Trystan Photography: An Intimate Portrait.

Tanesha was one of our “really-on-top-of-it-brides”. She booked with us a good year out (or more) from her wedding date. She had her engagement session done a few months later, and her choice for her matted 8×10 signing board back to us well before the deadline. The amazing thing to us was how she somehow pulled off planning her Colorado Springs wedding all the way from the Western Slope of Colorado (Glenwood Springs, I think…)

Sometimes you can just sense how badly a bride wants to get married. Tanesha’s excitement and desire for nuptials was almost palpable.

Tanesha and Carlos area truly happy couple, with very large and loving families that came togther that day for a simple, beautiful and moving ceremony and a “party-of-the-century” kind of reception.

Thank you both for an beautiful wedding that made photography almost easy!

Side note: I’ve seen a lot more white tuxes in ‘08 than any other year. Could that be that logic is finally creeping into the minds of the average wedding couple: summer weddings are hot; the bride and her girls get to wear cool light colored dresses and the guys wear stifling hot black tuxes.  I say, let the men wear cool clothes, too!

Groomsmen unite! Demand light cotton, breathable clothes! Let the hot black tux (albeit still very flattering, I’ll admit) be reserved for cold East Coast weddings in the fall and winter.

Now I’m just rambling off of the top of my head here, but someone should develop a portable liquid cooling system for tuxes that utilizes tubes of cooled water supplied from a discrete pump-pack under the coat on the belt… hey, wait a minute… that’s a good idea!

Hmmmm… please excuse me, while I secure the necessary patents…

Brooke and Randy had a vision of a wedding at the Woodmen Valley’s Stone Chapel in Colorado Springs followed by a riotous reception at the Marriott.

We previewed Brooke and Randy’s engagement pics a while back on our blog, and we were hoping that the wedding photos would be as much fun to capture as their engagement photos were… and how!

Brooke and Randy have such a fun, carefree love. They laughed and played all day long, shrugging off the usual wedding snags and stresses with a joke and a grin. They loved being close to each other that day, and it shows in our photography of them.

We love our job, but weddings like this remind us how lucky we are not only to be wedding photographers, but also to be in love as husband and wife!

I’d photographed a number of weddings at Woodmen Valley’s Stone Chapel before, but I’d never captued a photo that really showed they hidden Jesus inlay in the stonework behind the altar. Charlotte got a great shot of Him this time, so keep an eye out!

You can view all of Michele and Lucas’ Graphistudio album.

Michele and Lucas were married at Raccoon Creek Golf Course in Littleton, CO. Colorado really cooperated on their wedding day with stunning skies, picturesque clouds, and a sunset straight out of a movie.

Our ability to tell the story of the wedding day across the album’s pages is unparalled with Graphistudio albums. Premium covers, professional Kodak photo-papers, lay-flat pages, and custom layouts are why we only carry Graphistudio albums for our entire album line.

You can view Tristyn and David’s sample gallery.

Why do I like Tristyn? (Other than her name…)

I like Tristyn because she was one of our only clients through the course of last year to notice, and mention, that between the time they intitally met with me, to the day I shot their engagement photos, that I had lost a lot of weight (30 lbs in 4 or 5 months).

Why do I like her even more after her wedding?

Because when I told her I’d gained all the weight back she claimed she didn’t believe me! God Bless you, Tristyn! That was, The Perfect Answer.

But seriously, I really enjoyed photographing Tristyn and David because of the true affection and love that shined out between them. They were authentically excited, almost giddy to get married. And it shows: the natural affection, the warmth, and most importantly, the level of comfort and confidence it takes to be naturally close and affectionate with your fiancé in front of the camera. They gave us all of this, and more.

It was a crisp clear evening at the Stonebrook Manor, in Denver. And the sunset was to die for. It’s so interesting to work right at the time of waning light, when every decision counts and time is evermore fleeting because the sun moves away so quickly at that time. And once it got dark ouside, we still went out to freeze a little and capture one last look at dusk.

Their ceremony was perfect, and their toast were great. But the dances! Why am I such a sucker for the dances?!?

