Holiday Round Up 2019 - Keim Family in Vail Village

I've lived in Vail for 17 years now.  Sometimes when you live somewhere long enough, you don't notice the little things so much.  But every time we have visitors from out of town, they always comment on the Christmas decorations that are up around town, because they stay up for the entire winter.  We're literally living in a Christmas card.  

The roundabouts have the most intricate lighting designs placed on the aspens and pines.  Every year we look forward to seeing who will have the best roundabouts.  It's Vail vs West Vail vs Beaver Creek (I think Vail wins this round).

Not surprisingly, all of these decorations along with our snow make for an amazing backdrop for family photos.  When I went out to shoot with the Keim Family, we hit up all of the best spots around the village, and even managed to squeeze in some playtime at Pirate Ship Park.

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Vail Family Photos - Bring Your Pets! - Fisher

The Vail winter season has officially come to an end.  What a season it was, with an insane amount of snowfall and a record number of photo sessions.

Most of my shoots over the winter were family sessions.  Lots of my lovely family clients like to bring their dogs along to shoots and I highly encourage it!  When the Fisher's told me they were bringing their pooches along, it was clear that they were going to steal the show.  Being white dogs, it was easier for them to be held because they were quite hard to see in the snow (much like my sweet and crazy girl, Beansy). 

If you have an upcoming session or you're thinking of booking one, PLEASE feel free to bring your four legged friends along :)

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Vail Couple's Shoot and Outfit Changes - Lionshead - Kaitlyn and Tyler

The conditions for Kaitlyn and Tyler's shoot in Lionshead couldn't have been more perfect.  Overcast lighting, snow on the ground, zero precipitation and temps that weren't ridiculously frigid!

One thing that lots of people ask me about is clothing changes throughout their shoot.  I'm happy to accommodate as many changes as clients want. However, I also remind them that we only have one hour, so more changes means less time shooting. 

I encourage clients to make sure that they have lots of layers.  If you want to wear a dressier jacket, make sure that you have a nice layer underneath.  That way, you have 2 different looks without doing an outfit change.  I also suggest that people use accessories to their advantage.  Scarves and hats change up an outfit easily and don't require you to strip down.  Bear in mind that changing outfits on the side of mountain can be a little tricky!

Kaitlyn and Tyler didn't change out their accessories, but they did a quick change with their outerwear so that we were able to get two looks during their shoot.   Here are some examples from their shoot

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Vail Mountain Proposal - Teddy and E

When my sweet neighbor Jackie asked if I would help with her brother's marriage proposal on Vail Mountain, I jumped at the chance because I love a good proposal shoot.

It was decided that Teddy would propose to E on Windows Deck.  You can't tell from these photos, but Windows Deck is hands down, THE best view on Vail Mountain.  I also love Windows because it's much more private than most of the decks on the mountain.  

As I waited on the deck for Teddy and E to arrive, I spotted them in the distance at Wildwood Restaurant.  I generally pretend like I'm a tourist taking photos of the view when I'm shooting a proposal, but given the lack of visibility, I was afraid it might blow my cover.  Luckily Teddy got down on one knee before E had a chance to really think about what I was doing there!

After she said yes, they popped a bottle of Veuve to celebrate and we took a few more photos of their special moment.  I left them to head back down the hill and got in my one and only day on my snowboard for the season (I can't ski powder, but I love I love it on my board).  When I got back to my car, I noticed something on my face.  After 16 years of living in Vail, I had caught my first round frost bite.  Oh well, it was worth it!

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Vail Holiday Card Sessions - Eagle Vail Golf Course - Ben

Fall photo shoots are done and dusted and it's time to move onto the next big season of the year - holiday cards.  

My standard sessions are an hour long to accommodate for outfit changes and several locations/backdrops.  But it you want a quick session for your holiday cards, I can always do mini sessions by request.

Ben's holiday card session was only 10 minutes long.  We walked out onto the Eagle Vail Golf Course, made some snowballs and had some fun in the snow.  My boys love Ben, so they were great photography assistants.  They stood behind me and helped with making snowballs and getting Ben to laugh.  

Here are a few of my faves.

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Vail Family Photos - East Vail

There's a spot on the Vail Golf Course that has the most amazing views of The Gore Range.  It's one of the most popular spots to shoot in the valley and it's not uncommon for several photographers to be shooting there at the same time.  The biggest problem though, is that the spot only works well for photos early in the morning.  If you're shooting after 11am, you're guaranteed to get photos with squinting clients.

Thankfully, Jenna and Jeret were happy to meet me before the sun had come up over the mountains.  With a brand new frost on the ground, we headed out to the golf course to grab some photos.  Unfortunately, it was also freezing cold which obviously can be hard for little people.  We rushed through the mountain shots as quickly as possible and before we knew it, the sun was up and everyone was happy by the time we finished up.

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Vail Family Photos - Vail Mountain - Rodriguez Family

There's a day that usually only happens once a year here in Vail.  You can't really plan for it and you certainly can't schedule your family photos for the day it will happen.  It's the day that the leaves are at their peak and fresh snow has fallen.

Landscape photographers live for this day.  They'll be up at 4am and by mid-afternoon, their spectacular images will be all over social media.  Given that my clients usually book a couple of weeks and in advance, it can be hard to schedule your session for these conditions.  The Rodriguez Family won the lottery though!

It was still warm enough that they didn't have to wear big bulky jackets, and there was still enough snow on the ground to get some fun images.  If you take a look at the last photos, you can see how much snow had melted by the end of the session.  It was such a fleeting moment and I'm so glad that such a sweet family were able to take advantage of it.









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Vail Family Photos - Betty Ford Alpine Gardens - Ngo Family

The Betty Ford Alpine Gardens is one of the valley's greatest hidden gems.  If you blink, you'll miss it.  But if you're smart enough to visit, it's a sanctuary like no other.  When the Ngo Family asked me to help them with family photos, I knew that this would be a great spot for their shoot. 

We started the shoot at the top of the waterfall, with huge views of Vail Mountain (you can see the chairlifts in the background).  We made our way down to the base of the gardens and took advantage of the stairs, walkways and bridges that are dotted throughout the garden.  Following the photos at the gardens, we took a short walk over to the Gore Creek Covered Bridge to grab a few sunset photos along the creek. 

It was an overcast day the day of the shoot.  It might not be the most ideal conditions from a clients perspective, but it doesn't get much better than this for a photographer.  Flat light = flattering light and no shadows on  faces mean great photos!

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Vail Elopement - Mini Session in Vail Village

Most of my sessions are an hour long.  By request, I'll happily do a 30 minute mini session.  When Chelsey contacted me to take some wedding photos, it was the first time I'd been asked to do a 10 minute session!

They had eloped earlier in the morning and Chelsey wanted a few photos of their special day.  Given the short time frame, I wanted a location that had several different backdrops in one place.  The tiny meadow behind Pirate Ship Park in Vail Village was perfect.  Mountains, aspens, wildflowers and a creek all right there.  

The light just before a storm is some of my favorite, but of course there's a fine line between great lighting and disaster.  Two seconds after our session, we had a torrential downpour.  Success!

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