Oh this little man was a dream, he did SO incredibly well for me! I love me some sleepy babies!

Miss Leah was a joy to photograph! And incredibly sweet… I love watching first time parents with their new baby. The love and amazement in their eyes is indescribable and these lucky parents were no exception.  So in love with their new baby girl… and who can blame them, she’s beautiful!

I can feel it, summer isn’t far off!
With the time change, its lighter longer. The weather is starting to shape up and we can actually spend time outside.

We can do photo sessions outdoors without jackets, gloves, hats, crying/cold children!!

I cannot wait for spring and summer to get here, we got a nice little taste of that at this session… pure joy!

Such a gorgeous little girl… and oh so sweet!

Brooklyn was a joy to photograph, loved this session!

Meet Valerie and her son, Joe…

Valerie lives next door and her son, Joe, and my daughter, Allie, have become best buds. Such good buds, Allie is determined her and Joe will be getting married in the future, she’s just “waiting for a ring”. It’s cute… but scary how fast they grow up!
Valerie’s hubby, Dave, is currently deployed and won’t be back till June… she wanted to have some pictures taken of her and Joe to send to him. So we headed out east of Colorado Springs to where she boards her horse and had a blast playing around on the farm. It was a gorgeous March day, the sun was shining and we couldn’t have asked for better weather.
Joe looks incredibly handsome in his cowboy hat and Valerie always looks gorgeous! I look forward to doing a session with them once Dave returns this summer, so keep your eyes open for this cute family later this year!

Sweet Miss Adalyn did not want to be away from her mommy! So we made due and got some great shots with mom only inches away! 6 months is such a fun age to photograph… sitting up but not yet mobile ( a photographers dream! ) and for the most part, they are always cheery and smiley!

I had some of the most precious newborns in the month of January! What a wonderful way to start off the new year. A couple of them were amazing sleepers, let me mold and pose them anyway I wanted… then a couple were a little more tough. Always sleeping with one eye open, watching me and refusing to sleep… luckily, with patience, a warm house and a full tummy they all finally succomed to their need for sleep and passed out! That’s when the real fun begins.

A lot of parents think they want their newborn to be awake for pictures… when in reality newborns photograph best when they are in that deep deep sleep where they can be moved without waking for a single second. Typically, if the baby is awake when I get there I’ll start the session and try to get a few shots of their bright eyes, but after a few of those I always recommend nursing/feeding the baby to top them off and get them to go to sleep. Sleepy newborns are much easier to work with than wide awake ones!

Please click the photo or follow the link to view our favorite photos from MJ and Fred’s adorable wedding at The Secret Garden in Colorado Springs.

There are almost no words to describe how loving and precious Mary Jean and Fred are together. One of my favorite photos I’ve ever taken is the photo (to the left) after they’ve just had their “reveal” moment (where they see each other for the first time). Fred is holding her so dearly and so lovingly, you can almost see his heart bursting with joy and love. And Fred was a hoot: he is one of those old-school men who was clearly hesitant to show any tears in front of the camera, so we had to be really sneaky to get the shot, and how it was worth it!

MJ and Fred were just really interesting people. Not only is this Fred’s 1st marriage (his family joked that he was simply really, really picky), but both he and MJ are phenomenal dancers. And I don’t mean like “we take a few lessons” dancers, I mean like “we’re pros” dancers.

The best part? A ton of their friends are professional dancers so the dancing shots at the reception are gorgeous! Sexy, spinning, flair, motion, great form, and steamy gazes… it was great! (Some dancers have the best gazes. It’s a salsa/Latin thing where they look like they either want to eat you or… you know… it’s an expression of their natural heat.)

The Secret Garden was spectacular that day/night. Not too cool, not too hot, and the gardens themselves were lush and wonderful. It was the perfect setting for such a picturesque wedding. If you haven’t seen The Secret Garden in Old Colorado City, you must check it out. It literally is hidden. It’s right next to HWY 24, and unless you have exact directions, you’ll never find it because, well, it’s hidden!

Thank you MJ and Fred for sharing your spectacular, fun-to-photograph wedding with us. It was an honor and a pleasure. And a special thanks to Fred for letting us capture such emotional shots!

One of my best friends, Gaby, just delivered her third daughter, McKenna. She picked a great day to be born… my birthday! So McKenna’s daddy came up with the nickname of KimKenna…. since we will forever share the same birthday. I thought it was cleaver and pretty cute! Especially since I was there photographing her grand entrance into the world!

You’ll be seeing her on the blog as she grows through the first year, and I am so excited… she is just the cutest and most precious little girl. And look at all that hair! You’ve also seen her two older sisters on the blog before… so keep your eye out for their first session together!

Gaby made a great decision to have me photograph McKenna before she was even a week old. Newborns are the easiest to photograph in the first week of life… they hardly, if ever!, wake up… and let me mold them and move them whatever way I want. Its a dream really! They still have the scrunchy look and are just so easy to handle. I typically say before they are 2 weeks old is best, but the first week is ideal!!

