I’ve kind of been saving posting this session until we got closer to the wedding date. But today’s email from Kimberly says that she’s “turning into a ball of stress” so I thought now would be a good time to post these photos. We had so much fun this day. In fact, we had so much fun, we stopped for dinner so we could shoot some more after the sun went down! I also have to tell you, Connor was such a good sport given that there were three women all telling him where to stand and what to do!

So Kimberly….. don’t stress yourself out. Your wedding day will be wonderful. Connor is an great guy. You’ve got tons of family and friends who are excited for the two of you to get married. And, in the end all that really matters is how much you two love each other.

That and the fact that you’ve picked out fabulous wedding shoes

Isn’t this cute? Kimberly brought this along for their Save the Date announcements.

A girl after our own hearts…. Kimberly is a shoe girl!

Larimer Square after dark.

The colors in the Colorado mountains were absolutely stunning this fall. So much so that Caitlin and Ben decided a drive up to Keystone for engagement photos was worth the extra time. If I remember correctly…..  Ben proposed to Caitlin in Keystone making this engagement location extra special.

We met in River Run Village for some shots around the river, the ski lift and borrowed a fun bike from one of the shops. The woman in the store wasn’t at all surprised when we asked to borrow the turquoise Electra bike which makes me think maybe this wasn’t the bikes first photo shoot.

We heading up Loveland pass, on the drive to Keystone we had spotted a grove of aspen trees that were the best yellows and gold we’ve ever seen.  They kind of glowed. We knew they’d make the beautiful backdrop that Caitlin was looking for.

You know how something people just seem to fit together? Caitlin and Ben fit together. Comfortable, relaxed and in tune to each other.

This was one of those heart pounding moments. Caitlin was sooo close to falling in yet managed to hang on!

Aren’t these colors amazing? Caitlin and Ben certainly picked the right location.

We stopped about half way up Loveland Pass so we could get the entire valley photographed.

We’ve known Jen since middle school so we were thrilled to be asked to photograph her wedding to Jonathan this spring in California. These two where very certain of what style of photos they wanted for the engagement session – Bright and colorful! I think we found that!

A poor unsuspecting grasshopper landed on Jonathan’s pants sending Jen flying!

Steve and Tawndra were out from California to finish up last minute details surrounding their wedding at the Boettcher Mansion. We’d been wanting to do a little night shooting and Tawndra and Steve were game. Luckily, we had good weather without too much of the wind we seem to be plagued with this year.

Check out our post on the 20th with their wedding! Tawndra did an amazing job putting together the most beautiful details.

We stopped by a champagne bar in LoDo to warm up and get a drink. The place was perfect for a few photos while we were there.

It’s fun to make new friends. I’ve known RJ Kern for a couple of years, but only in passing. Recently, I offered to help him knock off a couple of his 101 goals in 1001 days, and he mentioned an educational vintage shoot he was putting together. Would I be interested in helping? I said I loved the style he was looking at and asked, “You knew I was a costume design major, right?” He replied, “You’re like my soul sister!!!” There would be a shortage of exclamation points in the world if I ever quoted RJ with the correct amount of enthusiasm.

And, as like follows like, RJ’s friends are pretty swell people too. All the participants in this portrait shoot were wonderful to work with. Even when the inevitable stress appeared, everyone took it in stride and pitched in. What more could you ask for?

Oh yeah, fabulous vintage pictures and a fun video explaining our process. But for me, that final output is secondary to the experience itself. If collaboration is a dance, it’s nice to feel like everyone’s in rhythm.

Inspired by Light: Behind the Scenes of a Vintage Shoot from R. J. Kern on Vimeo.

In April Elizabeth and Kiva will travel with their families from Costa Mesa, California to Colorado to be married. They chose the beautiful Magnolia Hotel as the site for their wedding. An excellent choice and one of our favorite places downtown! We had so much fun getting to know these two. We tromped around on a VERY hot afternoon, exploring different areas around Little Raven Street for photos. Wasn’t long before they were making location suggestions!

This was one of our favorite location finds of the day!

No sports team competition here!

Elizabeth and Kiva we are looking forward to seeing you and meeting your families this April.

I met Sarah when she was a middle school student taking part in the Destination ImagiNation program. She was one of the most creative, self confident and determined kids. So it was no surprise when Sarah and Matt wanted to do something very different for their engagement photos. They headed off to a costume warehouse and after some looking around decided on costumes from the 1900′s. Now don’t for a moment think these two are just a couple of silly kids…. Matt is studying to be a doctor and Sarah started veterinary school at CSU this month – they just know how to have fun!  These future doctors will be married over Labor Day weekend at Hudson Gardens in Littleton and we can’t begin to tell you how excited we are to be photographing this very special day.

Don’t you love that hat…. Fruit and peacock feathers! Did women really wear this?

Sarah had a moment of boredom and painted the dogs toenails. He didn’t seem a bit embarrassed at all and it matched his collar.

We borrowed the front porch of a family for these photos. They didn’t seem too shocked but kept peeking around the corner of an upstairs deck to watch.

Deena and Brian realized it was true love when they discovered their mutual fondness for homemade ice cream. So when it came time to do their engagement session we knew ice cream would have to be included! We met Deena and Brian for an impromptu picnic at a secluded little spot in Boulder. While we love the Flatirons it’s nearly impossible any more to get shots without a hiker wondering through the background, so we were thrilled to have them show us another wonderful mountain view location. After we finished up there we headed over to the Pearl Street Mall to a wonderful little shop that makes their own ice cream!

The perfect engagement session – Photography and Ice Cream!

The main reason Amanda and I started including engagement sessions is that it gives us the opportunity to get to know our wedding couples before their ceremony. Over the years we have had the pleasure to meet at lot of wonderful couples – Amy and Michael included.

On July 5th they will be getting married at her parents home in Boulder. Their backyard is spectacular so it’s really no wonder Amy wants to be married there. We met them at the house so we could go over plans for they wedding, meet her parents, look at albums and most of all include Mr. Meowton their Hairless Rex in the photos. (Did you know cats have belly buttons!) We goofed around with zoo animals left in the yard by her niece and then headed over to Colorado Horse Rescue where Amy volunteers time for more photos. Being a horse owner it was great to see how this group is caring for neglected horses – plus the area provided us with many settings for photography.