day was just sublime.  I can’t think of a more refreshing and enchanted setting than this stunning hotel perched on a cliff overlooking the Laguna Beach coastline’s crystal blue waters.

I dont think i’ve ever laughed so hard on a photo shoot than I did when the Stein family got together this past Thanksgiving at Chatauqua park to take some family photos.  I wish my parents were this hilarious.  I was cracking up at the excellent job Zack’s parents were doing at embarrassing him and his sister Ally.  This was seriously the most fun i’ve had behind the camera in a long time!

I flew to San Francisco last month to photograph Colleen & Erik’s Engagement Session in Presidio park and the Marina District;  I dont think i’ll ever stop being amazed at the diversity of this incredibly photogenic city.  I’m so stoked to be flying to San Diego in a few days time to photograph their New Year’s Eve Wedding at the  Omni San Diego Hotel.

It was a HOT, HOT, HOT day when I flew in from Colorado to photograph Jamie & Kyle’s wedding in San Juan Capistrano at the Marbella Country Club .  With my  Nat Geo expedition camera bag, and the sweat rolling down my face, I looked more like I was ready to parachute into Borneo and photograph the natives than a destination wedding photographer in southern California.  Thank you guys for inviting me to be a part of your special day and for making me feel so at home (and especially Jamie, who let me hide in her air conditioned suite… lol