2019 Holiday Round Up - Beaver Creek Family Photos

We're one week out from Christmas, so I think I'm well within the safety zone of posting family holiday photos without ruining the surprise of anyone's holiday cards!  

Thanksgiving is a crazy week with families coming into town to make the most of the early snow before the Christmas crowds arrive.  It's also a great time to get in a snowy photo shoot before holiday cards need to be sent out. That's how I came to work with the Caperton's.

They had a shoot booked for Beaver Creek, right after a great snow storm.  You can tell how cold it was with the different layers they brought with them.  Both leather jackets AND ski jackets.  It worked out fantastically, because we were able to capture two different looks. 

Here are a few photos from our adventure around Beaver Creek.

Visit the website to see more Beaver Creek Family Photography

Beaver Creek Family Photos - Beaver Creek Chapel - Lind Family

The key to doing a successful family photo shoot in the snow is to keep everyone moving.  You can do this by asking the kids to play in the snow, moving to different locations, setting up different combinations and by taking lots of jacket breaks to keep everyone warm.  

This is the strategy I used the morning of the Lind's family photo shoot in Beaver Creek.  We started off the shoot beside the Beaver Creek Chapel to capture some photos beside the creek.  With a fresh snowfall on the ground and freezing temps, I was able to get a few shots of the kids playing before we moved down to the bridge area.  

It quickly became apparent that the poor kids were about to turn into popsicles, so we retired to a nearby fire pit to get some blood circulating.   After they could feel their fingers and toes again, we were able to head out again to grab a few more shots.  Here are a few of my favorites from their shoot.  I love the red accents against the snow.

Visit the website to see more Beaver Creek Family Photos.

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.

Beaver Creek Engagement Photos - Connor and Taylor

My last post featured Connor's proposal to Taylor at Beano's Cabin in Beaver Creek.  Following the proposal, it was also sprung on Taylor that she and Connor were booked for an engagement photo session the next morning!  

We started the engagement session outside the old barn at The Mirabelle restaurant at the base of Beaver Creek.  The barn has some great old timber that gives a great texture to the background of photos.  Once we finished up at the barn, we headed a little way up the hill to get some views of the resort.

I've written before about one of my favorite spots on the Beaver Creek Golf Course, which is a small path that you can only access for a few days in the fall and the spring.  It has to be timed right between both the snowfall and the golf season and as luck would have it, the conditions were perfect for Connor and Taylor.  With the sun starting to peek out from behind the clouds, we headed down the path to grab some photos with the ski runs centered in the background.

To finish up the shoot, we took advantage of the stonework outside of The Beaver Creek Chapel before heading to the skier bridge over the creek. 

For anyone thinking about getting engaged or doing engagment photos in the Vail Valley, here are a few ideas from our session.

Engagement Photography session at The Mirabelle, Beaver Creek.

Engagement Photography session at The Mirabelle, Beaver Creek.

Engagement Photography session at The Mirabelle, Beaver Creek.

Beaver Creek Engagement Photos at The Beaver Creek Golf Course.

Beaver Creek Engagement Photos at The Beaver Creek Golf Course.

Beaver Creek Engagement Photos at The Beaver Creek Chapel

Beaver Creek Engagement Photos at The Beaver Creek Chapel

Visit the website to see more Beaver Creek and Vail Engagement Photos.

Vail Family Photographer - Totzke and Festerling Family

Theoretically, we have 3 weeks of summer left.  However, we've been getting plenty of snow around these parts in the last couple of weeks, which was a good reminder to get some of my spring photos posted to the blog.

I've mentioned a new favorite location on the Beaver Creek Golf Course that only works for shooting approx. 2 days a year.  For 1 day in the fall and 1 day in the spring, a clear asphalt path is accessible through the snow, and clients can stand on the path for their photos as opposed to sinking in waist deep snow.  The most unique feature of the spot is that Beaver Creek Mountain is squarely in the background.  

The Totzke and Festerling families just happened to book their sessions on a day this spring where the path was clear.  We made the most of it by taking several shots of both families in front of the mountain, before heading up to the Beaver Creek Chapel to finish the sessions.  

Originally we were going to do 2 separate sessions, but we decided last minute to shoot both families in 1 session.  Thankfully this was a wonderful idea because as I drove home from the session, a massive blizzard moved in would have ruined any shooting later that day!

Head to the website for more Beaver Creek Family Photos

Beaver Creek Chapel Wedding - Jennifer and Scott

I was so excited to shoot Jennifer and Scott's wedding at Beaver Creek this fall. It was nice to get out and do a wedding after a busy fall season of family photos. The architecture of the Beaver Creek Chapel is beautiful, with an intricate wood ceiling that adds interesting lines to low angle photos, and amazing stone work on the exterior.

Jennifer and Scott had a morning ceremony followed by a reception later that evening at The Pines Lodge.  We had bright blue skies that morning, so we spent a lot of time shooting in the shade.  The afternoon was a completely different story and we were lucky to grab some photos of the happy couple before the rain really set in.

Here are a few of my favorite photos from their special day.

Click here to see more Beaver Creek Wedding Photos.

Beaver Creek Wedding Proposal - Blake and Kacy

I'm a few weeks behind on posts, so I'm going to start with a great shoot I had recently for a wedding proposal at Beaver Creek.  Blake had contacted me a few weeks in advance and we had decided that a small bridge outside the Beaver Creek Chapel would make an ideal spot for him to pop the big question.

The date was set for just after the ski season had finished, so I knew there wouldn't be too many people around.  I went up a couple of times before to check out the area and to see how things were looking.  If you've ever spent time at a ski resort after it's closed for the winter, you'll know how quickly things can change.  The environment can morph drastically every day with mud and runoff, areas will suddenly close for Elk migration and snow melt can lead to flash floods, so you have to be prepared.

The bridge was snowy and there were old leaves under the snow from the fall, so I went up a little earlier than planned with my handy broom and shovel to clean the bridge up a little for the photos.  Then I secretly feared that Kacy might notice how clean it looked and realize something was up, so I had to make it look somewhat natural.  I tend to over think these things because I always get so nervous for the guys!

They arrived a few minutes later and after a small detour to look at the church, they made their way down to the bridge, where I was waiting and trying to look like a random tourist taking photos of the stream.  I found out afterwards that Kacy had told Blake to watch out, because they might accidentally get in my photos!!

Thankfully she said yes and the proposal was a great success!  Here are some photos from the big moment.

Click here for more Vail and Beaver Creek Engagement Photos