It’s not often I sit a baby down to photograph them and they are smiley and happy from the start! But I sure do love when that happens! I can always depend on Elena smiling for me, she’s got to be one of the happiest (and cutest!) babies I’ve photographed. Sure makes my life a lot easier!

You may remember Kendahl from her newborn session. She sure has grown since then!

She’s gained so much chub its beyond adorable… love baby rolls! And when else are rolls cute on a girl in life?!

Amanda, Lenee and Britney were so much fun, and you can totally tell from their session! Amanda wanted funky, graffiti wall type pictures and I think we did a good job making that happen! Britney didn’t want to let go of her Dora book, but that’s okay …  it captures the moment! Lenee is a beautiful young lady and was a great help with her little sister!

Thanks Amanda, for allowing me to photograph you and your beautiful girls!

Please click the photo or follow the link to view our favorite sample photographs from Julia and Matt’s wedding at Hillside Gardens.

Loyal blog readers will recognize this wedding as the culmination of the long and twisted tale of Julia Weiland, our illustrious studio manager and apprentice photographer. Originally a bride, she unabashedly asked if she could start apprenticing under us with weddings, which led to a great friendship, which became pure nepotism and we hired her as our studio manager (many of you who are wedding clients have probably received a phone call from her at some point about you next payment being due… ).

Well, this ended up being a big, important, do-or-die day for us. Not only is Julia now an expert on our style (she helps me with the initial wedding deleting and she assists on about 1/2 our weddings) but she’s memorized every single photo we’ve ever taken in our portfolio. And on top of that, she and Matt also asked ME to be their officiant for the wedding! Whaaaaaaaaaat?

Let’s break this day down: we not only had to capture amazing photos, but I also had to marry them?!?

Well, let’s just say, the day itself did not make it easy on us!

When Julia, Matt and I first met in 2008 and they told me that their wedding would be at Hillside Gardens, the first thing I told them was, “It’s an amazing place… I love shooting there, but… what’s the backup plan if it rains?”

Julia’s whole demeanor changed when I asked that question, and she stared at with an intensity that could have wilted flowers, “We don’t need a backup plan. It… will… not… rain.”

And she meant it. More than anything. In fact, she made that statement with such conviction, I truly believed she had somehow affected the outcome of that days weather: Mother Nature would have to answer to Julia if it dared to rain that day.

Julia meant it. And I believed it.

Well, it rained. All day. Poured in fact. Ah, well. Such is life. Such is a wedding.

Julia tried really hard to be positive and strong and upbeat, but as the day wore on a photos were getting delayed because of the downpour, her resolve began to slip. Soon, there were little bouts of tears, and then hand holding with her best friends, which finally collapsed into nearly broken-down praying/rocking… and this is where it gets really creepy. As soon as Julia went into her kind of trance-like prayer/crying/rocking state and was begging the rain to stop in time for the ceremony… it stopped. We all gave her a little wider berth that day because, if she could stop the rains themselves, then if she got mad, she could probably make my head explode like that movie “Scanners” with the power of her thoughts.

Well, the skies cleared, I changed clothes, and emerged in my never-worn black suit, walked down the aisle, and conducted the first wedding ceremony of my entire life. It was thrilling. I was nervous. I was irreverent. I was sincere. I was awesome…

I’m not kidding. My ceremony was a hit. Women were coming up to me all through the reception telling me how unusual it was, and how they wished I could have married them at their weddings!

And I must say to all of those wedding officiants who make a stink about photographers: I never even noticed Kim and Char. I never noticed, saw, or heard them. I was too busy performing a marriage ceremony! So, to all of those officiants who put all those limits on photographers: focus on your job! Stop worrying about the photographers!

It’s awesome seeing the saga of Julia and Matt, engaged couple, come to a close. It even cooler seeing them start a new life as a married couple.

And you know what the best part of this whole convoluted relationship has been? Watching Julia work on the deleting of her own wedding photos. It was pure, delightful, agony for her.

No, I’m kidding. The best part has been making incredible, loyal friends from two people who initially were complete strangers who wanted to hire us.

Thank you, Julia and Matt, for being great friends, and Julia: thanks for being a hard working employee and for putting up with my insufferable crap everyday. You’re the best.

Seeing these four together again brings such joy to my heart. Mark just got back from his third tour in Iraq. I am so happy (and relieved!) that he made it home safely… I photographed the Shepherds right before Mark left for Iraq and then again just now when he returned. It was a great pleasure to photograph them again… after that long year apart put behind them, them knowing their family will always be together from here on out!

And thank you to Mark… who has sacrificed so much to serve his country. To keep us safe… you are a true American hero and I feel honored to call you a friend!

Please click the photo or follow the link to view our favorites from Sarah and Matt’s super fun very “kid-friendly” wedding at the First UMC and Mr. Bigg’s Family Fun Center.

