Tuesday, December 29, 2009

Day 12: 12 Days of Pictures- Favorite Wedding Moments of 2009

On the 12th day of pictures my camera gave to me... favorite unexpected moment with the bride & groom.

This one comes from Becky & Neal's wedding this past August. We were taking the bride & groom portraits out the dock when I shot this image. It was supposed to be some nice portraits of the two of them but the dock was open to residents for fishing off of or for accessing the boats so we weren't the only ones there. While we were taking pictures this little boy fishing off the dock was wondering what was going on and was looking over at the two of them. He was close enough to the two of them I just had to snap this one with him in it. It ended up being one of my all time favorite images ever!

Day 11: 12 Days of Pictures- Favorite Wedding Moments of 2009

On the 11th day of pictures my camera gave to me... favorite getting ready moments.

I love catching those moments leading up to the wedding. Whether it's of the guys hanging out, the girls surrounding the bride trying to calm her down, or those funny moments that happen before the bride walks down the aisle. Here are two moments that I caught in the bride's room prior to the wedding that are some of my favorites!

This one is from Brandy & Bill's wedding. Brandy is such a crack up- this picture totally brings out her personality. She was putting her earring in and her expression was priceless.


Almost every wedding venue I've ever shot at seems to have issues with air conditioning in the bridal suite. I guess they figure the bride would have no reason to get a little warm the day of her wedding- not like she'd have any reason to be a bit nervous or anything right? Anyway, this picture from Melissa & Adam's wedding sums up exactly what it feels like to be stuffed in the bridal suite the day of a wedding.

Day 10: 12 Days of Pictures- Favorite Wedding Moments of 2009

On the 10th day of pictures my camera gave to me... favorite "first look" moments.

The tradition of the bride and groom not seeing each other before the wedding began back in days of arranged marriages. The bride's family hid her away from the groom and under a veil until the marriage was official for fear that the groom would take one look at his bride to be and run the other way if he didn't find her attractive.

Today, most marriages are no longer arranged and many brides & grooms are abandoning tradition and superstition and seeing each other before the wedding. And, when they do we like to set up a "first look" where we can capture both the bride's and groom's expressions when they see each other for the first time. Here are two favorites from a couple first look moments.

This one is from Jen & Ryan's wedding this past September.


And this one was from Tammy & Greg's wedding the same weekend as Jen & Ryan's.

Thursday, December 24, 2009

Day 9: 12 Days of Pictures- Favorite Wedding Moments of 2009

On the 9th day of pictures my camera gave to me... hilarious moments.

Here are two pictures from moments this year that brought tears to my eyes from laughing.

This one was from Alyssa & Matt's day after session. They were running up out of the water onto the beach for this series of photos and while doing so Matt tripped and almost took the two of them down in the process. Alyssa was laughing so hard even though they almost did a face plant into the sand- it was too funny.


This photo I took at Hanako & Eddie's wedding before the traditional garter removal. Eddie had a special dance he wanted to do for his "spotlight moment" during the wedding. There were a few shocked faces in the crowd as he did a semi strip tease but mostly tears brought on by laughter. It was probably one of the funniest moments I've ever witnessed at a wedding (don't worry it was completely clean and no skin was revealed in the process).

Wednesday, December 23, 2009

Day 8: 12 Days of Pictures- Favorite Wedding Moments of 2009

On the 8th day of pictures my camera gave to me... my favorite photos of the groom dipping the bride.

Often times as a way to get couples comfortable in front of the camera I'll have them dance together. It's a great way to loosen up, makes for some great movement photos, and occasionally if people feel goofy while dancing to no music you'll get some great laughs out of it. I'll also tell them to dip the bride back sometime during their dance. While it can be a challenge to do right (and in that case makes for some great laughing moments between the bride and groom) if they pull it off it makes some awesome photos. Here are two of those moments during our time with the bride & groom.

This image goes all the way back to the beginning of the year at Erin & Jared's wedding taken outside of Coors Field. I absolutely love this shot of the two of them!


And this one was taken at our final wedding of the season with Jenn & Patryk. It was getting a little darker outside so the entry lights had come on and the resulting image is one of my favorites.

Tuesday, December 22, 2009

Day 7: 12 Days of Pictures- Favorite Wedding Moments of 2009

Day 7: On the 7th day of pictures my camera gave to me... sunset photos.

This category was a bit difficult for me because I have so many images that are my favorites. These three really stood out to me though because of how different each one turned out using the light at the end of the day.

