So, I’m still playing “blogging-catch-up”. Actually, we just shot Lisa and Casey’s wedding last weekend (the really hot one I was whining about on Facebook Saturday night): just an idea of how hard it is for me to keep up on this blogging this year!

I loved taking their engagement photos, and I loved their wedding even more. So let me just say, if you like their engagement session, oh baby, just wait until you see their wedding photos! (Hot or cold, that day would have always been awesome!)

Amber and Pete are a blast. We are so blessed to have only clients that like to laugh, have fun, and truly love each other. It makes photography so much fun and easy. It may have been a little chilly that day, but they made it HOT and fun.

You’ll see Amber and Pete’s wedding photos later this year after we shoot their wedding at The Cheyenne Lodge at the Broadmoor.

I have no good excuses other than this year has been “busy-nuts”: I am a terrible blogger.

Case in point: here’s an awesome engagement session from… this winter. Jeez. That’s sad. Nothin’ like blogging about a session 4 months later!

Anyway, Lisa and Chris are getting married at The Pinery in September, and they were awesome to photograph. After a little nerves, they instantly got “hot” and were loving and fun from then on.

You two were perfect, and your photos capture two people, completely in love with each other. Thank you for making it easy to shoot, and for waiting this long to get your spotlight on the blog!

I may be functioning off of a stereotype here, but Heather and Arion are the chillest New Yorkers I’ve ever seen. I thought East Coast types were generally running at 100 miles per hour just to survive. But these two not only chose a gorgeous outdoor location like The Garden of the Gods, but they seemed completely at home and relaxed there too.

It’s probably because Heather is a fake New Yorker. She’d really a Coloradan pretending to be from New York. ; ) And she knows deep down that Colorado is really home. I personally know (from my time misspent in Los Angeles) that once you’ve got the Rockies in your blood, Colorado is always where you end up wanting to be!

Now, don’t get me wrong, Arion is awesome, too. In fact he’s clearly Colorado material, so all Heather needs to do is get Arion out here enough that he gets a little bit ‘o the Rockies in his blood and then they’ll be set.

Heather and Arion, I had a blast taking your engagement portraits. You were an amazing couple to photograph. You have an easy love that is both inspiring and fun. I can’t wait for your wedding!

This being Colorado, most of our engagement portraits feature couples in a more causal style, boots and jeans and all. Usually, we’re hiking throughout some mountain park, getting a little dirty and a little sweaty but always having a lot of fun.

This session was different, but in a great way.

I knew we were in for something special when I met Jill and Matt at Wynkoop Brewing Co., and saw not only were they enjoying a cocktail (something I highly recommend for photo shoots… not for me: I recommend the clients drink!), but Jill was simply a knockout in her stunning little dress and heels… Oh, and I guess Matt looked pretty good, too. (Sheesh)

Now, we were already planning more of a metropolitan, urban look for the session, but once I saw how truly fantastic they looked together, I knew this session had just jumped up to a whole new level.

But cool clothes does not a good portrait session make.

If Jill and Matt had just been bumps on a log, they would have been well-dressed and yet boring bumps on a log. But because they obviously ADORED each other, they had that fun kinetic kind of energy which we celebrate in all of our clients.

Real love is like a contagious drug. When I photograph couples who exude real love for each other, their euphoria almost permeates the air until I’m giddy, too. It’s a very welcome and rewarding contact high. : )

]]> http://www.trystanphotography.net/2009/08/urban-engagement-portraits/feed/ 1 http://www.trystanphotography.net/2009/08/cory-tarynn-downtown-denver-engagement-session/ http://www.trystanphotography.net/2009/08/cory-tarynn-downtown-denver-engagement-session/#comments Sun, 09 Aug 2009 21:28:27 +0000 Trig http://www.trystanphotography.net/?p=1048 [[Show as slideshow]]

“Comfortable.”

That word is the single most significant trait I see amongst truly happy couples. They are really “comfortable” with and around each other. At times, it almost seems as if they are not complete without the presence of their partner. Their personalities don’t shine as bright, they’re more tense, etc.

Cory and Tarynn are the exemplification of what it means to be “comfortable” in an engagement session. We met outside Union Station in downtown Denver, in a mind-melting heat, but this being Colorado, within minutes it was overcast and cool. The laughs came naturally and easily, the affection was obvious and free-flowing, and their photographs were a joy to capture and reflect that.

You can tell I, too, was “comfortable” with them!

