Chris Humphreys Photography Blog | Wedding photographers based in Denver, CO | Shoot Worldwide » Welcome to the photo blog of Chris and Katie Humphreys!

Well, as is normally the case, our travel schedule has seemingly taken over our summer and our blogging has unfortunately fallen a bit behind.  :(  We’ve had an incredible schedule of weddings this year that have taken us to Orange County, CA, Steamboat Springs, CO, Flathead Lake, Montana, Beaver Creek, CO, and the Big Island of Hawaii…. amongst other places!  But alas the light at the end of the tunnel is in sight and it’s hard to believe we’re almost a month away from the end of our season!

When we look back on this year, without a doubt one of the highlights was Jenna and Charley’s wedding in Flathead Lake, Montana.  In 2007 we shot our first Montana wedding and to say we fell in love with the state would be quite an understatement.  I’ve looked forward to heading back there ever since 2007, so when we were contacted about Jenna and Charley’s wedding I couldn’t wait!

One thing we just love is when our couples make their wedding an entire weekend celebration which is exactly what Jenna and Charley did! We actually didn’t go up just for their wedding, but we were able to capture their entire weekend.  Sports are not only a huge part of Jenna and Charley’s life, but also for both of their families…so what better than to have an actual “Olympics” day competition?!

Charley, the groom, enjoying some pre-wedding day basketball!

Jenna, the bride, and her mom enjoying Volleyball –  a game Jenna played through college!

And since the day took place at their family’s lake house, you HAVE to have canoe races!  :)

Of course, the little ones who couldn’t quite compete in the official games weren’t left completely out of the action….

Afterwards everyone got their cowboy hats on and met up for a very un-traditional “rehearsal dinner” at the Garden Bar in Big Fork, MT.  Seriously, the best dive bar you’ve ever seen

Towards the end of the night, everyone started dancing to the house band… we loved this image of Jenna’s mom dancing with her dad and Jenna and her dad dancing in the background.

Speaking of the house band, I absolutely LOVED this image of the guitarist ripping out a solo with a cigarette in his mouth.  :)

One of my favorite images from the night… Jenna and Charley stealing a quick moment together in the midst of the crowd…

On the day of the wedding we photographed Jenna and Charley meeting together for the first time…

Jenna was an incredible bride-

Charley was looking pretty dapper himself!  Love it!

Of course, the kids cleaned up quite nicely as well….  :)

The details were amazing.  So true to the feeling of Montana and Flathead Lake.

The wedding (as well as the “Olympics Day”) was held at Charley’s dad’s property on the lake.  You could tell it was so incredibly special to both of them to have it here, a place that Charley had spent many a summer growing up and where Jenna and Charley will come back to again and again throughout their lives with their own family.

We always love the moment right before the dad takes his daughter down the aisle.

After the ceremony, we encouraged Jenna and Charley to paddle out in the canoe for some fun shots.  They were such troopers and climbed right into the canoe!  The combination of Flathead lake, the beautiful mountains that surround it, and Charley’s red canoe gave us some fantastic colors to work with!

A few of our favorite images from the reception….Loved the stark lighting in this image during the father daughter dance…

Not totally sure, but I think Charley was enjoying himself during the party…  :)

I think Jenna’s dad actually had a pretty good time as well…  :)

We loved this image of Charley and his dad…

Could there have been a more perfect way to end an incredible wedding weekend than with some fireworks?  :)

As a side note, we  always encourage our couples to get coordinators… great events always go smoothly with them and this one was no exception.  We had such a fun time working with Tanya Gersh who did an exceptional job with the timeline and making Jenna and Charley’s day super relaxed, as well as coordinating the beautiful details.  I sincerely hope that we get to work with her again soon!  :)

Jenna and Charley, as we said before your wedding was one of the highlights of our year.  We had an incredible time getting to know your families and documenting them celebrating with you!

One of the best things is when we meet clients who truly become our good friends even before their wedding happens.

When we met up with Cooper and Elizabeth for their engagement pictures (which you can see as a portfolio on our main site here) we knew we had an instant connection outside the client/photographer relationship.  Soon we were having dinner at each other’s houses, Katie was going out with Elizabeth to see the Twilight movies, and we would all get into long legal discussions (Elizabeth clerks for a local judge).

