Help us win!- Photos entered in a contest

Hurry voting ends tonight! :)

So my best friend is very into the pinup and 40's style. She lives for it actually and even wears clothing from that era on a daily basis. Some of you may remember her from the Leavin' Las Vegas shoot. (she modeled for a few people- as sick as she was!) ha!Anyway! She recently asked me to take some photos for her for a calendar contest. Late one night, we fired off a few simple shots at the studio- she threw in a couple I took in vegas also- and she entered. We didn't really know what would come of it, but she is doing GREAT!

Now that the contest is about to close, we looked at her numbers and realized it is not only looking like she'll win her month, but she's in second place for winning the cover image as well! We'll get to do another shoot that will be more fun and more involved for the actual final image if she wins, but it's kinda exciting! It's even looking like the calendar will be sold in Barnes and Noble!

SO! Here's the link to the contest! You have to register for your votes to count, but they don't send spam or anything (I've been registered for several months now and haven't gotten anything)


I know we will both appreciate the votes! And check out her blog site as well!

Ian & Amy's Wedding in Silverton, CO

At this point, I've been to quite a few weddings. I'm a huge sap, I love weddings and families and all the amazing energy and excitements that surrounds a couple on their big day. But... this one was very special for me.

Amy and I met while we were working together at the Glenwood Caverns. This was before the tram was built, before they had 100's of employees. This was back when this little business held it's staff meetings in the owners basement with their 2 boys and pizza and babysitting duty was often on our standard schedule! :) Ahh, those were the days. But Amy and I enjoyed our time together at the caverns and were excited to watch it grow.

Then enter Ian. I was a volunteer for our college orientation day at CMC and basically met him just moments after he set foot on campus. We became incredibly quick friends and soon after were just like brother and sister. I can't even tell you the number of times he fell asleep in my room watching movies or studying and once we decided it was time to get out of the dorms, it was an easy decision to be roomies!

Time came for the caverns to rally the town to show their support for the new tramway. Each employee was told to bring every warm body we could and come to the City Council meeting where the final vote would be made on whether or not the tram would be approved. I was planning to stand up and speak at the meeting and there was no way I was going alone! I drug Ian out of the house to go with me and I'm sure he was terribly excited to be spending his evening at, of all things, a City Council meeting! But when we went inside, we sat down next to Amy and well.... the rest is history! (Wait, I've actually told this story before! Oh well. :) )

These two mean the world to me and when Amy called and told me the news that Ian finally proposed (which I knew was coming) there was definitely some squealing involved. I was so excited to be asked to shoot their wedding and honestly, I've never been closer to my subjects!

The editing process for their weekend of events has been one of the hardest I've ever had to do. They have WAY too many pictures because I know them and their family and the whole thing was just so personal and fun. Not to mention the fact that they had a spectacular wedding at the Eureka Lodge, which is owned by Amy's parents. I know I've mentioned the lodge before when we went there for New Year's Eve this year, but this was our first trip there in the summer. Just incredible. With snow still gracing the tops of the mountains (and even next to the lodge in some places) this was the quintessential Colorado wedding. These are just a few of my favorite images, with too many to choose from.

To Ian & Amy: D and I are just so excited for you. We wish you many many years of happiness and love and I can't wait for our hypothetical children to grow up together. :)

