Children's Photography - Denver

It is definitely my favorite time of year. I love Christmas, possibly because my given name means Christmas child. I wasn't born in December like these precious twins were. A year ago, their Mom called me to schedule their newborn session. I feel so honored and privileged to have been given the opportunity to photograph the girls as they are turning one. It is amazing how time flies!

Newborn Photography - Denver

A couple of weeks ago, I had the pleasure of photographing baby Andrew. What a little doll!!! It was quite the adventure. I wanted him to sleep so badly, and he just fought to stay awake the entire time. He reminds me very much of myself. I can't wait to work with his older brother and parents again. Enjoy the photos!

What's For Dinner Wednesdays - Cornbread Casserole

I love casseroles. One of the main things that I love about them so much is their good ole fashioned warmth and heaviness. This casserole is easy to prepare, but it does take several steps. Here's what you need:

1. Homemade chili (as in soup, not green chile for all you southwest folks)
2. Taco meat made from one pound of ground beef (I season mine with McCormick's seasoning)
3. Krusteaz corn bread mix (2 boxes) - you will need the ingredients required to make the batter
4. Shredded cheddar cheese
5. One can of Mexicorn

In a large glass baking dish, mix the chili and taco meat.
Top the meat mixture with shredded cheddar cheese.
Then prepare the batter for the corn bread. Add mexicorn to the prepared batter.
Tak about 2/3 pf the cornbread batter and pour on top of the meat mixture and shredded cheddar cheese.
Bake according to the directions for the cornbread. It will take longer than what the box says.

Lastly, enjoy!!!

Boulder Engagement Session - Megan and Clint

You can't help but love Megan and Clint. Their chemistry is just amazing. I absolutely love their story, especially since it is soooo similar to mine. Clint had liked Megan for quite a while, and like all good buddies, his friends told Megan of his feelings quite often. But, at a Halloween party, they actually chatted for a while, and as you guessed it the rest is just history. Congratulations you two! I can't wait to photograph your wedding in August.

Terrace Gardens at Ken Caryl Wedding - Nick and Lisa

Nick and Lisa had a rocker theme wedding intertwined with traditional colors at the Terrace Gardens at Ken Caryl. Nick's adorable daughter was the flower girl and lucky recipient of the bouquet toss. Nick's darling son was the ring bearer. Nick is the owner of Arsnick Tattoo in Littleton and his sister Tyrinna created the masterpiece wedding cake. So much talent under the same roof!!!

Children's Photography - Denver

For a long time I have been in awe by the art captured by Jerry Ghionis. If you don't know who he is, I encourage you to google him. This year, I had the privilege of attending a free seminar that he did in Denver. It was amazing! He spoke about the fact that as photographer's we are not always able to photograph in the most beautiful places for some of our shots and what we can do to overcome this. My version of his seminar has been tight places-great photos. I should mention that by not being able to photograph in the most beautiful places, what we are talking about here, is that we can't take photos of the bride putting her makeup on outside with the beautiful Rocky Mountain range in the background. So, in other words, just ordinary spaces that we can make extraordinary.
In chatting with my friend Lori with Lori K Photography, she mentioned Sue Bryce. If you have known me for a while, you know how much I love boudoir photography. I love being able to give a woman a photo and for her response to be "Wow". I don't think that as women we give ourselves enough time or even permission to look in the mirror and stare deep into the eyes of a truly beautiful woman. If you haven't seen Sue Bryce's photos, look her up as well. She really does a phenomenal job of bringing out a woman's inner beauty and true self with timeless portraiture. I have been so inspired by her that I even worked on doing a light set up similar to hers, which is why the above photos look as good as they do. They were also taken in an ordinary space, but the outcome is great. For my curious followers, the photos were taken in my dining room.

Hope you enjoy!

Feature Fridays

Please stay tuned as I am currently getting some interviews underway.

What's For Dinner Wednesdays?

This Wednesday, my family and I enjoyed a delicious bowl of Fettucini Alfredo with steamed broccoli. The broccoli makes me feel better when I am consuming the amazing cream, butter and parmesan mixture packed with so much calories and fat. This has always been my favorite meal, minus the broccoli. I don't think I will ever get tired of tasting this palette punch of flavor. My recipe was taken from cooks.com. So, I recommend checking out their recipes. Enjoy!!!

Feature Fridays - Rebecca's Cards

Here is the new section of my blog where I will be featuring local vendors. Some of them are in the wedding business and some of them are in the post wedding business.

About a month ago, I had the pleasure of eating at Olive Garden with Rebecca Gray. Rebecca and I met a long time ago, while I was working in banking. I knew she liked to craft, but I had no idea how talented she was at it. You can read more of our conversation below.

1. How long have you been in business?

3 years

2. What made you want to start creating cards?

I went to a Stampin Up party and started making cards just for fun. Then, my friend told me about Etsy and I opened up a shop.

3. What kind of cards do you make?

Kid's cards, wedding thank you cards (which is one of the beautiful creations Rebecca has made me), Valentine's cards, holiday cards.

4. What do you enjoy most about making cards?

I like knowing that I have made something that someone else can enjoy.

