This time last year I was tromping around in the snow taking engagement photos of Alison and Alex in anticipation for their wedding that is to take place next week! Wow! Where did a year go? On this Valentine’s Day I was thinking about them and all the other couples that might be getting engaged today! This is the next biggest holiday for engagements after Christmas! I’m so excited to finally share these awesome photos with you on a day that celebrates love! I can’t wait to cover their wedding next weekend! Enjoy!
Fall is by far the busiest time of year for both wedding coverage and family portrait sessions in Colorado and its easy to see why. Beautiful fall foliage colors last for just a brief moment and people love capturing the season in their memories. Because of this we’ve been offering quick mini sessions for one day only in the Fall so that we can accommodate a bunch of families looking to get a quick updated family photo for their holiday cards at a reduced price. If we are able to host a mini session day then we wait until September to see what dates are still open on our calendar after all the weddings and other events have been scheduled and pick a day as close to the peak of the Fall foliage colors as possible to schedule these special sessions. Mini sessions are for immediate family only and last 20 minutes. Due to the short period of time given for these sessions we are also not allowing pets for them. I love taking photos with your family pet, but they need more time to be worked with than the short time-frame we have for the mini sessions. If you are interested in booking a session with your pet please reach out to us directly to check availability for a full one hour session. For our mini sessions, families are encouraged to arrive a few minutes before their session start time to ensure an on-time arrival so we can get started right away. This way we can spend the entire twenty minutes allotted taking multiple poses of your family. We book sessions back to back to accommodate as many families as possible on this date. Late arrivals will get shortened sessions if we have time to still photograph them. Check out some photos from our 2021 Fall Session below. If you have a highly organized family that is punctual and would like to get on our monthly newsletter email so you can be informed when we are running these specials sign up on our newsletter form here – http://eepurl.com/cuTnlH
A year ago Becka and Bryce booked us to cover their wedding that will already be next weekend and then we photographed their fall engagement portraits to memorialize the special occasion! How quickly a year flies by! It hardly seems like a year has passed, but the fact that I’m just now getting to blog about it shows you how busy we’ve been! With the leaves just beginning to turn here in Denver I was thinking about all of the fall weddings and portrait sessions coming up for us in the next couple of weeks. Fall is a magical time of year and just so happens to be the busiest season for photographers everywhere. Families are wanting to document their family for holiday cards, couples are wanting those beautiful colors in their save-the-date cards and who doesn’t like wearing boots and chunky sweaters.
I just wanted to share some of my favorite photos from this session with their puppy in anticipation for their wedding next week. It will be great to see them again! Enjoy these fun festive fall photos!
The summer going into fall is the perfect time to schedule a high school senior portrait session. Most Colorado high schools require the yearbook photo submission by the end of September or first part of October. By scheduling your session early you ensure that you can find a great photographer available to meet your needs. Since Colorado is also a beautiful state with lots of outdoor background opportunities many students want to have their photos taken outside. We offer both an outdoor or an indoor session depending on the desire of the client. Whether you are doing an indoor studio or outdoor session you’ll want your outfits to coordinate with the backdrops. It’s a good idea to discuss the types of looks you are wanting with your photographer so if you’re doing an outdoor session they can suggest locations that will work with your wardrobe or they can pick out some studio backdrops that compliment your chosen outfits.
Here is some suggestions on how to style your wardrobe for your portrait session:
1.) Choose Solid colors over patterns and prints! If you do choose an outfit with a print it’s a good idea to break up some of that print with some solid color items like a belt, scarf, jacket etc. A pattern with a larger scale print is going to look better than a smaller pattern that can be distracting to the camera. I also find that some patterns can really “date” a photo. Choosing a solid color outfit is going to give your portraits a more classic look that will look good hanging on the parents’ wall for years. If you have chosen a session with multiple outfit changes then incorporating one or two outfits with a little bit of pattern isn’t bad.
2.) Consider a casual and a more dressy option. A casual option would be jeans and a couple different shirts. A more formal option is a dress, skirt or cocktail dress (this can even be your Prom dress or other dress from a formal dance). For men a dress shirt, jacket and even a tie if they so choose. It’s just nice to have options! One of your more formal photos might even be great addition to a job resume in the future!
3.) Make sure your outfits fit well! I find that clothes that are baggy or oversized are not very complimentary on almost all body types and will make you appear larger than you actually are. If your outfit is supposed to fit-to-size, make sure it actually does that and doesn’t fit too tightly or loosely, especially when it comes to your straps, bust area, mid-section area, and hemlines.
On that note, wear something you feel comfortable sitting, standing, and kneeling down in as we will also be incorporating those types of poses. Don’t forget to iron your clothes! If you show up to your session with wrinkly clothing covered in cat hair it’s going to show in all of the photos. Extra retouch costs will be assessed if wrinkles and hair need to be removed in the photos.
4.) Keep the location, weather and season in mind. A summer dress in the middle of winter might not only look out of place, but will keep you shivering during the photoshoot. Chunky sweaters and layered looks are always great for Fall and Winter sessions. Spring and Summer is the perfect time to wear a cute skirt, tank tops and shorts!
5.) Don’t forget the accessories! Jewelry, scarves, shoes and more can only improve a photo! This is also a time to show off your school spirit by bringing your letterman jacket, musical instruments that you play, items that go with the sports you do such as a basketball, football, tennis racket, etc. And if you are into something else like collecting stuff, art, etc. you are always welcome to bring some of those items to commemorate your love for whatever you’re into. Years from now it will be fun to look back at the hobbies you enjoyed as a teenager saved in your senior photos!