“Till the one day when the lady met this fellow
And they knew it was much more than a hunch,
That this group would somehow form a family.
That’s the way we all became the Brady Bunch.
The Brady Bunch.. ”

What do you do if you and your fiance have 6 kids between you, and you want them to be part of your wedding party without getting bored to death? You involve them heavily in your ceremony and leave not a dry eye in the church and you have your reception at the coolest, most fun place for a kid in Colorado Springs: Mr. Bigg’s!!!

As a parent of 2, I am very familiar with the family outing to Mr. Bigg’s. They have everything: go carts, laser tag, arcade games, bumper cars, mini-golf, bowling… it’s a kid’s dream come true ( and any adult with a healthy inner-child like myself). In fact, just about every adult guest I saw was having a great time!

This wedding is our crown jewel of fun, unorthodox weddings. It was so much fun to photograph Sarah and Matt. They were absolutely carefree and very in love, and they loved, loved , loved to have fun. Their photos exude joy.

But the best part was the go-cart and bowling action shots. We’ve never shot anything like them, and it was especially interesting during the bowling as I had to fight the urge to flinch when they bowled the balls straight down the lane right at me! The balls came soooo close to clipping the lens, but no harm done, the shots are great!

Thank you Sarah and Matt for choosing us to participate in your incredibly touching and fun wedding.

Colby and Becca were so much fun to work with… we didn’t have a location in mind, I met them at Colby’s house and we just jumped in the car and drove around… very spontaneous and we found lots of neat little places to take pictures! They are so cute together, so in love… and were willing to do anything I asked them, gotta’ love that in a client!

Colby’s little brother, Jack, wanted to join in on some of the fun too!

Click the photo or follow the link to view the sample gallery of Adrienne and Joel’s wedding at The Colorado Springs School.

One of the real advantages to being a husband and wife team is our ability to split up for the before photographs with the groomsmen and bridesmaids.

I am a force of nature. I like things to be fun, to laugh and to goof off. That kind of vibe allows me to make friends wherever I go, but it’s not the kind of vibe that would be appropriate for most ladies while getting ready on the day of the wedding. While there is lots of laughing and having fun on the ladies’ side, there is also a sense of stress and formality that I think wouldn’t mix quite well with my own vibe. Charlotte, however, exudes the perfect vibe for the ladies’: fun but contained, always planning, everything is under control, personable but not loud.

My vibe is much more appropriate for nervous, excited men. We men like to talk trash, tell jokes, laugh loudly and be rowdy when we’re nervous, so I fit in with the boys like chocolate on an ice cream sundae. This wedding was no exception. Joel and groomsmen (mostly his brothers) were the best of the best when it came to sheer playfulness and rowdiness. Everywhere we went there was laughter and fun. One of my favorite photos is the “He-Man-esque” pose with Joel’s fist thrust triumphantly in the air (all impromptu, BTW…).

It’s all about burning off nervous energy and getting ready to focus on the hugely important ceremony ahead. And it works wonders. We get relaxed, emotionally open men, with grooms who view their wedding as a great time instead of a burden!

And by the time I get to see the ladies when they’re done getting ready, they’re more relaxed and ready to have fun (be sassy, as I call it). It’s a different kind of fun with the ladies. It’s more of a fashion shoot than a series of gags like the men do. We do our sassy walks, our cougar stares… I demonstrate all of it, too. And I must say, I can sashay my hips with the best of them!

I love the huge emotional swings of weddings. We can go from exuberant energy and laughs early, to tears and joy during the ceremony, to jubilant debauchery with still raw emotion during the reception. And it’s all beautiful, and it’s all meaningful, and it’s all fun!

Thank you Adrienne and Joel for sharing your amazing wedding day with us. It was an honor, and I hope you can make your way back to Colorado sometime to see us again.

We’ve created a sample gallery of our favorite photos from Jennifer and Landon’s wedding at The Pinery. Click the photo or follow the link to see it.

Loyal blog readers might remember Landon and Jenn from their adorable ( and freezing) engagement portraits from this winter. Well, needless to say, their wedding did not disappoint. It was just as fun and goofy as we like it, but it had so much emotion, class, and sexiness that it was almost the perfect storm of a wedding.

Like I’ve said before, couples who really are meant for each other are easy to photograph. Their bodies are relaxed, they aren’t self-conscious of what they do, and their smiles and gazes are to die for. Every time.

Jenn and Landon were the prime example of that. I love the photo of the two of them crying after their reveal to each other. Landon’s such a “dude”, a “a man’s man” (military), it was great to see he was comfortable enough with cameras on him to rally let go and experience the overwhelming happiness of that moment.

And I have to give props to Jenn: she was one well put together bride! Every detail was perfect, all aesthetics were executed to the “t”, but she was not an up-tight bride at all. Inf act, she was so gung-ho that she was willing to basically let us trash her dress for those amazing sunset shots in the wet parking lot (the dress was soaked, soaked, soaked…).

Thank you Jenn and Landon: your wedding was a blast, the two of you are perfection together, and the photos are phenomenal. Thank you for choosing us to be your wedding photographers!