As I’ve written about before, I love traveling for engagement sessions and I particularly love trips to the north east.  You find architecture you almost never find in Colorado, particularly in a such a cool place like the Yale campus.

Here’s a few of my favorite images from throughout our session…

Corinne and Ranjit told me an interesting story about how this building behind them is actually a library, but the architect who designed it wanted to build a cathedral (which Yale didn’t want), so instead of building a cathedral, he built a library that looks just like  a cathedral!  ;)  Love it!

Since Corinne and Ranjit are both psychologists, I found it amusing when they started mock fighting each other.  :)

If you need any more insight into Corinne and Ranjit’s personalities look no further than this last image….

Corinne and Ranjit… Many many thanks!  Thanks for collaborating with me as we got some really fun shots together!  Thanks for showing me around the amazing town of New Haven and thanks for introducing me to the wonder that is mashed potato pizza!  Most of all, thanks for being such genuine, fun loving people.  It’s getting to know such great people that make working in this industry so fulfilling and you guys are right up there with the best!

We came down Friday night and photographed both their rehearsal…

As well as their rehearsal dinner….

I loved this fun moment between Amanda and Brian’s mom…

The next morning everyone got ready down at the historic Belo Mansion in downtown Dallas where both the wedding and the reception were taking place.

Loved this image of Amanda’s mom getting ready…

Loved this moment between Amanda and her dad before Amanda got in her dress…

A few of the details…

Amanda and Brian like to fool around…. As evidenced…  ;)

Despite being goofy, Amanda looked absolutely BEAUTIFUL.

Of course, Brian didn’t look half bad either!!

Loved this moment that Katie caught between Amanda and her mom before Amanda went down the aisle…

One of my favorite images from the day, right before Amanda’s dad gave her away.  I just loved this moment between the two of them.

Wonderful moment between the two of them after the ceremony…

And then when they saw their parents…

We had just a few mins to catch some images of the two of them before the reception… here’s a few of my favorites:

Love these reception details, including the gorgeous cake by Frosted Art.

And also this AMAZING groom’s cake of Brian and Amanda’s dog, Fu.  I’ve seen photos of Fu, and this cake was an absolutely amazing replica!

First dance…

Parent dances….

A few from the rest of the reception….

Brian and Amanda had an absolutely fantastic band called Limelight out of Dallas come and play… and let me tell ya… These guys could PLAY!

Brian and Amanda thank you SO much for inviting Katie and I to come down, celebrate with you both, and to document your incredible wedding!  You both are amazing and we can’t wait to visit you both next time we’re down in Dallas!!

Here’s a few of my favorite images with Matt and Sarah from their wedding last month.

The wedding weekend started out on Friday with a rehearsal and then a rehearsal dinner at Sweet Basil, a fun restaurant right in Vail Village.  Both the town of Vail as well as the restaurant have been very meaningful to Sarah and her family who have been making the trek out to Vail from their home in Kansas City for years.

The night included lots of toasts and for some reason, I absolutely love this image of one of the grandfather’s toasting.  While there’s nothing particularly crazy about the image, it’s one of my favorites from the weekend.

Sarah’s sisters toasting…. They spent most of the weekend laughing.  I would have loved to have witnessed this family as these girls were all growing up… I quickly got the picture that laughter was something that happened quite frequently in that household!

A few of Sarah and her bridesmaids getting ready the next morning…

Both the wedding and the reception took place at Larkspur in Vail.  I loved the details they set out throughout the dinning room.  Here’s just a few…

Here’s a few images from Sarah and Matt’s first meeting before the ceremony…

Awesome flowers!

Sarah with her bridesmaids…

Loved these couple images of Sarah and her dad coming down the aisle…

After the ceremony, I was able to get a few more of Matt and Sarah before they headed off to enjoy their party!

Sarah was absolutely stunning!

I guess Matt wasn’t looking too shabby either…

A few from the cocktail hour and reception…

Another one of my favorites from the day…. Love catching guests (particularly fathers of the brides) in moments of pure expressions of emotion (including laughter!)  This one fits that category perfectly….

Love this sweet moment between Sarah and Matt as well…

First dance…

During the reception, Sarah surprised almost everyone when she hopped on stage with some of her friends and sang a few numbers for the crowd…

The crowd responded.  ;)  Sarah’s family was all cheering her on from the front row for the entire performance!

Sarah and Matt, thanks for allowing me to be a part of your fantastic wedding!  It was so fun to get to know both of your families and to document your BEAUTIFUl day!  ;)

Here’s a few of my favorites from the session…

Kirsten and Cody – many many thanks.  Thanks so much for introducing me to such a beautiful area of Colorado I’d never seen before.  Thanks for being so fun to work with (and for having such a cute dog!)  Thanks for the great time hanging out and chatting over Beau Jo’s pizza in Idaho Springs afterwards!  I can’t wait for your wedding next June in Napa Valley!  I know it’s going to be an absolute blast!

Here are just a few of my favorite images from my session with them…

Taken with my 400mm f2.8.

Just for fun these next three were taken with my… my 400 f2.8 with my 1.4x extender for a total of 560mm.  Yes… I was quite a ways back.  :)  I just love the long focal length flattens the image and gets such good separation between the subject and the background.

Many thanks to Staci Lyn and Mark!  It was so great to get to know you both a bit better after the shoot!  I’m so excited for your wedding next August!  :)

Here’s a few of the highlights from the day…..

From their first time seeing each other the day of.