Last weekend I met up with Renee and Josh at Laguna Beach, CA to take their engagement pictures… it was a blast! What a beautiful place! Neither of us had ever been there so we met up at a intersection and just started walking. We found so many fun little places and the pictures turned out great! I can’t wait for the wedding in August… I will be just as much fun, if not more!

Wow. Adam and Sara are in love.

Some couples, (all of our recent clients of late) you can just sense a certain ease about them that seems to go soul-deep.

We shot at Washington Park, where Adam and Sara live nearby, and where Adam executed his surprise proposal one morning on one of their jogs together (yes, they’re runners, as if you couldn’t tell… I felt fat just standing around them).

I don’t know if it was because Wash Park is where they were engaged, or because they were in their neighborhood and felt a familiarity, or if it’s because they felt safe with me, or what… but I feel so lucky to have been able to capture such a pure and easy love in such a fantastic setting.

I can’t wait for your wedding, you two!

Joe is a cool guy. But like most male fiances, he wasn’t the most keen about gallivanting around some park playing kissy face with his girl in front of some other dude (me) whom he barely knows.

However, I am blessed with a unique set of skills that allow me to put most males at ease and can even bring out their fun, softer sides that they might only reserve for private moments with their fiance.

How do I do this? How do I overcome our natural male machismo and get guys to feel comfortable showing their more sensitive sides?

Can’t tell you: it’s a trade secret.

Actually, it’s almost always the guys that claim they don’t like photos that end up being the most natural and loving in front of the camera. It just takes some encouragement!

We met Lee and Jessica because Julia emphatically recommended us to them way back when she was just a bride, before she was working for us. Now that’s she’s managing the studio and assisting us with photography, she was with me at their engagement shoot! What a twisted web we weave!

This photo session was an adventure, to be sure. Lee and Jessica wanted to try Seven Falls (which I’ve never shot at, nor even been to…) and when we arrived, Seven Falls was by no means busy, but there were still hundreds of onlookers around while we tried to shoot. It was fun and fine and good, but I couldn’t get into my groove the way I like (can you believe it? I have a limit on how many people are around me?!), so I eventually threw in the towel and we went off in search of a little more seclusion just up the road at Helen Hunt falls.

Now don’t get me wrong, lee and Jessica are fantastic in any situation. They are truly loving, fun, and uninhibited. In fact, they almost look like hired ringers / models. They are almost too perfect together! But I assure you, they are the real McCoy.

I really like this new era of Trystan Photography we’re entering. The vast majority of our new clients are here because of the good word of another past client.We’re shooting multiple weddings within families, seeing the same people for portraits year after year. It’s starting to feel really connected, almost like some kind of gigantic Trystan Photography family. It’s an honor to be such a fun part of so many people’s lives.

Tryg and I had such a blast taking their engagement photos. As you can see below I had a hard time picking out my favorites for the slideshow.  I just love how fun, happy and in love they are!

I met Derek and Mackenzie in a parking lot at DU and as we walked, I chatted with them about their story. (This isn’t simply to fill time, but because I wholeheartedly believe that to create a sense of intimacy with my clients helps to build trust which then helps to promote wonderfully honest and fun portraits.) I learned how they met (high school sweethearts). I learned about their first dates. I learned Derek took a long time to finish undergrad…

So I cracked a line from Tommy Boy, “‘A lot of people take that long to finish college’,'Yeah, they’re called doctors.” Derek smiled and said, “Nah. I built a house.”

He built a house. Sure, I thought. He left school for a year to work on some construction crew and built a house. Interesting choice… “So, you left for a year to work on a crew?”

“Nope. Just myself.”

Huh? Yep. You read that right. He left school for a year to build a house by himself, with help from his dad and his buddy. No crew. Just himself.

Turns out he’s an engineer or architect or something really technical like that, and building a house apparently was his version of a sabbatical.

Not many people have even worked on a crew, much less built a house by themselves. So needless to say I was impressed!

It’s also needless to say how much fun these two were. As you can see from the photos, they were really high energy and very affectionate. Whatever we’re doing to attract the kind of clients we’re getting, I glad it’s working because it’s so much easier to take fun, attractive portraits of extroverts who are authentically in love!

My favorite shot came at the end of the session, when I asked Mack and Derek if there were any more shots they could think of and Mackenzie asked if we could recreate their first kiss from back in high school. Back then, apparently Mackenzie was a little aggressive, and a little nervous but when she leaned forward to kiss Derek (eyes closed) she ended up making out with his nose. Obviously, this made quite an impression on them as we were re-creating it years later. Not only is the shot hilarious, and the back story even better, but I love the look on Derek’s face. To me it says: “Hmmmmmmmm. Am I grossed out or a little bit into this?”

