Vail Family and Pet Photographer - Miller Ranch Open Space - Eric and Rachel

I did engagement photos for Rachel and Eric a couple of years ago, so I was excited to help them with some photos recently at the Miller Ranch Open Space in Edwards.  

When they booked their session, we didn't know that the valley would be hit with smoke from wildfires.  Although the smoke can be a real nuisance, (and obviously very scary for anyone near the fires) it does make for some crazy lighting that's interesting to experiment with for photos.  The smoke acts like a giant filter over the sun, so shooting during the day is akin to shooting on a cloudy day.  

Thankfully they were okay with the conditions and we were able to play around with all kinds of lighting scenarios.  A few days later the smoke had cleared out and we were back to normal, and Rachel and Eric were able to get some unique images from their session.

Visit the website to see more Vail Family Photos.

Beaver Creek Family Photography - Storey Family in Bachelor Gulch, Beaver Creek

New Year's Eve in Vail is always bitterly cold.  I know, because every year we watch the fireworks and it takes about an hour to get everyone bundled up before we walk out the door.  

When Shelly asked me to do some photos for her family on New Year's Eve last year, I knew what to expect.  What I didn't expect was the amazing views we would have of Beaver Creek in the background.  Because we were shooting three generations, it was inevitable that some little fingers and toes would start freezing pretty quickly.  Thankfully, we were shooting in their back yard, so we could corral people inside to stay warm and call them out when it was their turn.  

The sun was setting on 2017 during our shoot and what a way to finish the work year.  And yes, we went to the fireworks that night and it was crazy cold.  Nothing a little wine couldn't help with though!

Visit the website to see more Beaver Creek Family Photos.

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!

Visit the website to see more Vail Wedding Photography.

Vail Family Photographer - Horn Family at Eagle's Nest and Lionshead

The ski season is officially over and what a busy season it's been!  The winter started out slow with our snowfall, but thankfully it picked up as the season went along.  The Horn Family was one of my first shoots for the winter. We decided to start the shoot up at Eagle's Nest to make the most of the snow and finish the session in Lionshead.  

If you look at the first photos in the series, you'll see the snow coverage that we had at the top of the mountain.  Look closely at the third photo and you'll see the grass sticking through!  Luckily, we only had to deal with these conditions for a couple of weeks and the photos still came out cute.

I loved their jewel toned color combo too.  Such a sweet family!

Visit the website to see more Vail Family Photos.

Vail Wedding Proposal - Vail Observation Deck - Joaquin and Alyssa

When I'm organizing wedding proposals, I'm usually doing the work by myself.  When Joaquin decided to propose to Alyssa, he had the concierge team at The Arrabelle lend a hand to put the details together.  They brought champagne and a sound system to the top of the mountain to play Alyssa's favorite song.  It made such a huge difference having their wonderful team there to help out!  

Everything went off without a glitch and I was able to not only capture the proposal, but a few engagement shots afterwards.  Here are a few of my favorites.

Visit the website to see more Vail Engagement Photos

Vail Newborn Photographer - Baby Harrison

I was excited for my newborn shoots with Baby Harrison for two reasons.  Firstly, I had done big brother Ethan's newborn photos a couple of years ago and secondly, Harrison is one of my favorite names so of course he was going to be a rock star! I'm doing all of my newborn shoots in the studio now, but my recent shoot with Harrison was done at his house.   Sometimes it can be tricky to get wee ones to sleep, but Harrison was amazing and settled right into the bean bag I use for newborn shots.  

All newborn shoots come with both color and black and white versions of all of the edited shots.  I usually like a mix of both, but I really loved the black and whites from his session.  Look at all of this cuteness!

Visit the website to see more Vail Newborn Photos

Sapphire Point, Breckenridge - Nicks Family Session

Sapphire Point on Lake Dillon is easily one of the greatest views in Colorado.  The Ten Mile Range is on full display and the walk around the point is nice and easy - until it wasn't!  

I met the Nicks Family at the point and was blindsided by the amount of snow that was covering the trail.  Although I was dressed in ski clothes, my clients were not.  I was also about to learn that Duck Boots come in both insulated and non-insulated varieties and the girls were wearing the latter.  

Judging by their smiles, you'd never guess how uncomfortable they were.  Did I mention it was 8 degrees (-13 Celsius)?!  Unbelievably, they didn't complain once.  The following photos are testament to them being such great clients.  

Visit the website to see more Vail Family Photos.