Kaysha - Fort Collins College Senior Photos

Loyal blog readers might remember way back in 2009 when I photographed Kaysha. She was just graduating from CSU (Colorado State University) at the time. Well, she decided to go back for a Masters and just graduated this year! I'll take just about any excuse to head up to Fort Collins, so when she got in touch about more photos I jumped at the opportunity! Ladies and gentleman, back for round 2, it's Kaysha!

Michelle and Todd - Fort Collins Engagement Photos

Michelle and Todd got married in Denver at the Botanic Gardens at Chatfield, but we shot their engagement session in Fort Collins the week before. It was a beautiful evening to be out in nature, which is right where Michelle and Todd are the happiest. Here’s a look at our adventures in Old Town and the beautiful areas outside of Fort Collins.

Kristina - Denver High School Senior Photos

Way back in July I posted Kristina's sneak peek. July! Somehow, I never got around to posting her full blog post!

We met just outside of Fort Collins in some beautiful farm country. I asked Kristina if she would mind if I shot some film, which she was totally OK with, so I brought along an entire arsenal of film cameras (in addition to my digital). Holga, Polaroid, medium-format twin lens... a little bit of everything. We had a great time and I think the photos show it. So, without further ado, here's Kristina!

Yashica TLR - Double Exposure!

Yashica TLR

Holga

Polaroid SX-70

Polaroid Pack Film

T&C - Fort Collins Wedding Photography

T and C were married back in August at the beautiful Beaver Meadows Ranch Resort outside of Fort Collins in Red Feather Lakes, CO.  I was fortunate enough to help Karina Heneghan photograph this wonderfully fun wedding!

 

 

Kristina - Senior Photo Sneak Peek

Here's a sneak peek at a few photos from Kristina's senior portrait session.  Denver got hammered by storms this day but up north we got pretty lucky with the weather.  I shot a lot of film on this shoot, so I can't wait to share some of those photos with you!  Oh, and not all the photos are so serious... we got some smiles as well!

Lindsay and Bob - Senior and Practice Engagement Photos

Shortly after doing a photo shoot in October of 2009, I received a message on Facebook. It read something like "I got your name from some friends and wanted to know if you could photograph my wedding in July 2011?". After explaining that I'd never shot a wedding before, the response was "I don't really mind that you haven't done a wedding before... I feel it's one of those "pay it forward" things. If I don't take a chance on someone, who knows if or when someone will."

I want to thank Lindsay for taking a chance on me. It's been over a year since that first message and we have developed quite a relationship. Although we've only met twice (once to discuss the wedding and once for this photo shoot), I feel like we've known each other a lot longer. That level of comfort helped to make this shoot a whole lot of fun and a lot easier, since I was just meeting Lindsay's fiancée, Bob, for the first time.

Lindsay and Bob are high school sweethearts. I got to hear some great stories about sledding, bears and broken noses (all different stories, if you can believe it), as well as getting to see how perfect they are for each other. Although we're planning an official engagement shoot sometime in early 2011, we thought we'd get in a little practice while we had the chance, so after a relaxing lunch we headed out to CSU's campus for some photos.

When two people have known each other for quite a while, it's kind of magical. Their hands and their bodies know how they best fit together. Their conversations calm and relax each other. Their subtle glances between shots bring true smiles and a twinkle to the eye. Just don't ask them to gaze at each other.

Apparently, Lindsay and Bob don't spend much time "gazing" at each other, because when I asked them to gaze into each others eyes, it lasted a whole 2 seconds before they started cracking up with laughter! I told them to practice their gazing before their engagement session, but when I talked to Lindsay the next week and jokingly asked her how their gazing practice was going, she said they tried it in a restaurant and caused a scene. Maybe we'll nix the gazing photos.

Lindsay will be graduating from CSU this December, at which point I'm pretty sure she will be diving into wedding planning mode until July. While she's still a college student, though, we wanted to get some photos of her on campus. Bob took off and left us to capture Lindsay the College Student. We strolled around campus, ducking into buildings to get warm and snapping photos between snow flurries. When the weather really started to take a turn for the worse, we decided to call it a day.

After spending an afternoon with Lindsay and Bob, I can honestly say that I can't wait for their engagement photo session. Even more, I can't wait for their wedding day! What started as a quick message on Facebook has turned into a wonderful relationship. Lindsay and Bob, I'm so happy for you and am looking forward to many more lunches, conversations and photo shoots with the two of you!

Mandi

Working with Mandi was one of the best surprises I could have hoped for. It was the first time I had worked with a gray seamless background, which is now one of my favorite backgrounds to use! We started clicking pretty quickly, so her poses and expressions quickly started working very well. The lighting was doing some really good stuff for us. All-in-all, it was a great shoot!