Loved this shot… Brad, his dad, and his father are all avid golfers, so it was fun to be able to photograph them out on the course of the Lake Shore Country Club where the wedding was held..

Because it was a Jewish ceremony, the cocktail hour was actually before the ceremony and the ceremony took place after sunset.

A few from the Ketubah signing.

The outdoor nighttime ceremony certainly presented it’s own set of challenges, it was also a neat opportunity to play with the contrast of the lights set up for the ceremony vs. the backdrop of the darkness of the night.

A few from throughout the reception…

Both Hillary’s dad and her brother play the drums so it was fun to see them both hop up and play drums with the band during the reception…

Love this final one of Hillary and her mom out on the dance floor…

Many many thanks to Hillary and Brad for allowing me to document their beautiful wedding!  Hillary after being in the same 5th grade class together growing up, it was so fun to be there on your wedding day!  :)  Many many thanks also to Kenny for his excellent eye and amazing help throughout the day!

Pictage was seeking images that evoke feelings of fall for their homepage and elected to use one of my favorite images from Cooper and Elizabeth’s engagement session.

In addition, Wedding Photography Directory contacted us a couple weeks ago wanting to feature an image from our site as one of their Wedding Photo of the Month images.

It’s always so humbling when clients appreciate the work that we do for them, and even further gratifying when respected organizations affirm and showcase the work that we produce for the rest of the industry.  Many thanks to Pictage and Wedding Photography Directory for the opportunity to display our work on their sites!

I’m SO excited  for Pictage’s PartnerCon this November.  As many of you know my wife Katie has been working for Pictage for over a year now and has been deeply involved in the planning of this event for several months.  It’s been so cool to have the “insiders” view on what Pictage has been planning.

Being that we both work from home and work from the same room, I can tell you that the amount of discussions, phone calls, conference calls, Skype messages, emails, texts, etc that the community team at Pictage is creating a PartnerCon that isn’t just “another photographers conference.”  This unique conference is going to truly educate folks new to the industry as well as challenge the ideas of people like myself who have been shooting for years.  I’ve been to WPPI in Vegas and Photo Expo in NYC in the past and honestly don’t get that much out of it (in terms of being challenged and coming away with new ideas).  However, I can’t wait for PartnerCon this year.  I truly believe it will be a transforming experience for those who attend.

I’m so glad not only to be attending the conference, but to get the opportunity to speak on one of the group panels!  Joe Bussink (one of my photography heros!), Justine Ungaro, Will Jacks, and myself will all be discussing “What Makes an Image Great” and will be critiquing each other’s images.  I’m not only honored and humbled to be sharing a stage with these other incredible photographers, but am so excited to hear the conversations that take place.  The discussions should be particularly interesting because Pictage assembled a group of photographers with quite different styles and approaches, so this should be interesting!

Here’s a link where you can register (and get a hefty discount as well!).  If you haven’t already registered, make sure you register soon, as I know spots are starting to fill up quickly.

Also, click here to see the other presentations, group panels, and shooting workshops that will be taking place.

See you in San Diego!

Here’s a few of my favorite images from the day:

Loved this image of Laura’s nephew getting ready.  His belt was bit too big, so his dad cut it shorter with a knife.  Here he is inspecting the belt post surgery.  :)

Obviously, one of the coolest benefits of this business is getting to meet amazing couples (like Laura and Justin), but one of the often under looked benefits to this business is getting to know incredible vendors like Kara Delay who not only coordinated a flawless event for Laura and Justin, but provided them with gorgeous florals.  (How she does both, I’ll NEVER know…., but she totally rocked both aspects.)   Here’s a few images of Laura’s beautiful bouquet.  (Scroll down to see some more of Kara’s amazing magic that she worked at the reception)

A few from the ceremony…

LOVED this quick moment of Justin winking to his family members in the front row during the mass.

Laura checking out her husband’s new ring…

One of the great benefits of shooting in the Colorado mountains is not having to go far to find great spots to shoot.  All these photos were taken with 200 yards of the church after the ceremony.

Heading up to the top of the mountain for the reception at the Lodge at Sunspot Winter Park Resort…

More of Justin and Laura’s fantastic details provided by Kara Delay!

I’ve often mentioned on this blog that one of my favorite times of the day is to just capture natural candid images throughout the cocktail hour and reception.  I very rarely grab groups of people together and have them pose for photos (unless a few people ask me to take a group photo, which of course then I’m always happy to do).  As a rule though, I prefer capturing  people in these types of candid and natural moments so much more because these images always have so much more appeal to me.

A few moments from throughout the reception….

Loved this final image of Justin and his brother rocking it out on the dance floor!

Many many thanks again to Laura and Justin for allowing me the document their super fun wedding, to Erin for doing such a great job assisting, and to Kara Delay who did such a phenomenal job quarterbacking the day as well as designing all the wonderful details and flowers!

I always encourage couples to pick locations for their engagement sessions that are sentimental to them or that are particularly meaningful to them.  This was the bench where Brian proposed to Amanda.  So glad we got to use this spot!

One of my favorite moments of the afternoon with them…. Amanda made some sarcastic comment to Brian and the dead pan look on his face was absolutely priceless.  :)

After an awesome dinner with Brian and Amanda where we literally got lost in several hours of wonderful conversation, we grabbed a few more pics with some fun evening light.  Loved this particular spot…

Amanda and Brian thanks so much for a session filled with laughter (on ALL sides!), and for such a wonderful evening at dinner!  I’m beyond thrilled that I get to come back down to Texas in just a few weeks to photograph your wedding!