When I finished Emily and Neil’s engagement portraits, she wrote back with: “I can’t get used to seeing us in photos like these… more intimate photos.”

It’s a common reaction from our clients. Most people are used to very bland, straight on, looking at the camera portraits. When they see themselves in a portrait where: 1) the composition and lighting are flattering, 2) they look comfortable, 3) they have real emotion in the shot… well, it can freak you out a little (in a good way).

Those things are the essence of fine editorial photography/portraiture. I aim to capture who my clients are, in the most flattering and visually engrossing way possible.

My favorite moment from the session was from the beginning when we met at Union Station, I was going to do the signature “dip” in the middle of 17th St. (see Kristin and David’s engagement pics for a sample), when suddenly I noticed another photographer with another couple. She was standing right where I stand and was doing the exact same shot I wanted to do!

Two things happened: 1) I didn’t feel very creative, 2) I was filled with an overwhelming urge to challenge her to a duel. You see, for those of you who don’t know, the Revised Unified Code for Photographers section 16.28 sub-paragraph 6 mandates that any 2 photographers who meet out on location with the intent to capture the same shot must fight each other to the death (just like Highlander) using our longest lenses as bludgeons. Whoever is victorious absorbs the creative essence of the other photographer. I know, I know: it’s a very barbaric practice, but it’s been in use for thousands of years, before there were even cameras or photographers. Our ancestors strictly adhered to the photographer’s code.

Needless to say, I won. Emily and Neil were a bit shaken, but as you can see from their photos, the initial shock wore off and they recovered quickly.

(For legal purposes I must now explain that I did not, in fact, bludgeon another photographer to death with my tele-zoom lens in a barbaric Highlander-esque battle for creative rights to capturing a particular shot. It was simply my attempt a gallows/nerd humor and was clearly hyperbole. In fact, if  you thought I was serious, you are clearly humorless and are no longer allowed to read our blog.)

So, anyway… it was an awesome shoot and we were all over downtown Denver. From Union Station to 14th and Curtis (riding the 16th Street Mall buses is really easy). Emily and Neil were awesome and very adventurous. It was cold, dark and nearly raining, but we made the best of it.

In fact, the photo of them walking in front of the big yellow wall, holding hands, and she’s skipping forward and looking back at him is my favorite engagement portrait I’ve ever taken. Seriously. I love it. Thank you for being so great, you two!

How often can you say you really “cavort”? Do you even know what “cavorting” is? Well, Matt and Sharyn obviously do.

When I go into engagement sessions, the absolute holy grail of photo subjects is a couple that not only really, really loves each other, but are almost giddy with energy and enthusiasm. I don’t always get that from my couples, but Matt and Sharyn were the definition of fun and energy. They cavorted all over the place. And Red Rocks is a heck of a place to do that at!

Matt and Sharyn’s wedding is this Saturday, so I will have some wedding photos to share soon!

The last place Megan was led to was a little park downtown Denver, where her and Josh had one of their first dates together. Josh had made a little circle of sunflowers (her favorite), with the last note in the center, instructing her to call him on his cell.  That’s when he came out from hiding (and us as well) and did his thing.  I put together a little slide show of my favorite images, there are several, but I love how it tells the story.  Congratulations again Megan and Josh, I’m sure you will have a long and happy marriage! Enjoy!

Ahhh, Erinn and Kostas…

What a loving, amazing couple you are. What fun people you are. Your wedding is going to make all the other photographers really, really, jealous.

I met Erinn and Kostas at a parking lot near the edge of CU Boulder and we proceeded to embark on a little hike/adventure through the campus. It was an unseasonably warm March day (before it got really crappy in April), and although the trees weren’t quite budding yet, there was an almost Spring-like glow in the air. They chose CU Boulder because it’s a huge part of their personal stories and as a couple. They are both really intelligent, well-educated people, and it was a treat to get a glimpse into their history as they would regale me with tales of their past at CU as we walked around.

As we hiked through campus we’d stop whenever the spirit moved me and we’d shoot a little (more like I took photos while Erinn and Kostas made-out). Some couples take a little coaxing, and little suggestive persuasion on how to relax and be themselves, but not Erinn and Kostas! They were so relaxed, natural and totally into each other it almost seemed at times that it didn’t matter if I was there or not; as if they went on romantic make-out walks through CU all the time.