Mandi made the drive down from Fort Collins for this shoot. She brought a good selection of clothes that gave us quite a few different looks. The thing that surprised me the most, though, was her face. It seemed like we got so many different looks with just subtle changes to the lighting or her expression. She's a lady of many faces!

I just had an opportunity to work with Mandi again this past weekend (I'll post a little something about that soon) and it was like meeting an old friend! She is definitely going places in the modeling world, so keep an eye out for Mandi.

You can see more photos here.

Cami

What's up with me lately? As you might remember from Victoria's photo shoot, I didn't recognize her when she showed up. Once again, I've proven to be Mr. Non-observant. I met Cami in Fort Collins and she texted and said she was almost to the coffee shop where we were planning on meeting. I headed over to the coffee shop and waited outside... in the cold... for about 15 minutes. I thought I'd catch her when she got to the shop. It turns out she beat me to the shop and she was already inside. To add a bit more irony, she was sitting right by the window that I was sitting on the other side of. I kept thinking, "that sure looks like Cami, but it couldn't be." It was.

Once we got that straightened out, we headed to our location and started shooting. I had found the location on an earlier shoot and made a note to re-visit it. It had lots of tall grass, dead trees that had fallen over and a little creek running through it. It was just about the perfect location for an autumn photo shoot.

We started a little later in the day to get the best light possible. Cami was awesome. She took direction very well in order to take full advantage of the light. She had a good variety of looks and poses. She wasn't afraid to move around and use all parts of the location, even if it meant getting a little dirty or cold.

After an outfit change, the sun started going down fast. This gave us the best light of the day, but it started to get cold quickly. Once again, Cami came through and we got some excellent photos.

While I was editing the photos, I realized that these are some of my favorite photos I've taken in a while. I've really enjoyed all of my photo shoots up to this point, but all of the stars lined up for this shoot. Between the location, the weather, the sunlight and Cami, these photos just worked. Thank you Cami for a great shoot and great photos!

You can view more photos here.

Sherri and Justin

Sherri and Justin are a super-cute couple who have moved to Colorado from out East. We spent the day together in Fort Collins sampling beer, shopping and taking photos. We shot at two different locations that both represent Fort Collins: the Poudre River and CSU.

One thing I noticed that they loved was just saying "Poudre". It inspired a giggle every time. That seemed to carry throughout the photo shoot. They both love to be goofy and have a good laugh. Sometimes during a shoot I'll tell a couple to get a little silly so we don't have as many "serious" photos. With Sherri and Justin I had to tell them to get a little more serious once in a while.

After spending a good amount of time on the river, we headed to CSU's campus to get in some photos before the sun went away for the day. Since it was a Saturday, there weren't many students around and it felt like we had the entire campus to ourselves. We started on the steps of the Administration Building and worked our way over to the library. On my last trip I noticed a tiled wall that I knew I'd have to use for a shoot someday. Today was the day and the photos in front of that wall are some of my favorite of the day.

I knew that a shoot with Sherri and Justin wouldn't be a "normal" shoot, so of course, it got a little strange at the end. Police cars and fire trucks came rushing towards the library. I would assume that someone was hurt inside, but hopefully everything was OK. Then there was this squirrel. It was having a staring contest with Sherri and wouldn't leave. Justin decided to start talking to it and it decided to take a flying leap from the sidewalk to a tree. It was the strangest thing we've seen in a while. Once we saw that this squirrel could jump pretty well, we decided to leave it alone and call it a day.

Once I got home and reflected on their personalities and interaction with each other, it inspired me to get a little funky when processing these photos. Thankfully, they are just as happy with the photos as I am.

You can see more photos here.

Saraya

This weather we're having is just unbelievable! Last week we get almost 2 feet of snow and this week I'm in Fort Collins taking pictures of someone in shorts and sandals! You've just got to love Colorado weather. By the way, that someone was Saraya, a young lady from Cheyenne, WY who made the trip down to Fort Collins for a photo shoot.

We met in Fort Collins but headed up north of town to get a little closer to nature. The Poudre River flows north of town and we found a nice spot that had a trail, big trees and even a wooden bridge. We shot at the bridge for a while and then headed over next to the river with some huge trees as props.

As with all shoots, it takes a little while to warm up and start taking really good, relaxed photos. With Saraya, he initial photos were good but we really started clicking once we got next to the river. Some of her poses even remind me of something you'd see on America's Next Top Model! She was very dynamic and didn't just give me the same pose for 2 hours straight. Because of this, we got a big variety of really good photos.

The day ended with Saraya and her boyfriend (he came along for the ride) having a "swordfight" with sticks. After reviewing the photos we took, I can see that playful nature coming through in her expression in many photos. You can't ask for much more than a beautiful day, a fun-loving companion for a photo shoot and great images when you're done. Thanks, Saraya!

You can see more photos from the shoot here.