Vail Mountain Family Photos - Mid-Vail - Curtis Family

Being that it's Christmas week, I've been busy with photo orders, gift certificates, and last minute sessions for digital cards.  I'm taking a quick break from it all this morning to catch up on some posts. 

It's no secret that our snow situation is a sad sad state of affairs at the moment. I may or may not have spent the best part of the last month photoshopping snow into holiday photos.  This is my 16th winter in Vail and I've never seen it like this.  However, my recent shoot with the Curtis Family had conditions that were absolute perfection. 

Because of the lack of snow, Vail Mountain has been offering free scenic rides on both of the gondolas.  Gondola 1 opened for foot passengers the day of our session and we'd had about 4 new inches of snow the night before.  Being that it wasn't open to skiers, we were able to get clear shots without worrying about crowds of the kids getting knocked down.  The sun was shining, the Gore Range looked stunning and the snow guns provided an interesting backdrop.  This was one of my favorite sessions of the year.

Visit the website to see more Vail Family Photos.

Vail Senior Photos - Vail Village - Elizabeth

When Elizabeth's Mom contacted me to schedule her High School Senior Photo shoot, she asked if we could shoot for 90 minutes instead of the usual 60 minutes, in order to take advantage of as many locations as we possibly could.  

I was happy to do so, and we were able to incorporate 3 outfit changes for the shoot.  We started at The Manor Vail Lodge.  If you haven't been by the hotel in the summer, it's an absolute must-do.  Their flowers are insanely gorgeous.  Just do a quick search on social media and you'll see how much people rave about them.  Also, the hotel sits right on the Gore Creek with access to an amazing covered bridge.  It's just as beautiful as THE Covered Bridge in the village, but you don't have to wrestle with the crowds.  

After a quick outfit change, we went down to the Gore Creek and Elizabeth was brave enough to go in!  If you're not familiar with our water temps, it's ice-cold year round.    Don't be fooled by the sunshine.

Our final location was on Vail Mountain at the end of Forest Road.  After dodging a few mountain bikers, we were able to get shots with the wildflowers, the aspens and of course, The Gore Range.

  We were able to get so many great shots during her shoot.  Here are a handful of my favorites.

Visit the website to see more Vail High School Senior Photos.

Beaver Creek Senior Photos - Cleo

High School senior photos are some of my favorite shoots.  You're working with an individual as opposed to a group, the client is old enough to communicate with me, they bring ideas to the shoot and there's none of the pressure that comes with wedding shoots.  

Cleo's extended family had done a shoot with me in the morning and we decided to schedule her senior shoot straight after.  We started at the base of Beaver Creek at The Westin and then drove up to the resort to shoot around The Mirabelle and Beaver Creek Chapel.  Another bonus for senior shoots - you can get in loads of locations!

With the rise of social media, the seniors I work with seem to have skipped the whole awkward teen phase that was prevalent and somewhat lauded in the 90s (card carrying grunge freak here).  It definitely helps me to get some great shots!

These are a few of my favorites from Cleo's shoot.

Visit the website to view more Vail Senior Photos.

Vail Wedding Anniversaries - Roarks and Saunders

When the Roarks called me to shoot their parents 50th wedding anniversary, they mentioned that they were going to be staying in a rental house in Eagle Vail and that they would like to do the photos at the house. 

A few days later, I was contacted by the Saunders Family.  They were coming to Vail to celebrate 2 x 50th wedding anniversaries and they were going to be staying in Eagle Vail too.  Coincidentally, they were staying at the same rental house as the Roarks, one week later. 

Within the space of a week, 3 x 50th wedding anniversaries were going to be celebrated in the same rental house - and I was going to photograph all of them!

To mix things up, I did the Roark's shoot outside the house and we did the Saunders' photos at the Golf Course beside the house.  The mountain views are exactly the same though. 

Here's a mix of the photos, starting with the Roarks, followed by the Saunders.

Visit the website to see more Vail Family Photos.

Vail Family Photos - Henline Family at Betty Ford Alpine Gardens

Today's the day that landscape photographers wait for all year. The day the leaves are still yellow and there's snow on the ground - an absolutely stunning combination. I've seen tons of landscape photographers out and about in the valley today and I'm sure there's even more of them grabbing drone shots or heading out in helicopters. I don't have the patience for landscape photography, but I'm looking forward to seeing some of their work!

At the other end of the spectrum, I've been taking pre-school portraits all morning and I had a session with a family that's never seen snow this afternoon. So while I'm uploading today's work, I figured it's a great time to upload some recent photos photos from a much warmer day at the Betty Ford Gardens with the Henline Clan. The shoot was so much fun and as you can see from the photos, we had loads of laughs!

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Vail Family Photos - 3 x mini sessions in Edwards, CO with the Hobgoods, Drakes and Thomas

I had done photos for the Hobgood family in the past, so when they told me they were coming back out and bringing two families with them, I was excited to be able to do three mini sessions for them.

In true mountain form, it was raining when I arrived.  The Hobgoods decided to take the first shoot and after a weather delay, we were able to get on with the session.  As you can see from the photos, the backdrops were countless.  With water features and mountains throughout the property, there was no shortage of locations to choose from.  

You can also see how the lighting changed with each session as the night went on.  These are a few of my favorites from the three sessions!

Visit the website to see more Vail Family Photos.

Beaver Creek Family Photos - What to Wear - Lacoste Family

We're officially into leaf season, which is one of my busiest times of year.  It's at this time that people start to ask what they should wear for the family shoots.  I tend to shoot in several locations within an hour for a family shoot.  This means that we'll be in different scenarios with varying light and changing colors for backgrounds.  

For my recent shoot with the Lacoste Family, we started along the river in Avon and then headed over to Beaver Creek.  They kept their colors neutral with blue and white as their base colors and pink as the accent color.  Also note that there were no clashing patterns or visible logos.  This helps to keep the subject the focus of the photos.

There are loads of ideas on Google on what to wear for photo shoots.  Some of them are combinations I'd never dream of, but somehow they work.  If you're struggling for ideas, you can go to Google Images for some fantastic ideas.

Visit the website for more Vail Family Photos.