Trystan Photography: An Intimate Portrait.

Please click the photo or follow the link to view heather and Carl’s wedding at The Wild Basin Lodge in Allenspark.

If you’re a regular reader of this blog, you’ll probably be noticing a theme after this wedding: rain!?! Every bloody weekend!!! When I was a kid, I remember daily afternoon rain-showers like clockwork in Colorado, but once the El Nino hit in the late 90’s, the clockwork rain stopped. Almost 10 years passed without daily showers for any extended period of time, but now… it’s not raining every day, but it seemed to rain every weekend… at least in August.

The day after Tessa and Doug’s rainy wedding, we drove 275 miles to the tiny little mountain town of Allenspark. Unfortunately, I think the same rainy storm-front that had dampened Tessa and Doug’s wedding had pretty much kept pace overnight, and now was a guest of honor at Heather and Carl’s wedding!

This storm almost did the wedding in, and if it hadn’t been for the excellent meteorological skills of the coordinator of The Wild Basin Lodge, the outdoor ceremony would have been called and we would have been forced to hold it on the porch. However, after carefully consulting the live feed of the local Doppler for about 30 minutes, she emerged to state confidently, “… it’ll pass in 15 minutes.”

I had my doubts because a steady, medium-heavy rain had been falling unchanged for about 20 minutes. So all the guests, the couple, and Char and I, stayed dry inside the lodge, and the guests passed the time merrily sipping cocktails and chatting. It was actually a great opportunity for Heather and Carl to walk around and talk to everybody, and lo and behold… 15 minutes later it stopped raining and the setting sun broke through the clouds and I realized that we were going to get a gift from God, at least, in terms of opportunity for photos!

Looking back at these photos, I can’t believe how close we came to missing this wonderful dusk ceremony. I mean, a wedding is a wedding, no matter what the setting, but c’mon! It was stunning out. Brides all over the world would kill for a sunset ceremony in a natural, awe inspiring place like that.

I don’t know how they did it, but Heather and Carl showed no sign of worry or stress as they waited out the storm. Maybe it was luck, or maybe it was the power of positive thought, or sheer will of the bride, but they really lucked out and got a one-in-a-million ceremony.

Thank you, Heather and Carl, for allowing us the honor of capturing your beautiful day! Now you have visual proof to show your future children that, in fact: the best things do come to those who wait!

Please click the photo or follow the link to view Tessa and Doug’s gallery of their Wedding at the Davie Family’s Ranch near Del Norte, CO.

Ever since I first watched The Legends of the Fall, I’ve been infatuated with the idea of someday owning a huge piece of the Rockies upon which to raise my children (I did name my son, Trystan…), and Charlotte and I could be inspired every day by the natural beauty that would surround us. We would spend our days hunting, fishing, and I’m sure, making more children. I haven’t worked out yet how we stay in business doing all of that, seeing as how my dream home is remote and located far away from here. But let me have my little daydream, I’ll work out the details later…

Until that day comes, however, we’ll continue to live in Briargate (a subdivision of Colorado Springs) and have only cookie-cutter houses, weathered wood fences, and a distant view of Pikes Peak to serve as our inspiration.

That’s why I feel so lucky to be able to zoom off across Colorado on the weekends to capture weddings for beautiful couples in very inspiring places. The Davie Family ranch was no exception.

Sprawling along the Rio Grande, Tessa’s parents had the perfect little slice of high country heaven in their ranch, and Charlotte and I were awestruck. And as I thought about what it must have been like for Tessa and her siblings to grow up on the ranch, I became more and more jealous. Not only did they get to have horses and work the tractors and 4-wheelers, and get to have a full basketball court in the hay loft of the barn, but Wolf Creek Ski Resort is only 30 minutes away, max! Plus, on top of all of that, the landscape is stunning.

Not that I’m implying that growing up on a ranch is easy. I’m sure Tessa’s dad put all the children to work like all good farm or ranch families. And if their efforts to put on a wedding for 200 guests by themselves were any indication, the whole family knows how to work hard.