This first one was from Angela & Robert's Wedding at the Buell Mansion. It was right after their ceremony and I saw the way the light was coming in and had to pull the two of them over for a few shots before we lost this awesome light. I shot directly into the sun which created more of a hazy glare blowing out the background but casting a warm glow over the two of them- love it!


This next one I took at Brandy & Bill's Wedding outside the Stanley Hotel. It was pretty much the exact same time of day as the photo above but I changed my angle a bit and stood Brandy & Bill close to each other to have the light glow behind them creating a completely different look. This set of photos turned out beautiful.


This last photo was taken back in July at Melissa & Adam's Wedding. They had a 7 pm ceremony so by the time we started photos with the two of them the sun had almost completely set except for an awesome orange glow remaining in the sky just as the last bit of light was vanishing. Zach Wear of Revert Imaging came along for this wedding and assisted me in setting up some off camera flash to get this image. I love the way these turned out with the orange sky as the backdrop.

Day 6: 12 Days of Pictures- Favorite Wedding Moments of 2009

Day 6: On the 6th day of pictures my camera gave to me... favorite father/daughter moment.

This one comes from Hanako & Eddie's Wedding up at Shadows Ranch in Georgetown this past May. Before walking down the aisle, Hanako, her parents, and her bridesmaids took a carriage ride around the lake. I caught this moment between Hanako and her dad right after they got in the carriage. The look on both of their faces says everything.

Day 5: 12 Days of Pictures- Favorite Wedding Moments of 2009

Day 5: On the 5th day of pictures my camera gave to me... favorite first dance.

This one is from Jenn & Patryk's Wedding just a little while back in October. I did actually post this image on their sneak peek on the blog but I still just love this photo so thought I'd share it again:-)

Monday, December 21, 2009

Day 4: 12 Days of Pictures- Favorite Wedding Moments of 2009

Day 4: On the 4th day of pictures my camera gave to me... favorite moment between the bride and groom. This particular topic could probably span across every wedding I've shot but I love this image especially. Melissa & Shelby had great chemistry between them- you could really tell they're meant for each other. I love this image in particular because of both the location and how they stood leaning into each other. They were married at the Crystal Rose in Denver which is located in between several office buildings- something that you may not see as photo worthy at first glance but the reflection the building created made for some beautiful images!

Friday, December 18, 2009

Day 3: 12 Days of Pictures- Favorite Wedding Moments of 2009

Day 3: On the 3rd day of pictures my camera gave to me... the favorite first kiss.

In July Michelle & I had an awesome opportunity to travel to Jamaica for Alyssa & Matt's wedding on the beach in Ocho Rios. Between the beautiful surroundings & a beautiful couple it was impossible to take a bad photo during their wedding and this is just one example of that.


This next photo was from Marci & Mark's wedding at DU's Evan's Chapel. I love the look of this little chapel! Michelle shot this image and it's awesome!

Thursday, December 17, 2009

Day 2: 12 Days of Pictures- Favorite Wedding Moments of 2009

Day 2: On the 2nd day of pictures my camera gave to me... a goofy groom and his groomsmen. For anyone who has met me you know that I'm kind of a goof myself- okay not kind of I really am. I love it when people let their guard down and are willing to have fun and just act a bit silly. Here are two perfect examples of that.

This first image was from Kristie & Matt's wedding in July. They were married at the Arvada Center which has all sorts of sculptures inside and outside the building which made for some cool pictures. When I saw this sculpture I thought it would be funny to have the guys try to pose just like it. They obviously agreed to pose for it and I love the way the photo turned out- I was cracking up!:


This one was taken with Neal and the guys at Becky & Neal's wedding. Their wedding was held right near the dock to the lake which made for an awesome backdrop for photos. This one obviously had nothing to do with the scenery though. There were a few people fishing along the dock and one of Becky's brothers suggested a photo with the guys fishing. With the guys' pasted smiles and pointing towards the water it really made for the perfect "cheesy posed" picture- I love it!:

Wednesday, December 16, 2009

Day 1: 12 Days of Pictures- Favorite Wedding Moments of 2009

Last year we thought it would be fun to post 12 days of pictures as a year in review of some of our favorite images. It was so much fun we thought we'd do it again! This time however, we thought we'd try something a bit different and choose a different theme or topic for each day. We had some awesome weddings this past year and are so grateful to each of our couple's that let us capture their big day! Check back each day for a new post.