Tristyn and David’s dance was emotional. She shined with happiness, David held her so closely. When she danced with her Dad he was sweet-happy-sad (but mostly sweet), and David’s mom, oohhhhhhh… it was so heartbreaking. The way she clung to her son and cried so softly I think I’m the only one who saw her tears through my long lens. Those are the kind of moments, and the privileges, that make our job such an honor. Thank you, both of you and your entire families. That was a magical night, and I hope we can keep track of you two!

Amy and Daniel are getting married this summer and it will surely be a fabulous affair. I love engagement sessions because it’s the perfect time to really get to know your couple before you photograph them on thier big day. Amy and Daniel were really funny with each other. Daniel seems to be such a kid at heart and Amy is so patient with him. Well, for as long as she can stand it!

I love it when my couples goof around with each other. These guys seem like they have such a great time together and it truely reflects in the photographs. I’m so excited to photograph them on their wedding day!

The majority of our wedding clients have never been married before (although the current divorce rates are making the concept of a “return” wedding client not so far fetched), and I’ve photographed hundreds of weddings, which makes me kind of an “expert by-proxy”.

I’ve seen it all, and it occurred to me today that there really are 10 major wedding mistakes that should be easily avoidable and seem pretty obvious in hindsight… but if this is your first wedding, then, what hindsight?

That’s where this little gem comes into play. Trust in this sage advice and I just might save you some stress on your big day.

Do a “Dress Rehearsal”: I mean it. Rehearse putting on your dress. Nothing throws off a carefully planned wedding like a complicated corset taking a virtual army of mothers and bridesmaids half hour to cinch, hook, or thread when you thought it would take 5 minutes.

And with that in mind…

Practice Bustling the Dress: Bustling is usually pretty straight forward, but sometimes those little ties and/or hooks can be pretty good at hide-n-seek. Whoever you select for your crack team of “bustlers” needs to have a detailed knowledge of where to find your “bustling hardware” because the last thing you want to deal with before you finally get to relax and party is a long, drawn out bustling of the dress (and your DJ constantly poking in and saying, “So, any idea how much longer before we do the introductions?”).

No Fake Tanner / Over Tanning: Let’s do the math here: Most likely your dress is made of the most delicate light cream and white materials, pure and clean (just like you). Fake tanner is orange/brown. You will probably sweat on your wedding day. Sweat makes fake tanner run… on to your wedding dress. Under the armpits and top of the bodice are common victims, but believe it or not the front of the dress gets a little copper rub-off most often from your forearms! Let’s review: Don’t use fake tanner, ever.

Now for over-tanning: Authentically tan skin does look stunning in many warm sunny environments in that gorgeous white dress. However, certain details often escape the attention of our average well browned bride. Firstly, don’t ever tan anywhere in the weeks before your wedding day where you can’t go in the buff because you will not be liking the white and ever-so-obvious tan lines from you bikini top (i.e. only use tanning beds). Secondly, don’t over do it. You will not like the leathery look of overly tanned skin in your bridal portraits, or (God forbid) you get sun burned! (Do I really need to explain why being burnt is bad for photographs?)

Eat something: Many of our clients have the completely natural tendency to avoid eating much or any food the morning of their wedding due to nerves, or over drinking the night before…

This may sound and feel like a good idea at the time, but please bear in mind that by the time we really get going that day, you might be a little low on the blood sugar and:

a) pass out during your ceremony.

b) become a little cranky

c) become really, really cranky. (And this is supposed to be a party, remember?)

So save your your fiance, your wedding party, and your poor wedding photographers the grief and nibble a little throughout the day.

The Immaculate Dress: Do not assume that your dress cannot get a little dirty. Especially the underside of the train and hem. It touches the ground, so it will get dirty, and the best part is, no one can see it! I get such a kick out of brides who want the shot in the grass or field or off a trail in trees or something and then look down and see bits of stuff stuck to the tulle and freak out! It’s OK, as long as there is not a stain, you’ll be fine. That’s why you have bridesmaids, to pick tiny pieces of stuff out of your tulle and veil before the ceremony. Hello! And in the worst case scenario where you do get visible stains or dirt on the visible parts of the dress, you’d be amazed how little if any is noticeable on the photographs, and if they are just have them removed!