All that to say, when the day finally came that we got to drive up to Steamboat to shoot Cooper and Elizabeth’s wedding we truly got to feel how we ideally want to feel at every wedding.  Like we were just friend’s showing up with cameras.

So, without further ado, here are some of our favorite images from Cooper and Elizabeth’s wedding.

LOVED Elizabeth’s flowers.  Awesome.

Loved all these shots of Cooper and Elizabeth.  Don’t be deceived, that tall grass is on very steep hill!  Many thanks to Alex, Cooper’s groomsmen for allowing Elizabeth to borrow your tux shoes to make the trek!  :)

One of my favorite images from their first dance.  Love the hanging light globes in the background and the texture of the tent.

I always recommend to our couples they build some time into their timeline to grab some fun shots around sunset.  The lighting is always awesome and the images we capture are always worth the 10 mins it takes to grab them!

It goes completely without saying that Elizabeth was absolutely stunning on her wedding day.  Had to post a couple shots of just her…

Cooper and Elizabeth thank you both for being such amazing clients and even more loyal friends.  We’re so grateful that we’ve gotten to know you and can’t wait for even more dinners together and legal discussions to come!  People like you guys are what makes this business worth it.  :)

We’ve been in touch with Stephanie and Chris for quite some time now… they booked us over a year before their wedding, and we shot their engagement session last September – so you can image that we were thrilled that we finally got to capture their wedding in early June!!  They got married La Venta Inn, a beautiful location in the hills of Palos Verdes Estate in Southern CA.  This quaint spot was absolutely stunning!

We loved this moment from Chris and Stephanie’s first meeting.

Stephanie was a picture perfect bride!

Stephanie and Chris had just incredible details throughout the day.  Here were a few of our favorites…

More of the awesome colors and beautiful textures of La Venta.

As a note to photographers, there was no flash or reflector used in this next image, just the light coming off a white painted building directly behind me.

Chris and Stephanie’s reception was filled with such a range of emotions.  I haven’t laughed at a wedding as much as I did during their toasts in a long time.

From there, everyone transitioned to the parent dances which were filled with emotion – such a special time.

Chris and Stephanie – Katie and I are so grateful  that you invited us to participate in your wedding and we feel incredibly blessed to have both witnessed and documented your beautifully planned day.  Many, many thanks.  :)

Katie and I kicked off our season down in Southern California shooting at the Surf and Sand Resort in Laguna Beach.  It was obvious to us when we first met with Julia and Tim (and Julia’s parents) that this was going to be a really special wedding for a very special family.  After we shot their engagement session (which you can see on our site) we saw just how photogenic Tim and Julia were – their love is so genuine and it shows in all their photos together.  It goes without saying that we were thrilled when the time came to head down to Laguna Beach last month to photograph their wedding.

Here’s a few of our favorite images from their day!

We loved pairing Tim and Julia’s ring with this iPad that was sitting in the hotel room where the girls were getting ready.  It almost seemed like a period shot in a sense – years later when Tim and Julia see this image, they’ll remember the social craze that was revolving around this just released product at the time of their wedding!

Tim and his guys hanging out.

The first meeting between Tim and Julia was incredibly special and emotional.  Katie and I felt honored to be there to document it.

Katie and I hardly had to give these two any directions at all while we were shooting their portraits.  Their natural chemistry just flows out and made it simple to grab great shots like these.

Loved this shot of Tim waiting for his bride to come down the aisle.

I love this moment Katie grabbed of Julia and her dad, moments before they came down the aisle.

So much of our job is anticipating when a great moment is going to happen.  Photographing a couple coming back up the aisle always yields great shots, but often it’s the moment right after they’ve reached the end of the aisle that the “real” moment happens.

Right after the ceremony when the parents see their married kids first the first time is always a great moment too.  We love the expression on Julia’s dad’s face in this image.

Julia and Tim, thanks again for allowing us to document your wedding.  We truly were so honored  to get to know your families and to take part of a wedding so packed with meaning and emotion.  :)  You two are incredibly special and we’re so glad to have gotten to know you and your families!