Tessa’s wedding was probably a real test for the Davie family, because for the 2nd wedding in a row, we got rained on! But this time, there was no tent over the ceremony site, the storm didn’t “just miss” us, it was full on raining during the ceremony. But you know what? Everybody loved it, and it showed. And the photos are proof of what I tell every couple who gets rain on the wedding day, “It won’t show in the photos”. Keep in mind, I’m not talking a downpour here, but a light rain or drizzle shouldn’t put all of the couple’s carefully laid plans to waste.

It was beautiful out, with perfectly flat light, and once again like Kim and Jere’s wedding a few weeks before, the skies played their part and gave us an amazing backdrop for our photos.

This wedding also provided Char and I with one of the most emotional reception moments we’ve ever seen when Tessa’s brother (who was deployed to Iraq) made a surprise phone call to the couple during the toasts. Not a dry eye in the house. It was ridiculously emotional. Which then makes it very hard to see what your trying to take photos of…

Thank you Tessa and Doug, for choosing Charlotte and I to capture your wedding. Especially with it being at your home, Tessa, it really felt like we were capturing something very special, and personal.

Colorado’s high country can be a moody lover.

She is so giving: her majestic vistas, soaring tower-esque clouds, and beautiful greenery are a photographers’ dream backdrop, especially for the drama and romance of a wedding.

However, she can turn cold and stormy in a second. Her jagged mountain ranges can hold back even the strongest storm fronts which boil and rage just out of sight and out of mind a peak away, until the built-up energy of the storm front swells and boils over the tops of Colorado’s peaks like a volcanic pyroclastic flow. And just like that, a beautiful day in the High Country can turn from beautiful, to stormy and wet.

Such was the schizophrenic mood of Colorado on the day of Bree and Brian’s wedding at the Siverthorne Pavilion. Spots of sun would yield to cold wet drizzle. Calm would relent to gusting winds. It wasn’t a very fun day to try and capture Colorado for Bree and Brian.

However, through all of the changes in weather, one thing remained constant: Bree and Brian’s unshakable optimism and joy for the fact that this day was finally here and they were getting married. We may not have had sunshine, but their love for each other shined brightly on it’s own.

I love when couples say: “We don’t care what the weather does: we’re getting great photos done!” and we roar around in the drizzle and wind taking simply perfect photos of the two of them. All brides should take Bree’s lead and suffer for the art. Suffer for the art!

If I were to try and sum up Bree and Brian’s wedding in a few words it would be: laughing and crying. I was worn out just watching them vacillate back and forth between cracking up and barely containing sobs.

Growing up, I never understood “happy crying”. I’d always see my mom crying because I bought her a pretty necklace for Christmas or something, and ask why she was crying and she’d always answer, “… because I’m so happy.” Huh? I don’t know if it was because I was young, or male, or both, but I couldn’t get my head around that concept. That is, until I married the woman of my dreams (I cried), and then later when Charlotte, my beautiful wife, gave birth to my children (I really cried). So I think it’s obvious that I now fully understand “happy crying”.

Bree and Brian, I wish you the best in your marriage. I also heard from a little bird that Bree clearly has “baby fever”, and it’s probably going to be only a matter of months (9?) until there’s some new changes in the big picture for you two…

Please click the photo or the link to view Rachel and Aaron’s wedding at the Broadmoor Hotel.

Outdoor ceremonies in Colorado offer a number of challenges, as well as unparalleled beauty and grandeur. This wedding ceremony on the Broadmoor Hotel’s West Lawn was no exception: rain threatened all morning long, in fact, the couple got sprinkled on during the couple shots (they saw each other before the ceremony). The wind gusted and whipped all day, the sun was in and out of clouds…

We love days like that. Our job as photographers is to adapt and change our shooting strategies according to the situation, and Char and I have seen just about everything Colorado has to offer in terms of weather, so we simply adapt, and thrive.

