Destination wedding photographer in Colorado

Destination wedding photographer in Colorado

for Ryan and Alysha

Somewhere at the base of the Rocky Mountains between Aspen and Telluride is a small vineyard town with homegrown restaurants, struggling wifi, and a name that's difficult to spell. For some, the beauty may not be worth the distance you are from "the grid", but for Colorado natives, Ryan and Alysha, a small farmhouse in Paonia, Colorado was the perfect setting for their dream wedding. As a destination wedding photographer in Colorado, we've seen many unique weddings and venues -  but none quite like this.

Coming from Denver but each having a penchant for fine taste, Ryan and Alysha put together what was easily one of the best weddings we have ever experienced. With old books, straw bale benches, and fences struggling to retain their paint, the "FRESH AND WYLD"  farmhouse adorned simple and authentic all over the wedding itself; and for Ryan and Alysha, authenticity was important. Our love for wedding photojournalism relished thanks to this couple's personality and openness.

These two are the kind of people who greet everybody with hugs, who include their families in the ceremony, and who kiss each other and giggle between ever click of the camera. They are the kind of folks who are not afraid to show emotion as vows are being read, nor the kind who feels at all timid on the dance floor. For Ryan and Alysha, authenticity is natural and inevitable. They are two beautiful and fun people, and thus invited their families and friends of that ilk. Perhaps our opinion of their friends is biased because we had met several of them shooting another favorite wedding in Puerto Rico a couple years back. However, as the events of the day turned into toasts, videos, and campfires, our estimations of their coolness were continuously vindicated.

Apart from how enjoyable and friendly the bride and groom were, we also took some amazing pictures. Paonia is a beautiful place and has moved its way up into our "favorite locations of all time" list. Then again, our opinions may be biased here as well because we got to experience with such amazing people. Every smile was genuine. Ryan and Alysha's wedding was a victory for humanity. We were happy to be a part of it.

How do you get great wedding photos like these? 

Lessons from Ryan and Alysha

• Let there be nothing that can ruin your day
• Plan well, delegate and experience your wedding
• Lose track of the camera, be yourselves
• Express your feelings, laugh loudly
• Realize how beautiful this day is and experience it fully
• Be up for anything

colorado wedding pictures

un posed wedding photos

wedding photojournalist

destination wedding photographer in colorado

Would you like to see more? View Ryan and Alysha's extended wedding preview below.

City wedding photographer Denver

[flo_one_third padding="20px 20px 20px 20px" class="" ]

City wedding photographer Denver

for Sam and Caitlin

Naturally, the traditional concept of a wedding imagines a bride walking down a church aisle. The couple exchanges vows, runs out of the church while bird seed lands on the folds of a white veil and the church's steps, then jumps into their waiting limo. This is followed by a reception at a local ballroom - tables with white linen cloths and every adornment following the standard white, borrowed and blue. The modern couple, however, has spun away from doing things in step with tradition and instead weaves their wedding day with personality-filled details - only the things that matter most to the couple.

Sam and Caitlin's wedding is such a great example of a modern wedding. It was filled with meaningful and unique pieces of who they are. The wedding was held in one of my favorite artistic wedding venues - the Space Gallery. We were able to highlight downtown Denver's best locations as we photographed the guys getting ready at the Denver Athletic Club and captured portraits of the wedding party at the newly renovated Union Station. Caitlin was a strikingly beautiful bride. Her poise and warm, welcoming personality came together to present a truly beautiful woman paired with her groom who was just as dapper in his early fall, steel-blue suit.

Before the wedding Caitlin, Sam, and I sat down, and as I learned more of their story as a couple, we agreed the goal of the wedding day's photography would be to capture the modern and authentic style of the wedding. As a city wedding photographer Denver provided the scenery and the couple was just right to make a story like this. The story-telling approach towards documenting this day created this beautiful heirloom for the couple and their family.

[/flo_one_third] [flo_two_third_last padding="20px 20px 20px 20px" class="" ]

[/flo_two_third_last]

Would you like to see more of Sam and Caitlin's story? Check out the video below.

natural artistic wedding photographs

  [flo_one_third padding="20px 20px 20px 20px" class="" ]

Natural. Artistic Wedding Photographs . Colorado

"These people are so great." That's the thought thought continues to come to mind when I think of words to describe what this day was like. Paul, Sarah and their group of friends are world changers. Many of them live around the world teaching, peacemaking and studying to be serving and impacting people. They are some of the most kind, peaceful and intelligent group that I've had the pleasure of working with.

Sarah's home, Colorado Springs, welcomed this group to a quaint chapel and Garden of the Gods club for a natural, eclectic, meaningful and joy-filled wedding. You can tell by the reactions of their guests how loved the two are. As the images below highlight so well, the day was saturated with support and happiness.

These natural artistic wedding photographs blend a beautiful combination of photojournalism and fine art photography. This formula is the base for how I create meaningful artwork for couples looking for authentic, unique wedding photographs. It's best described as meaningful artwork. Photos that you'll be proud to hang on your walls for generations.

My favorite Denver photographer, AD came alongside me and captured some incredible images for the bride and groom. I am always thankful and impacted by the way he sees things.

Every wedding should be so happy.

[/flo_one_third] [flo_two_third_last padding="20px 20px 20px 20px" class="" ]

[/flo_two_third_last]

Another special thank you goes out to the staff at Garden of the Gods - for being great and mainly, for bringing us cheesecake after we were done photographing. Also, to Sarah Viera Event Planning & Design and her team for making the reception a flawless event.

And now - click this link and dance along. Finish looking through the photos and repeat.

unposed wedding photographer | denver

[flo_one_third padding="20px 20px 20px 20px" class="" ]

Unposed Wedding Photographer 

For Dan and Lili

The unposed wedding photo. "Eh?" One may think if they believe a photo is a photo is a photo. "We are all family," I heard repeated from many of the guests and family members. How would one accurately document that? The most important thing for this family was that the celebration be a true representation of the relationships and love within the wedding attendees.

The wedding day truly is an incredible experience. The bride and groom is surrounded by everyone they love most in the world while eating like kings and dancing like there isn't a worry to be found. The negative to this is that it happens in a really short amount of time and all of those loved ones fly back to their homes and its ended before we realize it had started. To me, it makes a lot of sense that in biblical times weddings lasted weeks, it really is too great of an experience to wrap up in one day. Which is why wedding photojournalist, the natural, un-posed photo is so important. Thanks to camera phones and social media, you can pull up hundreds posed image of your loved ones at any point but to have a set of photos that remember the way you were feeling on around all of your bests...a set of photos that don't offer a facade rather an accurate representation of of what it's like to be at one of the most significant days of your life...that is when a photo becomes more than a photo.

This wedding was great for many reasons, though one of the things I remember the most came from the toast of the father of the groom. The couple has a story-book worthy tale of how they met and fell in love while the groom was working in China. The father of the groom noted how when he was the Bride and Grooms age, it would have been near impossible for an American to marry a Chinese citizen. "We have come a long way," he noted. With all the turmoil that happens between countries I am honored to have documented a story of love and union that highlights the good that is going on.

A special thanks to the wonderful staff at Arrowhead Golf Course directed by one of our favorite coordinators, Kiersten.

[/flo_one_third] [flo_two_third_last padding="20px 20px 20px 20px" class="" ]

[/flo_two_third_last]

organic wedding photographers

  [flo_one_third padding="20px 20px 20px 20px" class="" ]

Organic wedding photography

 Vail, CO | for Eric and Sandy

Perspective. A photograph records a fraction of a second. It's an impulsive, intuitive reaction to a prediction of what will occur. As a wedding photojournalist, the photographer isn't necessarily documenting what is happening but what will happen and it can never really be done the same way by two different people. I think it's always fascinating to observe the difference between the way that people see things. Perspective.

This wedding shows us a really great example of the way that two different people see and react to thing. Matt and I strategically place ourselves throughout the day to try and cover as much of the wedding as possible. With a couple as expressive and emotional as Eric and Sandy, our different perspectives proved to be effective in documenting the unique facets of this story.

We were amazed by the unique and distinctive stories that were captured from the same fractions of time. Stories that reflect honest adoration, expressive connections and the true good-hearted nature of Eric, Sandy, and their families. Their wedding photographs feature some good and important documentation. Wedding photography that can only be done well when a couple is so willing to share themselves. Thank you Sandy and Eric for being so open. Thank you for being a great example of a couple who is there to experience the wedding day for love of relationship.

I am one to easily get lost in the eye candy that personality and joy taste like though I can't dismiss the beauty in all of the day's tangible details. The cupcakes were flown in from a chef featured on Cupcake Wars, the napkins were printed with fun facts about the couple, the margarita glasses were topped with sprinkles, the flowers, the dress and all of the decor were simply beautiful. Kerri and her A Touch of Bliss girls knit the mountain wedding venue together to perfectly reflect the simple, artistic, and intimate beauty of couple's style. The day was filled with all kinds of delicious things.

Enjoy.

[/flo_one_third] [flo_two_third_last padding="20px 20px 20px 20px" class="" ][/flo_two_third_last]

Wedding Photojournalists in CO

[flo_one_third padding="20px 20px 20px 20px" class="" ]

Wedding Photojournalists in CO

 for David and Laura

As Wedding Photojournalists in CO, we couldn't have asked for a better set of people to tell stories about. If there were an Oscar Awards night for weddings, first of all, that would be a good idea, but second of all, the recent wedding of David and Laura would be tough competitors in many of the categories. Having some experience already with weddings with Laura's family, our expectations were high already for the catering and for the "coolest mother of the bride" categories (her mother catered the wedding). What we didn't see coming were the other parts of this celebratory occasion that made this wedding one of the most fun we've attended all season.

The ceremony

The ceremony itself was traditional, sincere, and meaningful, taking place in the church Laura grew up in. This included some wonderful traditional music. The most impressive part, was the two families put together all of their musical members, which numbered about 30 - 40, and sang an a cappella benediction during the service. It was amazing.

The reception

During the reception, the bride and groom did a joy-filled first dance, which was followed by a highly impressive father-daughter dance; possibly the most entertaining we've ever seen. It started slow and then suddenly broke into a different, faster song, during which Laura and her dad performed a choreographed dance that had to have taken hours to prepare.

The nights highlight?

This was followed by the highest photo booth participation we have ever seen since the Donaghy-Felton wedding of 2003. The guests knew what to expect and were lined up all night ready to throw out a fun expression for the couple to remember them by. David and Laura put their wedding together with the best possible ingredients: a lot of fun people in a room. When people like that get together, only good things happen, and we have the photographs to prove it. We're so thankful to be a part of their big day, and secretly wish Laura's folks would have another kid so we could get the Elmshauser wedding beans a third time.

And now for the coveted sixth man award that we give to wedding attendee who we photographed almost as much we did the couple: Molly the bridesmaid. It was only right to begin this story with the photo booth so that we can prove to you right away the deserving repentance of this award.

Here's to David, Laura and Molly. Congrats you three.

[/flo_one_third] [flo_two_third_last padding="20px 20px 20px 20px" class="" ]

[/flo_two_third_last]

[flo_button url="http://selah.dev/gallery/photojournalism/" style="blue" size="large" type="round" target="_self"] Our wedding photojournalism gallery [/flo_button]

[flo_one_half padding="20px 20px 20px 20px" class="" ][/flo_one_half] [flo_one_half_last padding="20px 20px 20px 20px" class="" ][/flo_one_half_last]

vail wedding photojournalists

[flo_one_third padding="20px 20px 20px 20px" class="" ]

vail wedding photojournalists

| for Matt and Roberta

If anyone were to make a snap judgment based on photos alone, they would accuse us hiring good-looking people who are professional dancers to stage a wedding for a photo shoot. However, the truth is that Matt and Roberta and just that handsome and hang out with people who are just that talented. It may have been Vail's remarkably high elevation taking over the international mix of party goers (mostly Brazilian), or it may just have been that Matt and Roberta have been practicing choosing good people even before they chose each other for a beautiful mountain wedding.

The setting was near a creek and a swimming pool, in the yard of the Lion Square Lodge. With some brief spells of rain for good luck, and some moving dark cumulus props giving us good shooting light, it was a good day to immortalize. Whether zoomed in or out, there were aesthetics all over - God's landscaping and human emotion.

Our MVP of the night (not including bride and groom), was of course Roberta's grandfather, who had flown in with his wife of many years all the way from Brazil, knowing very little English. However neither age nor language was a barrier from this awesome guy getting his hands on some of our photo booth props and donning them in the middle of the dance circle to modern day hip hop. These are the kinds of kinds of grandparents we are thrilled to see at a wedding, and the kinds we hope to be when we're their age.

These and more, including a Belgian in a green spandex suit, were dancing like no one was instagramming, in support of two good friends in their commitment of lifelong love and partnership. Good photos of good people. We were so thankful to be a part of their big day, and we know now that the bar has really been set for our next Brazilian wedding.

[/flo_one_third] [flo_two_third_last padding="20px 20px 20px 20px" class="" ]

[/flo_two_third_last]

Wedding at The Four Seasons Denver

[flo_one_third padding="20px 20px 20px 20px" class="" ]

Wedding at The Four Seasons Denver

Documentary Wedding Photographers  | Shahar and Rachel

The only thing predictable about a wedding in February is the cold and this year, we barely predicted that accurately. As for everything else, it's anybody's guess. Especially if the members involved are having a traditional Jewish wedding at the Four Seasons Denver with an R and B band and a delightful craziness that would inspire a bride to enter an outdoor pool towards the end of the reception. By bringing us to their wedding, Shahar and Rachel enhanced our love of wedding photojournalism but also allowed us to take part in what was easily one of the funnest events we have covered.

The dynamic of Shahar, the peaceful well-groomed groom who keeps a James Bondlike straightmannedness about himself at all times juxtaposed with such an emotive bride like Rachel, whose face has more expression than a Jim Carrey career montage, made for some enjoyable shooting. I believe the quote was, "there is no such thing as a bad picture of Rachel." This includes the pictures of her spontaneously jumping up on stage and performing with the band as well her outside going "just a little further" into the hot tub with her supportive husband holding the train and bustle. It was love indeed.

Other highlights of the night included the discourse of the two Rabbis, each of whom were family, the onstage performance of Abba's "Dancing Queen" by Rachel's mother, and two of the most genuine and low stress families we have ever met before a wedding. Smiling, hugs, and all round friendliness were some denominators more common in these two families than in most children's television shows. It was clear that both Shahar and Rachel came from good stock and from people who know how to enjoy the gift of life. These are the same kind of people who look good in photographs whether they are being hoisted above the crowd in a chair or not. We will always remember this wedding fondly in our hearts.

Prepare yourself to smile through this wedding photojournalism and fall in love or re-fall in love with a group of people who you may or may not have met.

[/flo_one_third] [flo_two_third_last padding="20px 20px 20px 20px" class="" ]

[/flo_two_third_last]

iconic wedding pictures | photojournalism

Jaci and Lane exchanged promises on a windy day right outside of Scottsbluff, Nebraska. After the ceremony, we rode out to the Badlands and caught the light as it faded over the horizon. We grabbed some iconic wedding photographs at this celebration. These will be featured in our portfolio for quite some time. Sarah and I documented an abundance of joy and energy, thank you both for sharing so much of yourselves. We thoroughly enjoyed being a part of your day. This is just the preview! To view more images of Jaci and Lane, visit our Facebook page (find the link at the bottom).