Vail Mountain Christmas Photos - Korch Family

I have been taking Christmas photos for the Korch Family for several years now, so it was great to be able to see them again recently for their 2016 session.  We usually shoot at their house, but due to renovations at their house, we decided to shoot at Golden Peak instead.  

Mid-day is usually an awful time to take photos, but if you're shooting on snow, you can take advantage of light reflecting off the snow which makes for great lighting.  The girls were able to build a snowman and have a snowball fight, before a quick outfit change for photos in front of the fireplace at Manor Vail Hotel.  

Here are some highlights from their session.

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Vail Village Family Photos

Alyssa and Andrew met in Vail Village several years ago, so it was fitting that we shot their family photos in the village while they were visiting on a recent vacation.  We were able to take advantage of some of the key landmarks in the village, like the Covered Bridge and the Gore Creek, before we drove out the Vail Golf Course to finish the session in front of the Gore Range.  

Here are some of the highlights from their session.  

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Vail Family Photos - Mueller Family

The holidays are the time of year when we start getting lots of multi-generational families in town.  The Mueller's were visiting over Thanksgiving, so it was a great time to get photos for their holiday cards.  We decided to shoot at Stephen's Park in West Vail to take advantage of the recent snowfall and beautiful sunny weather.  

With two brand new babies in tow, we did some cajoling to make sure they were bundled up nice and warm, got everybody situated and quickly dropped the blankets when we were ready to go.  We were on a tight schedule because they were hitting the road to Nebraska as soon as the session finished.

Here are a few shots from their session.  

Vail Village Family Photos - Ward Family

When you're taking photos with little people, it's best to keep moving as much as you can.  Luckily , there's plenty of great spots in Vail Village that can turn a photo shoot into a fun adventure for kids.  We took advantage of as many different spots as we could squeeze into an hour during my recent session with the Ward Family.  We hit up Pirate Ship Park for the swings, saw the Christmas decorations along Gore Creek Drive, grabbed an ice cream at Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory, warmed up in front of the fire pit on Wall Street, went rock climbing along the Gore Creek, stopped by the Covered Bridge and had a snowball fight on the wedding lawn at Golden Peak.  

Here are a few pictures from our little adventure!

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Sapphire Point Wedding - Cody and Elizabeth

Sapphire Point in Summit County is a beautiful outdoor wedding venue above Lake Dillon with extensive views of the Tenmile Range.  I've shot a few weddings there, and I was excited to head back there to shoot Cody and Elizabeth's elopement recently.  

The weather was unseasonably warm, with blue skies and plenty of sunshine.  Not at all what anyone had planned on so late in the year!  Elizabeth was wearing her Sorel snow boots under her dress and there wasn't a single snow flake to be found!  

Following the ceremony, we headed into Breckenridge where they had lunch at Blue River Bistro, with one of the coolest (and yummiest) wedding cake's I'd ever seen.  Here are a few pics from their special day. 

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Vail Family Photos - McKinley Family

I've written recently about how much time goes into picking the right location for a group.  I usually send clients a selection of 5 different locations that would work for their group size.  Once the location is decided, I take a drive to the spot to make sure it will work.  So it was a nice change when the McKinley's had the perfect location for their photos, right outside their accommodation in West Vail.  

We had fresh snow that wasn't too deep for the children, plenty of greenery and the Gore Creek running through the back yard.  The kids had also built their own snow fort, which made for some fun candids at the end of the session.  Here are a few of my favorites from their shoot.

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Vail Family Photos - Brodie Family

Sometimes I'll get a request for a mini session.  Most photographers will offer mini session specials throughout the year.  This year I haven't had the opportunity to run one, but I've done a few by request.  When Jill contacted me to do a half hour session in East Vail, I was happy to oblige.  

They were staying at The Vail Racquet Club, right beside the Gore Creek.  The views in East Vail are some of the most dramatic in the valley, with steep mountain grades, several waterfalls and hiking trails.  Even though we only shot for 30 minutes, we were able to use about 10 different backgrounds because all of the features were in such close proximity.

Here are a few of my favorites from their session.

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Singletree Pavilion Wedding, Edwards - Lynn and Andy

We've all seen the funniest home video shows where a wedding photographer falls in a pool or trips over during a wedding.  Well, I'm happy to announce that you're never too experienced to say it will never happen to you.

I arrived for Lynn and Andy's wedding at the Singletree Pavilion in Edwards and set off to take shots of the surrounding area before the ceremony began.  I took a step while looking through my lens and promptly managed to fall down the patio steps.  There's only 2 steps, but I managed to do a backward somersault with thousands of dollars worth of equipment strapped to my chest.  After having a quick laugh and a check on the equipment, I was ready to go.  There was no time to dust myself off (yes, I landed in mud), just time to get on with the job.  I'm just so glad it didn't happen during the ceremony!

The ceremony was beautiful and full of fall colors with mountain vistas and yellow aspens in their full glory.  I had plenty of help from the wedding party, including some very cute photo bombers!  The details were magazine ready and it was a gorgeous day.  Massive congrats to Lynn and Andy!

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