Day 1: On the 1st day of pictures my camera gave to me... some favorite images of Colorado weather. I figured since we are in Colorado and it's near Christmas time it's only fitting to start this series of 12 days of Pictures with images that represent our drastic changes from the Colorado weather. If you want to be a photographer in Colorado you better come prepared on a wedding day- you never know if that 60 degree heat could become snow in a matter of hours or if the 102 degrees from the summer sun could lead to an afternoon thunderstorm.

This first image is from all the way back in January of this year at Cathy & Cody's Wedding. The ground may have been snow free just a few days before their wedding but it came in the day before leaving some behind for their big day. Cathy borrowed some boots to wear under her dress while we took some pictures outside but apparently they were so comfortable she left them on through the rest of the night. Here's the two of them walking along the street with her boots, the snow on the ground, and someone getting rid of their Christmas tree in the car behind them:


This image is among a group of some of my absolute favorites ever! I'd always wanted to photograph in fog and while it's not the easiest thing to photograph it sure makes for some great images. We could barely see 10 feet in front of us while driving to Kacey & Jay's wedding that day back in May but we were really glad when the fog stuck around to take some awesome images in it!:

Friday, December 11, 2009

Why Hire A Professional? Article Featured in Seattle Bride

I was browsing through some websites and came across this great article written by Cody Ellerd in Seattle Bride Magazine. With tough economic times many people are resorting to having a "friend who dabbles in photography" photograph their wedding. Cody Ellerd's article points out the differences between hiring that "friend" and a professional from a personal perspective of being that "friend". Here is a link to the original article on their webpage: Seattle Bride

Issue Date: Fall/Winter 2009
PHOTOGRAPHY
By Cody Ellerd

Photography by Cody Ellerd (bottom photos) and John & Joseph Photography (top photos)

I consider myself a pretty good amateur photographer. I’ve taken a couple of classes, I have a nice Nikon D60 and, as a professional travel writer, I’ve even had a few of my shots make magazine covers and pages. If you didn’t budget for a professional photographer at your wedding, I’m the friend you might call to take pictures.

So when Seattle Bride sent me to the late-winter wedding of Vicky Wu and Chris Nicoll to shoot alongside Joey Hong of John & Joseph Photography, a local award-winning team of two brothers who have been shooting commercial, fashion and wedding photography for more than eight years, I was curious to see how well I could keep up with a seasoned pro.

From the moment we started shooting in the bride and groom’s room at Hotel 1000, I was floored. “Vicky, look down at your shoulders…put a gentle smile on your lips. Chris, look straight at my lens—no, smile. Relax your forehead.” Joey’s attention to such minute detail went way beyond “Say cheese” and brought out the couple’s absolute best. He knew how to manipulate the room’s light and reflective surfaces in ways I never would have dreamed of, transforming what I thought was an unremarkable setting into a photo studio with endless possibilities.

Joey commanded family portraits with a gentle control and confidence that only comes from years of experience. He had the right flashes and steadiness of hand for getting great dance photos, while I snapped shot after blurry shot in a mild panic that my precious memory space was quickly dwindling. I was giving it my best, and in a few instances it showed: an inside shot of Vicky simply glowing in the window’s natural light; a close-up kiss in the sunlight where the couple wore the sweetest smiles. But when those spontaneous moments that are here and gone in the blink of an eye happened, Joey caught them with lightning speed, while I lost many of them to improper focus or exposure.

I now disagree more than ever with the digital-age adage that “now everyone is a photographer.” Tens of thousands of dollars in education, equipment and experience separate me from the pros. Professional photographers, like any other artists or business owners, need to spend money to make money. When you hire them, you’re helping them pay for their investments.

“Photography is a very equipment-intensive business, and the equipment is expensive,” says Scott Squire of NonFiction Weddings, a Seattle-based photography team with 10 years of experience. To each wedding, he and his partner bring six or seven top-drawer lenses, a handful of strobes, three camera bodies, one backup and innumerable accessories. (In contrast, if my equipment had failed, my backup would have been my camera phone.)

Staying on top of new technology in the digital age is its own challenge, one that takes a professional commitment and expense. “The rate of change [in digital media] can be stupefying,” laughs longtime Seattle-based wedding photographer Sharlane Chase. She keeps up with the flow of information at annual weeklong workshops and seminars, and it shows in her final product.

On a side note, like all of you reading this magazine, I also happen to be planning my own wedding. My fiancé and I are on a tight budget and had planned to take a gamble and hire an amateur photographer friend. Now? We’re determined to find a way to get a pro.

