Vail Proposal - Vail Back Country Tours

This winter, I was given the opportunity to start with working Vail Back Country Tours.  Like me, they deal with a lot of proposals.  Given that a lot of people want photos of their proposals, it was a natural fit for me to help.  That means I sometimes get to snowmobile for work now.  Yeeeha!

The locations that you can access during your snowmobile tour are breathtaking.  You won't find these views skiing down the front of Vail Mountain, so I highly recommend taking one of their tours.  

I jumped at the chance when I was asked to help Jimmy with his proposal near Piney Lake.  Luckily the handlebars on the snowmobiles are heated because the temps were unbelievably frigid.  Taking my gloves off to put my camera together left my hands completely numb.  Look at the view though!  It was absolutely worth it and so was the hot chocolate afterwards.  

Visit the website to view more Vail Engagement Photos.

Wedding in Golden, Colorado - Stephanie and Mike

Stephanie and Mike chose a remote cabin in the woods, just outside of Golden near Denver for their sunset wedding. With a small group of family in attendance, they had their ceremony on the cabins back deck looking out over the town of Boulder and it's city lights.

Following the ceremony, we set off down the dirt road to grab some photos of Stephanie and Mike as newlyweds.  The wind picked up suddenly and we were able to capture some moody Wuthering Heights type shots! Unfortunately, the temps dropped as well so we only lasted about 10 minutes out there.  We headed back to the cabin where they could warm back up again and party the night away with loved ones.  It was a gorgeous day and as always, it was an honor to play a part in it.

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Vail Elopement - Betty Ford Alpine Gardens - Megan and Matt

As a general rule of thumb, I don't shoot large weddings.  We have an over-saturation of wedding photographers here in Colorado and most of them are going after the big accounts.  After working in the wedding industry for a few years, I knew that big weddings weren't going to be my thing once I started my photography business.  I sure do love shooting small weddings and elopements though!

When Megan and Matt asked me to shoot their elopement at The Betty Ford Alpine Gardens, I was more than happy to help them out.  It was an honor to be trusted to shoot such an intimate experience, especially because we didn't get to meet beforehand.  Their ceremony was beautiful, with lots of tears and laughter.  Mother nature turned it on that day too.  Fresh snow on the Gore Range, loads of sunshine and leaves at their peak.

                                  Visit the website to see more Vail Wedding Photos

Vail Engagement Photos - East Vail - Kim and Bradon

I was recently staying right in the heart of downtown Houston and talking to a friend who lives there.  He told me that during the summer months in Houston, there's a significant decrease in traffic and pedestrians in the city because so many people leave to escape the heat.  I can attest to the fact that a ton of Houstonians migrate to Vail for the summer to take advantage of our cooler summers. 

Kim and Bradon were recently visiting Vail from Houston and decided to take their engagement photos while they were here.  With their cute pup Shipley in tow, we set off down the East Vail bike path to take in the views and grab some shots.  We got some great shots and as you can see, Shipley completely stole the show!

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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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Valentine's Week in the Mountains - Parts I, II and III

I'm celebrating Valentine's all week this week.  With everything that's going on in the world, love should be celebrated as often as possible.  So I'm breaking the week down into three parts, starting with some exciting news.  

Part I

As of January 1st, I now have my own little studio in Vail.  It's been an unexpected and fun opportunity and I'm looking forward to getting the word out and getting more people in there.  I'll still be operating a mobile studio, but hopefully this will cut down on schlepping my gear around so much.  

We broke the studio in with Valentine's Mini Sessions with some amazing tiny people.  I got a little carried away with investing in Valentine's backdrops, but they were all just so cute.  These aren't even all of them (yes, there's more), but it gives you an idea of some of the fun we've had so far in the new space.  

Part II

Chris contacted me about proposing to Eileen at The Vail Observation Deck last week and he was a dream client to work with.  It can be hard to coordinate proposals when clients aren't completely familiar with the mountain.  But Chris was sending ME diagrams with locations, placements and the timing for everything.  This has never happened...EVER!  

What Eileen didn't know was that Chris had also flown in their parents.  They were watching the whole proposal from a distance and knew that they could head towards the deck once he got down on one knee.  The third photo shows Eileen's reaction to seeing them all heading to the deck.  

It was a gorgeous day and she was completely surprised with everything.  Perfection!

Part III

This morning I had the privilege of shooting a wonderful, heartfelt, self-solemnizing wedding at the top of Beaver Creek Mountain.  To give you some context, yesterday we had an insane blizzard.  10 inches of fresh snow and some of the worst wind we've had all season.  I was looking out the window all day thinking 'this better be gone by tomorrow'.  Thankfully, everything worked out in our favor!

Following their vows, Brynn and Matt asked me to take a run with them down the hill.  We got some fun shots while skiing, but my favorite was the chairlift photo as we made our way back up the mountain (the last photo in the series). 

So there you have it. Valentine's week is done and dusted.  I have another proposal next week, so look out for photos from that one!

Lots of ♥, WSP.

Visit the website to see more Vail Studio Photography, Vail Wedding Proposals and Beaver Creek Weddings.