Archive for June, 2010

Colorado Springs Senior Portrait Photographer | Brittany’s Senior Pics

June 29, 2010

Last weekend, Brittany and I headed to Red Rock Canyon Open Space and hiked around the beautiful area.  Brittany was a real trooper, and braved the bugs and other who knows what to adhere to my every request.  She’s the last of my Senior Reps for this year, and I had a great time with her.  Brittany will be attending Fort Lewis College in Durango in 2011.  This absolutely thrills me, as it’s my alma matter!  I know Brittany will LOVE Durango and Fort Lewis.  Talking with her about it made me itchy for a visit to my second home…  anyway, here’s another look at her pictures.

As soon as I saw Brittany get out of her car and saw this adorable dress she picked up from Gloss, I was having visions of vintage styled portraits with a hand-colored look to them, so I was thrilled with the way these came out.  :)

Brittany and her family were such a fun group to spend the evening with!  Thanks so much Brittany…I’m glad you love your pictures!

Like this post?  Leave a comment.  I love hearing from you!

Posted in Senior Portraits | 1 Comment »

Colorado Springs Wedding Photographer | Jarrad and Brittany at The Pinery

June 26, 2010

At the beginning of June, I had the absolute honor and privilege of  photographing the wedding of Jarrad and Brittany.  Don’t let their looks fool you.  While this couple is a little young, these two have been in love and together for 5 and 1/2 years!  This wedding was a long time coming.  Brittany contacted me and asked me to photograph her wedding way back in 2008.  I’ve been looking forward to it for such a long time, and I absolutely love their pictures.  It was certainly worth the wait!  For their wedding location, Brittany and Jarrad selected The Pinery in Black Forrest.  I was very excited about this venue, because it is all inclusive.  As a photographer, most don’t get to shoot there because of the way The Pinery is all-inclusive, and has it’s own photographer.  Brittany and Jarrad wanted me to photograph their wedding, and I was so happy to do so!  Brittany and Jarred and their families have made me feel so welcome, and they have treated me like an honorary member of their family each time I’ve seen them.  I would like to give a big thanks to all of them.  The wedding was absolutely gorgeous.  On some level each photographer is only as good as the couples they photograph, and these two made my job that day easy!  Another person who made my job easy that day was my assistant, Nicole.  She is likely to become a regular assistant at weddings…she did a phenomenal job, and was great to have along.  Thanks Nicole!  All the detail pictures below are hers.

It is always exciting for me to watch the groom take in his bride for the first time.  It doesn’t matter to me whether it’s at the beginning of the ceremony or in a special place with just the bride and groom.  Brittany and Jarrad chose not to see each other before their wedding, but Melinda, Jarrad’s mom, had the idea to try to get a picture of the two of them holding hands with something between them, so that they couldn’t see each other, but could be next to one another.  I scoped out the Pinery, and thought the pretty curtain they have outside the ballroom would do nicely.  I was so proud of Jarrad and Brittany, because neither one of them peeked for the shots you see below.  Good job, guys!  :)

So, like I was saying…the groom’s reaction is always my favorite part.  When everyone else is looking at the bride, I watch for him.  I can always tell when she enters by the look on his face, but I was definitely not expecting Jarrad to cry.  She was breathtakingly beautiful, though.

One of my favorite things about Brittany and Jarrad’s wedding was that they released live butterflies after their ceremony.  Brittany was absolutely giddy with excitement, and the butterflies were a hit.

My other favorite thing about this wedding was that there were so few people sitting in their seats!  This group wasn’t afraid to have a good time on the dance floor.  This could also be attributed to the awesome DJ’s, DJs With A Pulse.  They had all the guests up and dancing at one point or another during the evening.

Thanks so much, Jarrad and Brittany, and to your families!  I had a wonderful time at your wedding.

Like this post?  Leave a comment!  I love hearing from you.  :)

Posted in Weddings | 4 Comments »

Colorado Springs Senior Portrait Photographer | Marisa’s Senior Portrait

June 15, 2010

As promised, here is a look at Marisa’s senior portraits.  Marisa will be a senior at an area high school in the fall.  She is an impressive 3 sport athlete, and she plans to go to school to be a veterinarian.  She is the second of my senior reps, and I had a blast doing her pictures at Fox Run Park last week.

Marisa’s favorite color is green, so for an added touch I got her the green balloons you see here.

As you can see, Marisa tried a variety of outfits and make-up for her pictures.  I never limit the number of clothing changes during your shoot, as long as we can still have enough time to shoot within the time frame allotted (2-3 hours).   I do this because I like the way it really reflects the client and their style!  (This is just as true for engagement and other portrait sessions…so don’t be afraid to be yourself!)

Marisa, I had a lot of fun with you!  Thanks so much.

Like this post?  Leave a comment!  I love hearing from you.

Posted in Senior Portraits | 1 Comment »

Colorado Springs Senior Photographer | Morgan’s Senior Portraits

June 12, 2010

For just the the few minutes it will take you to read this, put the way you may feel about graffiti aside.  Why?   Because I had to do that when I was shooting Morgan’s senior portraits.  See, since Morgan was a freshman and discovered Rainbow Falls (or,more commonly and affectionately known as Graffiti Falls to Colorado Springs high school aged kids), she knew she wanted to have her senior pictures taken there.  Who was I to say no to that!?  I had never been there myself, but I’ll admit, I was a bit nervous to photograph there.  I looked up some pictures on the internet, and while nervous, I was intrigued.  I’m not big on graffiti, but I can certainly see the appeal, artistically and otherwise, especially when it’s done well.  So we hiked up the hill to the falls, and upon seeing it I caught my breath.  It was both overwhelming and unexpectedly pretty at the same time.   I was instantly excited, and when we started shooting my excitement quadrupled.

