We met up at the studio on a gorgeous (if ridiculously windy) day.  We got some beautiful light, and I am excited to share their pictures with you!

Laura and Jack brought their sweet dogs for some family pictures:

We only had a couple of minutes of sunlight, but they totally nailed it. Laura and Jack are so cute!!

Have I mentioned that I *loved* their outfits? They were rocking the super hip purple and lime green combo…and when I saw this orange wall I knew it would be a winner!

We often tell couples “look like you like each other.” I don’t think Laura was faking.

And last but not least, my favorite of the day:

Jack and Laura’s wedding is next year (one of our lucky June couples–those June Saturdays are popular!). They are so sweet and fun and we can’t wait to work with them again on their wedding day!

***

Behind the scenes: Proof that I really must love Nic. I share the 70-200 with him on occasion. (But I have a thing for guys with their shirtsleeves rolled up, so it might just be the sleeves.)

Nic must have been feelin’ the behind the scenes shots this weekend, because I have two of me to share.

Nothing says “quiet romantic moment” quite like having a photographer right over your shoulder.

I warmed them up with a little exercise–piggy back rides, jumping, and spinning each other.  It’s really not an engagement shoot if you’re not sweating 10 minutes into it. 

After all that piggy backing and swinging around, it was a good thing we spotted the Red Bull car (excuse my crappy snapshot–I was so excited to see such coolness that I’m lucky I even remembered where the shutter release button is).

We were all talking about how awesome it was when the Red Bull Guy asked if we’d like some free Red Bull.  As if that’s even a question!  Umm, yes–I definitely want some Mommy Crack (as it is called in the Turchin household)!  Of course, at 2am when I was still powering through work at my desk that night and wondering why I wasn’t tired, it seemed like a less good idea…but free Red Bull is a gift you don’t turn down.

After our Red Bull break, we stopped at this bridge that I’d always wanted to play at:

And then went back to awesome colorful pictures and landscapes

]]> http://realphotography.com/blog/colorado-springs-engagement-portraits-aubree-and-zack/feed/ 1 http://realphotography.com/blog/more-engagement-portraits/ http://realphotography.com/blog/more-engagement-portraits/#comments Sun, 25 May 2008 19:36:09 +0000 Colorado Springs Wedding Photographer http://realphotography.com/blog/?p=730 I got some crap yesterday for not having more pictures as promised of Bernadette and Haydn last week (it’s very busy around here, which is why Photoshop Friday and Photography Tip Tuesday are on hiatus).  But here are a couple more sneak peeks from their Manitou Springs engagement shoot.  (Pictures from my morning with two of my awesome brides and one fantastic purple dress to come…)

Haydn with the hula hoop he found and fell in love with:

And the shot Haydn and I were pretty sure we were going to get beat up for:

We had to reschedule Bernadette and Haydn’s engagement portrait shoot last weekend due to weather, and my parents are visiting us this weekend (from our native Seattle), so thanks Bernadette for being patient on your sneak peeks! (And thanks to my mom and dad for letting us reschedule the shoot during their visit!)

We adore Bernadette and Haydn. They are oodles of fun, and just as nice as can be. I think that having a sense of humor is very helpful in marriage, and these two have that down:

(You know it’s a good laugh when there’s motion blur!)

I have been telling Bernadette for some time that just as soon as our business is big enough, I’m going to be knocking down her door begging her to be our studio manager. After yesterday’s shoot, though, I realized I also need to hire her as my personal wardrobe manager. This girl can dress. She brought three outfits complete with the perfect accessories. Check out the way her necklace brings her shirt and Haydn’s shirt together. (When they drove up, Nic couldn’t see them getting out of the car–all he could see were some killer red shoes and he said “I think that’s them–I see cute shoes.”)

Bernadette wanted to take some pictures with their two dogs to use as table number displays. She was hoping for something fun and crazy and silly, and we definitely covered all of the above. My favorite “totally out of control” shot is this one:

They are not at all competitive. Not at all. There was neither arm wrestling nor serious skeeball face offs at our shoot…never mind the photographic evidence.

Just in case you are wondering, these are not the prettiest eyes in the world. These, we were informed by Haydn, are the second prettiest eyes in the world. Who has the actual prettiest eyes in the world? Haydn.

