Beaver Creek Family Photos - Karasow Family

Family members, take note:  A photo shoot is a fail safe Mother's Day gift!

Josh had contacted me in April because he wanted to do a photo shoot on Mother's Day for his wife Nicole.  The family were staying in Beaver Creek.  It was spring time, everything was lush and green and the summer crowds were yet to roll into town.  As a photographer, it doesn't get much better.

Only it does. With four gorgeous kids, I was prepared for the usual challenges.  Kids get tired during shoots and they lose interest.  Not these guys though.  There wasn't a single tantrum, no one was whining, they smiled sweetly and were the best behaved group of children ever!  I'm still trying to figure out how to emulate this in my house...we're a long way off 😄!!

The Mirabelle, Beaver Creek

Beaver Creek

Family Photos at the Mirabelle, Beaver Creek

Family photos at the Westin Riverfront Resort and Spa, Beaver Creek, Colorado

Family photos at the Westin Riverfront Resort and Spa, Beaver Creek, Colorado

Family photos at the Westin Riverfront Resort and Spa, Beaver Creek, Colorado

Family photos at the Westin Riverfront Resort and Spa, Beaver Creek, Colorado

Family photos at the Beaver Creek Chapel

Family photos at the Beaver Creek Chapel

Visit the website to see more Beaver Creek Family Photos.

Vail Family Photos - Croll Family in Vail Village

When the Croll Family turned up for the photo session in Vail Village, Jackson was pretty quick to let me know that he was 4 years old.  As a mother of a 3 year old and 5 year old boy, I knew that Jackson was going to be right in my wheelhouse!  I'm not an expert on much, but I do know how to go on a fun adventure with a child in Vail Village.  I know I've written about it plenty, but if you can keep a child moving and exploring during their shoot, they're going to be much happier and the parents will be much happier with the resulting photos.

Shooting in the village in spring is fantastic because you don't have to contend with crowds in busy spots like the Covered Bridge.  However, it does mean you can fall prey to the 'four seasons in one day' phenomena that is all too common during spring in the Rockies.  Luckily, Kim and Cathy were really chill about the ever-changing conditions.  They met in Vail, so they really just wanted some fun family photos with Jackson in their former home town.  

Here are a few of my favorites from our adventure around Vail Village with the crazy weather!

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Vail Commercial Photographer - High Altitude Crossfit, Gypsum, CO

Summer is officially here, which means peak season for photos in the mountains has begun.  It also means that catching up on blogging and social media is a welcome break from all of the editing!

I always love to do a good commercial photography session.  It's a welcome change from the day to day and it requires some quick thinking on your feet, with as much creativity as you can muster.  My recent shoot for High Altitude Crossfit in Gypsum was all of the above and then some.  I like to work out a few times a week with my own awesome posse of fierce ladies, but these guys take it to a whole new level.  All before the sun has even come up!

The trickiest part of the shoot was the lighting.  Half of the gym was in really low light and there was little to no light coming in through the small windows.  Using a flash was not an option because you definitely don't want to temporarily blind someone while they're lifting insane amounts of weight. I was also trying to capture the movement with no blur.  The only answer was to turn up the ISO and use my 50mm 1.4 fixed lens at the lowest f stop possible without getting shakey.  The results were a much darker color scale than you'd see in my outdoor family photos, but it also gives them some great shadow, richer colors and a moody feel.  

Kudos to these great athletes!

Visit the website to see more Vail Commercial Photography

Vail Newborn Photos - Paige

I've had some great photo shoots with Tristan and Trevor over the last couple of years, so when their little baby sister arrived in March, I knew her newborn shoot was going to be high energy and a lot of fun.  As someone with two older brothers, I already had a sweet spot for Paige going into the shoot.  I can tell you, I don't EVER remember my brothers being this sweet though!

Both of the boys were fascinated by their little sister and very gentle with her.  They both wanted to give her loads of kisses and cuddles. She's a lucky wee girl to have such protective boys in her life! The boys were also really curious about my props and backdrops, so I was able to sneak in a few fun shots of them while Paige was changing outfits.

Newborns are my only shoots where I give clients all of their photos in both color and black and white.  I've added a mix of both below and the last photo is a side by side.  Sometimes it's just too hard to choose which one works best!

Family photos before we start the newborn session in Gypsum, CO

Love from big brother Trevor  - Vail Newborn Photos

Vail Newborn Photos - Paige was curious about what was going on

Gypsum newborn photos - snoozy, lazy cuddles with big brother Tristan

Vail baby photos with Paige

Vail baby photos - Paige and Tristan

Vail children's photos - Miss Paige

Vail studio photography - Trevor jumping into the spotlight with the portable studio

Vail baby photos - Paige

Hard to choose between black and white or color.

Visit the website to see more Vail Newborn Photos

Eagle Family Photos - Andrews Family

Getting 3 generations of family together can be hard, especially when they're scattered around the country.  So many families are in the same situation, so it's always great to be able to capture some of their time together.  This was the case recently for my dear old friends Matt and Tina when they had their families gathered together in Eagle recently. 

It's hard to believe that these were taken during ski season!  You can see all the snow in the hills, but it was completely dry where we were shooting.  Perfect conditions for little boys to run around and burn off some of that energy!

Visit the website to see more Eagle Family Photos.