6.) Stick to your known style. While it may be fun to get experimental with your clothes for creative photo-shoots, I don’t really recommend it for senior sessions. This goes for hairstyles and make-up as well. My biggest regret from my own senior session years ago was cutting off my signature long hair to above my shoulders a week before I did my senior photos. While it was a fun change, it’s not how I usually looked and I hated my senior photos. It’s best to capture you the way most people know you before you go wild with a new look!
7.) Think about reflections. We use additional lighting in almost all of our portrait sessions so wearing glitter make-up, highly reflective glasses or anything else that can reflect light is not a great idea. If people are used to seeing you wear glasses on a regular basis and you want to wear them in your photos look at removing the lenses for just the photo-shoot or borrowing a set of frames from your optometrist. We can also incorporate poses that minimize reflections in glasses, but that can also limit the types of poses we can do with you during your session so if you can help us out by removing the lenses it makes the session run smoother. Some reflections can be removed in retouch later, but again that’s an additional charge for the work involved.
I also recommend bringing a translucent make-up powder that can be used to cut down the shine on faces. If men are not into using powder, then I suggest at least bringing some blotting sheets to use when you are a bit too shiny. Make-up should look natural and not too heavy. If you don’t wear a lot of make-up or any then at least bring some chapstick for dry lips.
8.) Lastly, have fun with it! It’s great to pick up a few new items before the shoot, but don’t discount some of your old, but favorite outfits! Your senior session should ultimately represent “YOU” and be a fun way to remember your last year of high school!
The year has just flown by once again. I’m finishing up on the last of my December events and realized it’s been a while again since I’ve done a blog post and decided to share this fun family session that I photographed at Brookside Gardens in Berthoud, Colorado. I met this family while I was photographing a wedding last year as the mother was the sister of the bride. We started planning her family photos shortly after that wedding and since they were located in Greeley and I was located in Arvada I wanted to find a location in between us that worked. And not just any location would do… Reyna had some specific requests. She wanted a waterfall and flowers and then I said I knew the perfect spot! Brookside Gardens is a wedding and event facility so we had to work around their busy event calendar, but it was all worth it in the end. I had a great time photographing this family and they now have some amazing images capturing this time-frame in their young children’s lives. Check out some of our favorite images below.
What’s your senior style? Is it laid back and outdoorsy or is it hip and urban? Perhaps you want to showcase one of the many activities you do or even your beloved and cherished pet. However you’d like to remember your senior year we are here to accommodate! We offer packages from a simple shoot for the student who just wants a great yearbook photo and a couple prints for mom and dad to elaborate two hour sessions with multiple locations all designed around your style! Because we are already quite booked up in the Fall with events this year we are encouraging the Class of 2022 to book and schedule their session in the Summer where not only do we have more availability, but also more options due to the amazing sunny weather. Check out the Summer booking specials below!
Summer 2021 Senior Photo Specials
Any student who books a summertime photo session (June-August) will also receive a FREE cap n gown photo-shoot next spring or whenever you’d like to do it!
-Do your session in June and Receive 50 FREE – Photo Announcements for Graduation
-Do your session in July and Receive 32 – Additional Wallets to any Package!
-Do your session in August and Receive 16 – Additional Wallets to any Package!
Call us today to get on our calendar and discuss options! 303.432.2954
When two people are really in love it’s hard to not to enjoy photographing them because the chemistry just smolders in camera! Taylor and Sam both said they felt like they weren’t super photogenic. I said hogwash! We got some beautiful rustic mountain photos at one of my favorite locations to do photos at and the rest they say is history! After spending the morning with them I’m really looking forward to their fall wedding this year! it’s going to be a blast!
Our Fall mini sessions were such a hit this year! We chose two single days to book back to back sessions at a couple parks in the Denver Metro area. Families pre-paid for a 30 minute session where we pulled out all the tricks and poses for the best photos we could create in a quick session. This was perfect for those parents just wanting a photo for their holiday card and ones with young children with short attention spans. This session took place in North Denver at Croke Reservoir in Northglenn, Colorado. It was so successful that we’re thinking of doing it every year! It will of course all depend on how hectic our calendar is from year to year. Fall is the busiest time of year for photographers all over the state and it’s getting harder to find a whole day that we can take to schedule these. If you want to find out when we’ll be hosting our next session sign up on our email newsletter list to get the all the latest updates and deals!
It seems like most of Colorado’s high school yearbook portrait submission deadlines are at the end of September going into October which consequently makes it a really, really busy time for photographers in our state. Not only is it the time that parents everywhere are busy booking those last minute high school portrait sessions, but Fall weddings and family photos are also very popular this time of year. My family realizes when September hits they are pretty much not going to see me much again until almost Thanksgiving! But we love what we do so we make the sacrifice!
Ella is one of those seniors who wanted a more urban experience for her photo-shoot. So we met downtown Denver and did my favorite back alley photo-shoot. The buildings in LoDo have great architectural features, fun graffiti and other urban landmarks like sculptures, cool bridges and more. The city photo-shoot is not for everyone, but for those that this appeal to we have a great time exploring and finding just the right spots for memorable photos! A beautiful girl also equals gorgeous photos! I’m so happy I was able to document your final year in high school.
Back to photographing one of my favorite family’s newest addition, their fourth son, Shane. Who knew that a decade ago I’d still be photographing the Hickman children for their one year milestones! I run a special package that captures the first year of baby’s life starting with newborn photos in the first month after baby’s arrival. We then meet up again every three months finishing with the one year birthday celebration and cake smash for baby. Darcy and Ryan have been through these sessions with each of their children! And now with us being on our fourth child not only are the other kids old pros at having their photograph taken, but we’re now struggling just a little bit to come up with locations for outdoor photo-shoots! I still find love capturing this family and can’t believe we’ve been taking photos for as long as we have! Enjoy some baby squishes! It goes by in a blink of an eye!
