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.

Beaver Creek Engagement Photos - Taylor and Ray

There's a small window in the fall where things are starting to wind down in the villages and the leaves are still in full color.  Taylor and Ray chose to do their engagement photos during this time, so we were able to shoot in several locations around Beaver Creek without running into crowds.  

We started in the base village, with shots along the actual Beaver Creek.  With a quick outfit change and a few dog treats later, we took a quick walk up the mountain to capture more of the leaves and some mountain views.  

Congratulations to these two and thanks for such a fun shoot!

Visit the website to see more Beaver Creek Engagement Photos.

Vail Mountain Family Photos - Mid-Vail - Curtis Family

Being that it's Christmas week, I've been busy with photo orders, gift certificates, and last minute sessions for digital cards.  I'm taking a quick break from it all this morning to catch up on some posts. 

It's no secret that our snow situation is a sad sad state of affairs at the moment. I may or may not have spent the best part of the last month photoshopping snow into holiday photos.  This is my 16th winter in Vail and I've never seen it like this.  However, my recent shoot with the Curtis Family had conditions that were absolute perfection. 

Because of the lack of snow, Vail Mountain has been offering free scenic rides on both of the gondolas.  Gondola 1 opened for foot passengers the day of our session and we'd had about 4 new inches of snow the night before.  Being that it wasn't open to skiers, we were able to get clear shots without worrying about crowds of the kids getting knocked down.  The sun was shining, the Gore Range looked stunning and the snow guns provided an interesting backdrop.  This was one of my favorite sessions of the year.

Visit the website to see more Vail Family Photos.

Vail Senior Photos - Vail Village - Elizabeth

When Elizabeth's Mom contacted me to schedule her High School Senior Photo shoot, she asked if we could shoot for 90 minutes instead of the usual 60 minutes, in order to take advantage of as many locations as we possibly could.  

I was happy to do so, and we were able to incorporate 3 outfit changes for the shoot.  We started at The Manor Vail Lodge.  If you haven't been by the hotel in the summer, it's an absolute must-do.  Their flowers are insanely gorgeous.  Just do a quick search on social media and you'll see how much people rave about them.  Also, the hotel sits right on the Gore Creek with access to an amazing covered bridge.  It's just as beautiful as THE Covered Bridge in the village, but you don't have to wrestle with the crowds.  

After a quick outfit change, we went down to the Gore Creek and Elizabeth was brave enough to go in!  If you're not familiar with our water temps, it's ice-cold year round.    Don't be fooled by the sunshine.

Our final location was on Vail Mountain at the end of Forest Road.  After dodging a few mountain bikers, we were able to get shots with the wildflowers, the aspens and of course, The Gore Range.

  We were able to get so many great shots during her shoot.  Here are a handful of my favorites.

Visit the website to see more Vail High School Senior Photos.

Beaver Creek Senior Photos - Cleo

High School senior photos are some of my favorite shoots.  You're working with an individual as opposed to a group, the client is old enough to communicate with me, they bring ideas to the shoot and there's none of the pressure that comes with wedding shoots.  

Cleo's extended family had done a shoot with me in the morning and we decided to schedule her senior shoot straight after.  We started at the base of Beaver Creek at The Westin and then drove up to the resort to shoot around The Mirabelle and Beaver Creek Chapel.  Another bonus for senior shoots - you can get in loads of locations!

With the rise of social media, the seniors I work with seem to have skipped the whole awkward teen phase that was prevalent and somewhat lauded in the 90s (card carrying grunge freak here).  It definitely helps me to get some great shots!

These are a few of my favorites from Cleo's shoot.

Visit the website to view more Vail Senior Photos.

Vail Wedding Anniversaries - Roarks and Saunders

When the Roarks called me to shoot their parents 50th wedding anniversary, they mentioned that they were going to be staying in a rental house in Eagle Vail and that they would like to do the photos at the house. 

A few days later, I was contacted by the Saunders Family.  They were coming to Vail to celebrate 2 x 50th wedding anniversaries and they were going to be staying in Eagle Vail too.  Coincidentally, they were staying at the same rental house as the Roarks, one week later. 

Within the space of a week, 3 x 50th wedding anniversaries were going to be celebrated in the same rental house - and I was going to photograph all of them!

To mix things up, I did the Roark's shoot outside the house and we did the Saunders' photos at the Golf Course beside the house.  The mountain views are exactly the same though. 

Here's a mix of the photos, starting with the Roarks, followed by the Saunders.

Visit the website to see more Vail Family Photos.

Vail Family Photos - Henline Family at Betty Ford Alpine Gardens

Today's the day that landscape photographers wait for all year. The day the leaves are still yellow and there's snow on the ground - an absolutely stunning combination. I've seen tons of landscape photographers out and about in the valley today and I'm sure there's even more of them grabbing drone shots or heading out in helicopters. I don't have the patience for landscape photography, but I'm looking forward to seeing some of their work!

At the other end of the spectrum, I've been taking pre-school portraits all morning and I had a session with a family that's never seen snow this afternoon. So while I'm uploading today's work, I figured it's a great time to upload some recent photos photos from a much warmer day at the Betty Ford Gardens with the Henline Clan. The shoot was so much fun and as you can see from the photos, we had loads of laughs!

Visit the website to see more Vail Family Photos.