Akilah's Senior Photos in Denver. Through the Lens Series, Entry 29.

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about how much I enjoy shooting engagement photos because you have a subject that you can communicate with and there's not as much pressure as a wedding.  I also think that Senior Photos fall squarely into that category too.

The Senior Photo market in Vail is pretty over saturated, so it's not often that I get to do these shoots.  However, last week I got take some photos of the beautiful Akilah in Denver.  We decided to take the photos in a business park in Centennial.  Business park's are known for being rather stale pieces of green in the middle of concrete stacks (or maybe that's just from my years in London), but this one had some great scenery and plenty of opportunities for some fun backdrops.

Now, just to go off on a quick tangent, I have to say that I get a little worried at times about that way people communicate these days.  We're always constantly on the phone, emailing, texting...or even blogging!  I'm guilty of it just as much as anyone.  Sometimes I'll look up and I'll be on my iPad and Russ will be working on his laptop and it makes me shudder at the thought that Maxwell might never be able hold a decent conversation because of the direction that we all seem to be heading in the 'age of communication'.

However, after having the opportunity to meet Akilah and her wonderful family, it's put a lot of those fears to rest.  She was so lovely and unbelievably sweet!  She's clearly been raised in a loving family.  It's not every day that I get to have a Mom, Dad and brother come along to a photo shoot.  Along with my dear friend Shez, they were kind enough to keep an eye on Maxwell and let Akilah and I go off and take some photos.  Did I mention there was a huge pond in this park?  With ducks in it?  Maxwell was determined to get in there with them!

Here are a few of my favorite pictures from the shoot.  I'm still trying to figure out why Blogger seems to dull down my photos.  They look so vibrant and colorful and every time I upload them onto here, they seem to fade a little.

Click here to see more photos from Akilah's Senior Photo Shoot in Denver.

Colorado Engagement Sessions Revisited

With Valentine's Day just around the corner, I thought I would revisit some previous engagement sessions to play around with my new actions from the Florabella Collection. The top photos are the originals and the bottom photos have had the actions applied to them.
Just going through all of these photos makes me realize how lucky I am to be living in such a beautiful place!

Washington Park, Denver with Allison and Taylor.  Musette action applied.

Matterhorn, Vail with Eric and Amy.  Swoon action applied.

Edwards, Colorado with Eric and Amy.  High Key B+W action applied.

Piney Lake, Colorado with Grayson and Bryan.  Glam action applied.

Bachelor Gulch, Beaver Creek with Liz and Rob.  Classic film action applied.

Click here to see more Engagement Photos in Vail and Beaver Creek, Colorado.

Through the Lens Series - Entry 1

Towards the end of 2011, I started thinking about what type of goals I would like to set myself for photography.  I was getting newsletter emails every day telling me what goals I should set and what I could do to improve my photography business for the coming year, but the problem with sending out those types of bulk emails is that you might end up with a thousand other photographers doing the same things to improve their SEO and make more money.

After a lot of thought, I decided that I just want to become a better photographer.  I had my plate full with great photography jobs last year, but sadly I don't take too many photos just for the love of it anymore.  I had so many people comment that I must have screeds of photos of my son and my family and the truth is that sometimes I get over worked and I just don't feel like pulling out my camera at the end of a long day.

So, my goal for 2011 is to carry some sort of camera and lens combo with me as often as possible and to capture the people in my life, just purely for the love of it.  In the process, I think it'll help to improve my portraits and my editing skills, and I should end up with a good collection of interesting shots at the end of the year.  Sometimes it's hard to find an interesting angle on things you see every day, and this is my way of stepping up to the challenge.

I'm hoping to do a post at least once a week.  A lot of photographers do a 52 week challenge each year, but the honest truth is that sometimes I just get swamped, like everyone does.  It's something to work towards and if I miss a week, I'm not going to beat myself up about, but there will probably be 2 posts the following week!

Enough rambling and on with the show.  Here is my first entry for the year and these were actually taken in the last few hours of 2011.  I won't go into the full story, but all I can say is that sometimes when you become a parent, the anticipation of going out for a big night can be more fun than once you get there.

Happy New Year!