Morgan is the first of my Senior Reps.  I’ll have the second coming up next!  In the mean time, take a peek at Morgan’s Graffiti Falls Senior Portraits.

I played around with some textures for this picture in front of the falls.  Her mom was eager to have a few choices that weren’t drenched with graffiti, and I rather liked the way this one came out.

My two favorites:

Part of what made Morgan’s pictures so fun, aside from the unusual location of course, were that she didn’t say no to anything I suggested, and that she was able to continually be completely herself.  For example, with the falls being located right under Highway 24, there are some structural braces that I suggested Morgan climb up onto if she was comfortable doing so.  She said, SURE!, waded through the thigh high COLD creek and was up in the beams before I knew it.  She did a great job, and I had a lot of fun with her!  It helps that Morgan is a fairly successful runner, so she had the athletic ability to complete the tasks I requested!

Thanks so much, Morgan!  I had a great time with you.

I always love to hear from readers, but I’d especially like to know your thoughts about this particular post!  :)  Leave a comment!

Posted in Senior Portraits | 1 Comment »

Colorado Springs Maternity Photographer | Shawnte’s BabyBump Complete! (Stage 4)

June 11, 2010

It’s been so fun to watch Shawnte grow her sweet daughter Alaia (prounounced uh-lay-uh).  The sweet little girl was born on June 6th, just 5 days after we finished up Shawnte’s BabyBump series!  I’m so glad Shawnte listened to her gut and urged me to schedule them as early as we did.  She wasn’t due until the 18th!  It seems the ladies whose maternity pictures I’ve done just have babies that are excited to come out and be photographed OUTSIDE the belly!  I can’t wait to do Alaia’s Growing Baby portraits over the next year, and I really can’t wait for her mom to call and tell me that I get to meet the sweet little angel!  :)

It’s hard for me not to get a little emotional when I think about new moms and dads.  The two best days in my life were the day I married my husband, Jim, and the day I became a mother.  For that reason, weddings and pregnancy never fail to bring a tear or two of joy to my eye.  Becoming a parent is such an amazing journey, and I’m so excited for Shawnte and her husband Sean to be beginning theirs!  Congratulations, you two.


Sean did an amazing job painting all those stripes in Alaia’s room!  The colors are inspired by the adorable onesie you see here.

Like this post?  Leave a comment.  I love hearing from you!

Posted in Maternity | No Comments »

Colorado Springs Wedding Photographer | Mike and Tina’s Engagement

June 9, 2010

Oh dear…I’m behind again!  It’s been so beautiful outside, and I’ve been busy shooting!  I’ve also been playing with my kiddos, tending the veggie garden, etc…but I’m finally catching up on my work.  Here’s the first step in catching up!

You’ve already met Mike and Tina from the post where I told you about the wedding giveaway winners.  On Monday of Memorial Day weekend, we headed up to their wedding venue, Crooked Willow Farms for their engagement shoot.  As soon as I realized where Crooked Willow is located, it instantly became near and dear to my heart.  When my parents first married, they built a house about 2 miles south of what is now Crooked Willow.  We lived in that house until I was 5, and some of my best childhood memories come from that house.  I love driving along Perry Park Road, especially in the summer time.  It’s always green and gorgeous, and needless to say I was so excited for this shoot, because it gave me the chance to walk down Memory Lane.  To get there, you have to drive through Palmer Lake.  Growing up in Monument, I always had a few friends who lived in Palmer Lake, and so if Perry Park Road is Memory Lane, then Palmer Lake is Memory Dr.  :)

Anyway, enough of my ramblings.  As expected, Crooked Willow is everything I hoped it would be, and Brendan, the event coordinator was so helpful.  Since I hadn’t been there, he gave me a  full tour of the indoor facilities, and walked around with us while we shot Mike and Tina’s pictures so that we could get the best spots on the property.  If you’re looking for a wedding venue, I highly recommend Brendan and his staff!

Tina has some fierce blue eyes… gorgeous!

The Eastern sky was rich with deep blue color as the sun was setting.

Whenever I would talk to Mike and Tina about Crooked Willow, the animals that live there were a constant topic of conversation.  Mike would tell me about Lola the pig.  He tried to explain her to me…  ”Lola is an 850# pig that lives at Crooked Willow, and she’s the coolest thing I’ve ever seen”, Mike would tell me.  Well, I’d smile and nod, and say sure, they have an 850# pig…ok.  Well, when I met Lola, I could see why Mike was so intrigued!  She has quite the personality, (for a pig) and is quite friendly.  She was thrilled to have Mike get right inside her stall and say hello.  Of course, I kept singing in my head, “Her name was Lola…she was a showgirl…”  Tina, on the other hand, would always talk about the horses that live at Crooked Willow.  As soon as Brendan took us into the private barns where the championship horses are stalled, I instantly knew her excitement.  The horses are very big, (probably about 19-20 hands) and, for lack of a better word, simply athletic.  Every muscle is defined, and they are true things of beauty.  What Mike and Tina didn’t tell me about were the camels that live at Crooked Willow.  They have 2, and one is quite friendly and wanted to get in on the engagement session action.  :)

Big thanks to Mike, Tina, and Brendan for such a fun shoot.  I can’t wait for the wedding in August!

Like this post?  Leave a comment.  I love to hear from you!

Posted in Engagements | No Comments »