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Sometimes you get a day that’s perfect.

Sometimes the weather is warm but not hot (you do not want to see me sweat).

Sometimes the Colorado skies are extraordinarily beautiful.

Sometimes you can feel just how much your clients are really in love.

These were just a few of the things that made Nadja and Joe’s Mystic Meadows wedding really special for us.

This last New Year’s Eve was really one for the books.

Suzanne and Patrick are a very exciting, energetic and eclectic couple who’s wedding had a clear penchant for… non-conformity, shall we say?

It was an outdoor ceremony. In December. At night. And candle-lit. Oh, and did I mention it was possibly -7 below zero?

In all honesty, the ceremony really was beautiful, and the amazing thing to us was how many friends and family from Denver (at least 100 or more) braved the weather (I-70 was shut-down that day) to arrive at this tiny little night-time wedding at the Salida Golf Course. I don’t have many friends like that: it’s sad but, it’s true, and it speaks volumes as to the kind of people Suzanne and Pat are.

The cermony was short and sweet, but I was shocked at how hard it is to move around and get shots when it’s that cold out. We were all standing in snow, and when it’s that cold the snow squeals and squeaks almost like Styrofoam. The couple would be in the middle of the vows and I would try and move and… not good. So Char and I apologize to any wedding guests who couldn’t hear anything because of my awkward-self making all that unavoidable noise. Maybe it really wasn’t  loud at all, but to me it sounded like it was amplified!

On top of that, the liquid crystal displays on our camera’s didn’t seem to like the cold. Everything ghosted a bit on the back of the camera, but amazingly the image sensors functioned normally (I think the Nikon sensors are designed to withstand up to -30 or something absurd like that). And we had those hot-pack hand warmers in our pockets that we would periodically press against the cameras, so they were just fine.

Then came the dance. Suzanne and  Patrick didn’t want to do just any dance, so they did a live interpretation of what seemed straight out of the opening puppet show from “Being John Malkovich”. It was hilarious,  and all of the guests were floored with laughter. It was satirical ballet at its best, but in the midst of it all we still managed to get some really sweet shots of the couple, too.

Overall, it was the biggest small wedding we’ve seen, the most challenging, and the most fun.

Congratulations Suzanne and Patrick!

We shoot so many weddings at the Air Force Academy Chapel, it’s nearly impossible each year to select only one to show as our sample from that venue. But for ‘08 we finally narrowed it down to Celine and Steve’s wedding. Overall it was a dream wedding: nobody was late, the ceremony didn’t run long (which can be a really big deal at the chapel because you only get two hours, period, and once your time is up you’re out of there!), etc.

The chapel can be very colorful and bright if you know how to photograph it. I don’t understand why some photographers (and maybe their clients) prefer the aluminum interior to look so stark, cold and gray (kind of like the Death Star), when the chapel never looks that way in real life. Even on cloudy days, we can still capture the celebratory colors streaming down from the long stained glass windows. I very much prefer it that way. A wedding is happy celebration (hopefully), and to me color says ,”Celebrate”! (You should imagine me throwing my arms flamboyantly in the air and shouting like Rip Taylor.)

We also got a break in the fact that once our time was up in the chapel, the sun was setting outside for our couple shots, and nothing looks better for the shots we call the “romantics” than makin’ out in the beautiful Colorado sunset!

They continued on to the Academy’s Officer’s Club for their reception, where they had some very emotional and fun dances. I don’t know if I’m just a huge sucker for dances, but I seem to love almost every dance I photograph. It’s such a personal moment between two people, and you can capture some amazing shots during a couple’s dance, or the dances with the mom or dad. I love when we get to the dances. The sad thing is Char and I almost never dance ourselves due to the 2 year old and 1 year old that are usually right under-foot, or literally hanging off of us during our days.