They were so into it, at one point a car drove by and someone yelled out the window, “Get a room!”. It was so much fun to photograph these two!

Their wedding is going to be stellar: they got us for unlimited time (all day), and Kostas and the boys and I are going hang out and go skeet shooting really early while Erinn, Charlotte and the girls goof around and get ready. Their wedding ceremony is going to be at the stunningly beautiful Assumption of the Theotokos Metropolis Cathedral in Denver. If you’ve never seen the interior of this cathedral, you seriously have to check it out! Then we’re zipping off to Boulder for some Chautauqua, downtown, and Folsom Field shots (with their names and maybe even some photos on the scoreboard behind them). The reception itself is going to be at Folsom Field. Now I’m a football nut, so this wedding would be cool enough just with the field, but with the Cathedral and all the other locations, it’s to die for!

I had such a good time takig your engagement photos, Erinn and Kostas. I can’t wait for your wedding!!!

Once again, I had a really awesome, really hardcore “I-don’t-care-how-cold-it-is-I-want-my-engagement-photos-done” couple.

Jennifer and Landon met me downtown Colorado Springs, really early one January morning, when downtown was literally a ghost town. I found that it’s actually the best time to shoot downtown because the streets and sidewalks are completely empty.

The quality of the sun was fantastic and warm, and if it wasn’t for the slightly rosey cheeks and winter coats, I think it looks like we were shooting on a warm Fall afternoon.

But regardless of the cold, Jennifer and Landon were fantastic. We really are hitting the jackpot this year with couples that look great together, and have a kick-ass, fun attitude to boot!

We roamed all over downtown, and even stopped into Starbucks for some hot Chai teas (my first Starbucks photo shoot).

My favorite shot of the session is the walking in the alley photo. I am absolutely enamored of this coat Jennifer was wearing. It swayed an flowed around her as she sauntered down the alley with Landon in a way I’ve rarely seen a coat move. It was almost like a sassy extension of Jennifer’s personality. I loved it.

Jennifer and Landon are getting married at The Pinery in Black Forest, CO. I can’t wait for the wedding!

]]> http://www.trystanphotography.net/2009/02/downtown-colorado-springs-engagement-se/feed/ 2 http://www.trystanphotography.net/2009/02/mallory-and-emecks-freezing-fort-collins-engagement-session/ http://www.trystanphotography.net/2009/02/mallory-and-emecks-freezing-fort-collins-engagement-session/#comments Sat, 07 Feb 2009 02:00:19 +0000 Trig http://www.trystanphotography.net/?p=614 [[Show as slideshow]]

On a brisk but sunny December morning, I met Mallory and Emek for a lovely little Fort Collins adventure.

It was cold enough that as I waked them into a secluded little alley in the shadows, I thought quietly to myself, “Will their lips stick to each other if they kiss…?”

I’m sure they were cold, but their warmth and flirtatious love radiates out from the photos.

At one point we were by the ice rink, and I begged and begged that they go ice skating together (that would be a “photography first” for me), but alas their view of ice skating is the same as mine: no way.

The first and only time I was ever on ice skates I wore cargo shorts (the ice: it looks so smooth), and I found out the really hard way that it’ll turn you to hamburger if you fall on it going a high rate of speed in shorts…

But I digress.

To me Mallory and Emek’s photos have this peculiar quality to them: it doesn’t look like we’re in a quiant little square in Fort Collins, CO, it looks kind of like we’re in a big city, almost like New York. It’s probably just the effect of such a beautiful couple…

I can’t for your wedding, you guys!

The biggest day for proposals all year. It’s fitting that we’ve just finished our new sample gallery for engagements and couples, because that’s on a lot of people’s minds right now!

Like I said in the post about our new 2009 Senior gallery, this is the time of year we do a little spring cleaning and spruce up the website with our favorite photos from the past year. It’s a renewal, a new beginning, if you will, for our portfolio.

So if you find yourself about to propose, or being proposed to, and soon to begin planning a wedding… try us out with an engagement session. We’ll capture your real love as you flirt and kiss and adore each other… all in a fun, relaxing atmosphere.

But don’t worry, we do the standard boring formal Grandma likes, too.

I’m being sarcastic. Everybody knows it’s the grandmas of the world who love the butt grabbing shots and say things like, “That’s so cute. It’s just like your Grandfather and I were…” I’m telling you, don’t sell that generation short. They were horn-dogs. Why do you think there was a “baby boom” after WWII?

Hmmmmmm…