Vicky and Chris would have been pretty disappointed if I had been their only photographer. If anyone ever does ask me to take pictures at their wedding, I’ll be happy to show up with my Nikon, and I may even take the best disposable-camera shots of the whole night. I just hope someone like Joey is there, too.

“This was such a cute moment, totally unscripted,” Ellerd remembers. “They bumped fists and it was clear it was a little habit of theirs, one that conveyed their friendship. Joey was right there to catch it while I was fumbling with my focus ring.”


“This image is so painfully inferior,” says our rogue photographer Cody Ellerd about her image. “My angle is bland while Joey’s is creative. His is crisp and perfectly exposed, while mine is washed out and grainy. Joey knew exactly how to take advantage of the sense of motion created by this cool backdrop at Hotel 1000.”


“The couple was getting a little photo fatigued,” Ellerd says, “but Joey turned it into a beautiful and intimate shot. I thought there was enough light, but without using a flash and spoiling the cool light bouncing off the building behind them, I couldn’t get my hand quite steady enough.”


For this “exit shot,” the clarity and color of Joey’s shot versus Ellerd’s is evident. “Notice the white car in front of Chris and Vicky,” Ellerd says. “Joey magically made it disappear—I’m not even gonna try.”

Wednesday, December 9, 2009

Gift Cards for Christmas!

Still looking for that gift for someone for Christmas? How about the gift of pictures?! We now are offering gift cards in increments of $50, $100, and $200. They can be used towards a portrait session, wedding photography services, or a wide range of prints & products such as gallery canvas wraps, albums, and metal prints. If you're a recent bride and looking for a great gift for mom and dad (such as a parent album) this is perfect for that. If you are interested please contact us for details. Click to purchase your gift cards online. You'll need to enter Promotional Code: Tax (case sensitive) in order to purchase. Here's a few images of the various cards (sorry cute penguins are not included).


Tuesday, December 1, 2009

Book Cover Photo Shoot with Michele

A few weeks ago we had a really cool opportunity to photograph some images that will be used for the cover of a book that is currently in the works. The book is going to be about the new energy economy entitled "Modern Energy Movement" written by Michele Ashby of Mine LLC. We got connected with Michele through Sarah Edgell of Edgellworks, Inc who will be designing the cover for the book. We had a great time getting to meet both of them and photographing Michele for the cover. This was something brand new for us and we can't wait to see which image makes the cover once it is published and released. We thought we'd take a few different directions with the images. Rather than the typical "green" cliche photo Sarah & Michele wanted to do something that still will push the reader in that direction without it being a typical photograph since Michele is not typical either. Michele is a very inspirational person- among other accomplishments she has traveled around the world, started her own company, and is the founder of Dani's Foundation in memory of her daughter. It was an absolute pleasure getting to work with her and we wish her the best in the success of her book.





Friday, November 20, 2009

Senior Rock Star Tour 2009

Now that wedding season has officially ended for 2009 I thought I'd share some other exciting projects and photo shoots we had the chance to be a part of this summer. We had a crazy year packed full of weddings and portrait sessions with our own business that kept us very busy starting in January. I also had the opportunity to work with several other amazing photographers in the area with assisting at weddings they were photographing. For now though, I'd like to share some photos from a really fun new venture we got involved in with 4 other photography studios for senior portraits. I shared a little about the group earlier this summer but thought it would be nice to show some of the images we took during the two tour dates in June and July. I can't say enough just what a great time not only the seniors had during our tours but the photographers had as well. We had students from not only the entire Denver area, but students from Durango and even all the way from Ohio as well! We are hoping to be able to possibly add a few more tours next year to the schedule and can't wait to do this again. If you have a high school student who will be a senior next year or know someone who does check out the website at www.seniorrockstar.com to see what it's all about and to hear what some of the seniors from this year had to say about it. Below are just a handful of images Michelle and I took from both tours. It was so cool to see how well everyone got along- you'd never know many of them had just met the day of the tour and walked away with new friends!

Getting all pretty for the shoot:




Everyone "vogue":



Dawn working the perfect shot:






Allison showing the image she just took:



The twins laughing because I made them do this goofy pose:

No photographer was harmed during the production of this image:

Typical Ross- never without his camera to catch EVERY moment:-) :



More of the girls getting all prettied up for their pictures:


We had some fun too:


The mini train at Heritage Square just happened to pass by right as we were taking photos. Love the guy waving in the background:


Not afraid to act a little goofy: