Summit County Wedding Photographer - Spring Flower Fever!

I LOVE crocuses! Why? Let me count the ways! Maybe that they are such a sign of spring, and spring NEVER comes soon enough here in Summit County, Colorado at 9,200 feet! It's Easter Sunday and my crocuses in the yard are still under a 3 foot tall snowdrift! And it's snowing now we have 5 inches in the forecast for tonight!

But also the contrast between the green leaves, the purple petals and the bright yellow & orange stamen make for such GREAT photos! Making purple crocuses a favorite of mine - yellow just don't compare - although I've tried! About 10 years ago, when I was still shooting in film, I forced crocus bulbs indoors and photographed them in the middle of the winter... usually the biggest blizzard conditions brought out my photographing frenzy!

This year, my frenzy has come later in the spring... buying potted crocuses in Denver and watching them grow and photographing them along the way. Somedays I put them out in the snow and taken them with snow on and around them. Slightly obsessed, YES, but it's helping my spring fever!

This first photo is my favorite from 10 years ago - using Fuji slide film. (I can't find the original slide and this copy has been oversharpened over the years!) Now that I'm shooting digitally, I get results and satisfaction even faster!



















maybe I should retitle this blog post "Confessions of a photographer with cabin fever?"

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Keystone Baby Photographer - Kaia at One Month Old!

I've been lucky enough to photograph baby Kaia twice since she was born a month ago! And we were lucky to squeak Mom's maternity photos in just 3 days before she was born! Now Kaia is one month old and her eyes bright and shiny, she's VERY interested in the world around her and it sounds like she's even becoming a CU Buffs fan!

Slideshow here and her 10 day old photos on the blog here...

My favorite photos:





















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Great Sand Dunes National Park on Spring Break!

We spent most of spring break here in Summit County, but did get away for a few days at Great Sand Dunes National Park. It was our 13 year old daughter Heather who lead the charge... she wanted to try duneskiing! We did some research, learned it wasn't all that exciting, very hard on equipment, and not very thrilling. But she wanted to prove it for herself and it made for a pretty good family trip!

We stayed at the Great Sand Dunes Lodge - just south of the park entrance - and were quite happy with the lodge and the location! It is all about 20 miles from the main highway and 35 miles from Alamosa... so plan on a couple hours out of your drive if you're driving past! The restaurant was closed, but luckily we knew that the lodge had warned us ahead of time and brought burgers to be cooked on their grills.

The winds are high in spring in the San Luis Valley and the temperature was cold while we were there.... in the 20s at night and getting up to 50 during the day. We needed full warm attire to fight the winds on the dunes... but with hiking and the protection of the dunes, it was a great experience!

You lose perspective out there in all that sand... we all talked about getting vertigo occasionally, not knowing exactly how far away things were. Or how steep the hills really were. But we did learn what others before us did - skiing or boarding is better on snow with a chairlift! Oh yes and PROTECT your electronics from sand... cameras, ipods, phones... I brought an OLD camera, but Tyler has a malfunctioning ipod touch from too much sand!

My favorite photos....































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Ed & Lisette's Copper Mountain Engagement Session

Ed & Lisette chose Copper Mountain for their Engagement Session, a very opposite venue from both their home in NYC and their wedding next year in the Philippines! I would love to be the wedding photographer, but alas, I am destined to stay here in the snow! Ed lived here at Copper Mountain in the past and knew what he wanted, including some early morning shots in the Village of Copper and then some images out at Clinton Reservoir, just a few miles from Copper towards Leadville. Great choices Ed and we were lucky with about 5 inches of new snow that morning!

Ed & Lisette's slideshow online here...

And a few of my favorites:





















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Snowboarding Bride and Groom - Part 2

Andrea and Jeff were married last week at Copper Mountain and had so many great photos it's hard to pick favorites. Perfect sunny spring day, beautiful couple. During one of the toasts, Jeff's friend referred to him as "Smiley Jeff" and after hearing that - I see it in every picture of him! Obviously a happpy couple very much in love! I keep saying, "they are so STINKIN' cute!" Aren't they? And such great snowboarders and great sports to snowboard in their wedding attire between the ceremony and reception at Copper Mountain's Grand Hall at Copper Station. Andrea's veil and dress were skied on, snowboarded over, and even the dog got a hold of the veil at one point & yanked. But it never phased Andrea! What a FUN wedding - I'm so glad to be a part of it! And I have photographed a lot of weddings, but have NEVER seen a snowboard used for guests to sign! Congratulations Andrea and Jeff! And good luck with your wedding planning business, A Summit Wedding!

Full slideshow online here...

And first sneak peeks of the snowboarding here..





































Wedding Vendors
Wedding Planner - Andrea Marr - A Summit Wedding
Venue - Copper Mountain Chapel and Grand Hall at Copper Station
Flowers - Garden of Eden - Frisco, CO
Cake - Katy Schabert at Clint's Bakery - Breckenridge, CO
Videographer - Michaela Miller
Second Shooters - Bill Linfield and Davis Oramas
Wedding Dress - Allure Bridals

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