Emelia Rose Sutherland is born

Well I'm a little behind with this news, but.... on June 12th, at 5:56pm, Emelia Rose came into the world. Crystal (my assistant) had her sweet baby girl just when we thought she would- right as I rolled out of town for a wedding in southern Colorado. HA! Darrell and I were loading up the car and locking up the doors at literally the same moment she was born. Crystal and I joked for months that we knew that was going to happen! Right as we hit Grand Junction to head south, I received the text message from Crystal and I knew before opening up my phone that it had to be the news. So unfortunately I had to wait several days until we got back to meet her, but such is life.It is so amazing. Really. I mean, I myself have yet to experience it first hand, but just the day before, Crystal was at the office, working away! She was 5 cm. dialated and not interested in staying home and constantly thinking about when the baby would come, and decided to come in to help her keep her mind off the waiting game. Emelia had a fit of hiccups that day and we laughed as we placed our hands on her belly and felt her helplessly hop around with hiccups in the womb. Now here I was, just a couple days later, visiting Crystal and Ben at home.... and Emelia again, got the hiccups. I think that is when it really hit me that just literally moments ago, she was a part of Crystal and all the sudden she is here, her very own little person. Just amazing....Now of course I miss the heck out of Crystal. Not just because it's wedding season and we are crazy busy, but mostly the chatter at the office and the company of a good friend. Holy cow, Crystal is a mama.... :) Now we will be the very last of our friends to have a baby- we get harassed all the time- you know who you all are!!- so this concept of our friends becoming parents and expanding families is not new news. But at the same time, the whole process never ceases to amaze me, and having Crystal here 3 days a week all the way through her pregnancy just made it very real and much closer to home.

At 5lbs., 9 oz. she was not a very big package, but an incredible one all the same. She is growing quickly and I'm sure that growth will be well documented around here! ;) Now if I can only get through wedding season without her mom...! :) I love you, Crystal.... congratulations!

Sharon & Lucas- 2nd shooting is fun!

I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to shoot alongside a fabulous Colorado photographer, Paige Elizabeth. Because of the way I got started in the business, I litteraly leaped into it all pretty much head first and never once did I get the chance to work under another photographer. I believe we all have many opportunities in our life and work to grow, and I saw working with Paige as one of those chances. She was nice enough to let me come along to this wonderful wedding and give me a chance to, for once, not be in the lead. And Sharon & Lucas have to be some of the cutest people I have ever met, and were also graceful enough to let me share in their amazing and special little event.

I can not even begin to tell you what a neat event this was. Held at Devil's Thumb Ranch, the two were married out on the lawn with the view of the continental divide all around them. The ceremony was actually held in the round, meaning eveyone faced one another in what seemed to be an all together intimate and personal expierience. People all around the group, shared, played music and read from all sorts of different pieces and it struck me as one of the most personalized and unique cermonies I have ever witnessed. If I was getting married all over again, I think I'd want to do it this way. :)

These are a few of my favorite shots but PLEASE head over to Paige's blog to see more images of the day and check out her amazing work. Thank you, thank you, thank you!- to Paige for letting me come along (she's crazy fun and I love her!:) ) and a big Thank You to Sharon & Lucas and their family for being so fun and wonderful as well.

Jessica & Bernie- Engagement Photos

I got together with Jessica & Bernie in Denver to shoot their engagement session! They have always loved the style of the 40's and 50's so we had fun and played a little dress up! Jessica decided to go to Gunther Toody's- a themed diner in Denver- and we just had a blast. We ate lunch, they shared a milkshake and all of the other customers thought we were doing a shoot for their advertising or some magazine- so it was a lot of fun. The waiter even let us buy a cigarette for over Bernie's ear and the staff was all really wonderful in letting us shoot all over the place.Afterward we headed over to Clement Park and took a few more images there. It's goes without saying, but the skies were just amazing. I don't get a skyline like this in Glenwood because we are in the valley, so I just LOVED that I could place them up against the clouds like this. We weren't there long before the skies opened up.When it had just started to rain, I said, "Maybe we should head back towards the car..." Boy, it's a good thing we did! Just as we reached the car, it began to downpour. My car was back at Gunther Toody's and we ended up sitting in the car for about 15 mins waiting for the intense hail to stop! We thought it was going to break windows and cause dents, but we were lucky that nothing was damaged. I've never been in a car with hail like that, it was unbelievable!
And then, in true Colorado fashion, it was over just as fast as it had started. We might have taken more pictures if the temperature hadn't dropped 20 degrees and the ground was piled up with hail. Just crazy. But thank goodness for the storm, or we wouldn't have been able to get these shots! You may recognize Jessica from the shoot I did in Denver with all the other photographers awhile back, Jessica came out and modeled for us. These two make my job easy! ;) They are getting married at the beautiful Dreams Resort in Cancun in April! I am so happy for the two of you! Congratulations!