(Nic and I laughed just as much at the shoot as Haydn and Bernadette!)

We’ll end with a playful saucy one.

I’m hoping to post a couple more this week. Thanks again, Bernadette and Haydn, for a wonderful shoot! We hope we captured how FUN you guys are and we can’t wait for your wedding–we know it will be amazing! You guys are the best!

This week’s tip is simple and easy because I have a date with a movie rental tonight.

Evening and morning light creates beautiful images.  The soft light and long shadows are dramatic and flattering.

Of course, if you live here in Colorado Springs, you’re at a disadvantage because we don’t have much of a sunset–the sun drops behind the mountains before it really sets.  But if you are determined, you can catch our amazing morning light (thanks to those endless plains stretching toward Kansas).

So if you’re going to pull the family outside for a quick family portrait, don’t do it at noon.  Wait until after dinner for some nice evening light.

On Saturday we got to photograph Courtney and Chris’s engagement portraits in Manitou Springs and Garden of the Gods. They are getting married in a month and a half, so get ready, because Courtney is going to be a knock-out in her wedding dress!

I loved Courtney and Chris’s outfits–another couple that coordinated very well together. Courtney had the great idea to use layers to add interest and texture to her ensemble, which I loved! (I’m thinking of adding an “outfit hall of fame” page to the site to give other couples/families ideas and tips on dressing fabulously for photographs!)

We had an amazing day for pictures at Garden of the Gods. We are getting to have a few favorite spots that blow me away and look much more dangerous than they actually are.

I love the curving lines and long shadows that Nic captured in this shot:

They are such cute jumpers!

And I have to end with this shot that is so Colorado to me…

Thanks Courtney and Chris for being so wonderful and photogenic! We are so excited to be your wedding photographers and love that we don’t have to wait long for the big day–I know it will be amazing!

Drew wasn’t able to make it to our initial consult (something about a beautiful day and a bike ride sounding like more fun than interviewing photographers), so this was my first time meeting him. I knew he was going to be fun to spend time with, when I was telling Nic about Kara’s VERA WANG wedding dress (you read that right, people). I told Nic that it had been Drew who told Kara to try it on, and Drew said “Yeah! I mean, it’s a dress she’s going to be wearing for several hours.”

Tells his bride to get the Vera and has a sense of humor? That’s a good melon right there.

Okay…enough of the yammer (I’m a little doped up on Red Bull to keep me keeping on after this weekend’s photography mania). Time for pictures.

Could they be any cuter?! (Nic and I have been fighting over who took that one. It’s a new favorite.)

I loved their outfits–such great bold colors for Manitou Springs, and such beautiful earth tones for Garden of the Gods.

We had an unusually drab and dull day, which was a bummer for the backlit Garden of the Gods shots that I think are so gorgeous, BUT it meant that we were able to get some pictures in Manitou that have never worked out as well in the sun. Here’s one I’ve had in my head forever, but has never had the ideal light:

I’ve been wanting to photograph another couple at a cafe since shooting pictures of Carolyn and Jack enjoying a Denver cafe, and the overcast day was perfect for it:

I really hate it when I pick the pose and the setting and then Nic takes better pictures than mine. This is one of those times:

We do this pose a lot in the reverse, so I thought it was time to mix things up and have the girl be the seducer:

And one of the last shots of the day:

A big thanks to Kara and Drew for being so great at their shoot! We can’t wait for your wedding!

A little bit of pretty flare on this next one…

After playing around Manitou for a bit (and getting their feet freezing wet in the stream) we popped over to Garden of the Gods to wrap up the session Colorado Springs style.

Andrea and Jason got some fantastic news last week, so her glow in this shot has nothing to do with photoshop!

We can’t wait to photograph their July wedding!  Andrea and Jason are a fantastic couple who are obviously in love and we are so glad they chose us to be their wedding photographers!

(For my wedding clients looking to have a session like this, it was held in the rural Falcon/Peyton area east of Colorado Springs and Meg and Matt’s brightly colored clothing was part of the “pop” behind the images.  They came up with the props themselves, so if you have ideas for props, bring them along!  I’m sure they won’t mind if balloons pop up in a few more engagement sessions!)