Honestly, I love challenges when it comes to photography. I love overcoming unflattering angles of sun, falling rain, driving wind, etc: all of those things can be used to a photographer’s advantage. Wind whips hair and veils beautifully, unflattering sun can be used to add dramatic effect at just the right angle and with remote flash, and rain brings a romantic melancholy to couple photography.

The difference between great and bad outdoor shots in Colorado is whether we’re simply at the mercy of the elements, or whether we can be flexible and use the elements as additional artistic tools. We’ve learned to allow Colorado to become an additional and welcome subject in our wedding photography along with the bride and groom! Fighting against what Colorado gives you never works.

Anyway, back to the wedding: after the ceremony, Rachel and Aaron held their reception in the exquisite Penrose Dining Room. It was a blast. A huge part of it’s success I credit to their exceptional DJ, Phil Peralta at Simply Entertainment. He was a true emcee. He set the appropriate mood for the different events of the reception, he was very good on the mic, and did some very unique and fun introductions. My favorite part of the reception came right before the father / daughter dance when Phil read a letter Rachel wrote about her dad. in it, she remembered how the Penrose Dining Room was where she went on her very first date… with her daddy. He took her out to dinner there, she wore a beautiful dress and that night he presented her with a necklace… and here they were again, dancing together in that very room.

Not a dry eye in the house! Her dad was sobbing, Rachel was crying, I was crying, Char was crying, and we’re both trying to see well enough through the fog of tears to capture this amazing moment! We did (Thank God), and the photo of Rachel wiping her daddy’s tears is so precious to me (as a both a photographer and as the proud daddy to my Ella…)

Rachel and Aaron: you planned a perfect wedding. We had a blast photographing it. What a day!

Please click the photo or the link to view Michelle and Craig’s wedding at the Lazy J Ranch.

If you need modern, trendy interiors: don’t get married at the Lazy J.

If you need air conditioning: don’t get married at the Lazy J.

If you don’t like guns: don’t get married at the Lazy J.

However, if you like the awe inspiring grandeur of Colorado’s high country, the rustic and playful charm of a working sheep ranch (with state-of-the-art catering facilities and and event buildings full of character), with a highly professional staff, and a world-class clay and skeet shotgun range (first photographs I’ve ever taken of a beautiful bride holding a 12 guage…), then the Lazy J is the wedding venue for you!

Michelle and Craig planned a very joyous, relaxed and fun occasion with lots of elements of personal taste and sense of style that transformed the handsome and dusty ranch into their very own “metro/western/chic adult playground, 5 star restaurant, party place” (my term).

They really took advantage of the available views, and various amenities to make it fun for everyone. With it all said and done, looking back at that day and our photographs, I think the Lazy J is the definitive “mountain venue”. The only scary aspect about planning a wedding there is the “rain plan”, as it’s indoor facilities are large but limited in terms of photographic interest, the Lazy J relies heavily on it’s abundant natural splendor. We flirted with rain off and on during Michelle and Craig’s wedding, but the big heavy thunderheads ended up providing a dramatic skyline for a very striking and beautiful day.

Thank you Michelle and Craig for choosing us to capture your wonderfully planned and visually stunning wedding.

Follow the link to find out more about the Lazy J Ranch.

Follow the link to see Beth and Bryan’s Pueblo wedding.

Beth and Bryan were married at an amazing private ceremony at her parents’ home high above the Arkansas River. Actually, I’m probably understating things a bit here: when I say “home”, I really mean “estate”. It was amazing. Huge private grounds, lush gardens and forests, amazing views… they should really consider letting other people rent the place for their weddings!

It was an elegant affair, with well appointed table settings in a very accommodating outdoor tent on the east lawn. The details were thoughtful, the settings perfectly picked, and yet there was such an atmosphere of joy and celebration, that the inherent formality of it all blended quite easily with the jubilant “party-time” energy that was bursting at the formal seams!

And talk about a couple in love! No shyness here, at all. They were very outgoing, affectionate, and their parents and family would follow us around at sunset whooping and cheering them on…

Thank you Beth and Bryan for the opportunity to capture your wedding day. It was beautiful, and a true pleasure to photograph!