5. Where do you see yourself in five years?

Continuing to enjoy the creative process and create more designs.

6. If there is an area of business you could branch into, what would it be?

Wedding programs, wedding place cards, wedding invitations and wedding menu cards

7. Do you make custom made-to-order cards?

Yes, I do. If I can make it, I'll make it.

8. Tell me about your favorite hobbies.

Kissing my newborn son, gardening and reading books.

Last, you can find Rebecca's beautiful cards at rebeccascards.etsy.com

What's For Dinner Wednesday?

Ok folks, here it is...I made home made baked potato soup for dinner last week. It is very yummy. So, I encourage you to try it out yourself. Most of the time when I cook from scratch, I don't use exact measurements. You may have to adjust your soup accordingly.

Green Chile Bake Potato Soup

Cut about ten Russet potatoes into cubes.
Place them in a large pot with about three inches of water covering the tops of the potatoes.
Take one pound of bacon, and cook five to six pieces at a time in a frying pan. (Cook the whole pound of bacon)
Bring potatoes to a boil and continue boiling until potatoes are soft.
Add about three cups of whole milk to the cooked potatoes.
Add about 1/2 pint heavy whipping cream (not whipped cream, if you don't know the difference, call me)
Add a 4oz can of chopped green chiles. You can add more if you like.
Salt, pepper and garlic salt to taste.
Take cooked bacon and tear it to bits (doesn't that sound like good old fashioned therapy for some of us?)
Add bacon to pot
Then, add one 8oz bag of shredded cheddar to pot
Allow to simmer for about ten minutes.

Voila!!! Now, you're done. By the way, this is super delicious if you use sour dough or ciabatta bread bowls.

Enjoy.

Stonebrook Manor Wedding - Dean and Sarah

I wrote about Sarah and Dean after I photographed their engagement session. She was a former high school student of mine, before I went full time with photography. After graduating, Dean became a Marine. I have to say that I have a whole lot of love for this couple. I know that even though they are young, their marriage will stand the test of time.

Aside from the beauty of their love story, this was truly one of the most hilarious weddings I have ever attended. I had no idea that the bottom series of photos was going to happen. I was a little caught off guard but not nearly as much as Dean. I was laughing so hard that I barely got the series of images. The DJ announced, that there were a couple of girls, that wanted to say good bye to Dean as he was exiting his single life (enter his two groomsmen) and well, I am pretty sure you get the picture from there. Enjoy!

Difficult Questions

I have reached a point in my career where I feel like I am not doing enough to help others. If you know me well, you are probably laughing. My husband and I have a joke that my family has a really bad habit of doing whirlwind tours in cities. By this he means, that every time we visit a large city (New York), within a three day visit, we will literally do everything humanly possible to not miss out on one thing the city has to offer. So, I guess you could say that I am wired this way, to be completely overwhelmed with busy activities. I honestly do not know how to just sit still. And, I know this is something that needs to change, even if it is just a little bit. So, in addition to working on a photographer's retreat (the sitting still part comes by enjoying the retreat), I will also be blogging about Feature Fridays and What's For Dinner Wednesdays. Feature Fridays will showcase local artists, or as we commonly call them, vendors in the wedding industry. What's For Dinner Wednesdays, may not help anyone except with their cooking skills. I am one fortunate and very unfortunate girl. My family knows how to cook and bake well. So, it's fortunate that I can feed my family and they will actually eat the food, but unfortunate on my waist line. What's For Dinner Wednesdays, will be a quick blog about a meal I made for the week. If the recipe is something that I have created, I will definitely share it. However, if it is not something that I have created, you may have to find a similar dish on some cooking websites.

Stay tuned for What's For Dinner Wednesdays and Feature Fridays.

Tim Tebow and Cure International

A couple of months ago, I posted a blog about giving back. I have to say that although my heart will always belong to the St. Louis Rams, I am a huge fan of Tim Tebow. A pro athlete that dedicates their college summers to visiting leper colonies, prays on the field in front of thousands of spectators and has now joined Cure International - Cure Clubfoot, to help children in desperate circumstances, has my vote. That's right folks, Tim Tebow, cares. And, not just on a surface level, but definitely wants to leave a legacy behind. I am grateful that athletes that can run and enjoy the game of football, are helping children all over the world, by contributing to their health care, so they to can enjoy the ability to walk, run and be accepted by society.

What the Heck?

As creative professionals, we (meaning every single professional photographer out there) reach a point where we become burned out. We have heavy loads, which means huge blessings, because we are super busy. We lose our direction and feel restless. So many of us have found ways to cope with this. But, have we really solved the problem, have we found something that we can go back to again and again that offers satisfaction? Or, better yet, have we kept what gives us satisfaction in the forefront of our lives, on a daily basis? Our work most definitely brings us great satisfaction, that's why we do what we do. I love photography. Aside from God and my family, my love for helping others and photography keeps my heart beating. If we are really honest with ourselves and our clients, we would admit that even though we 100% love what we do for a living, we can get burned out. I love helping others and photography, so how do these tie together. I am going to be putting together a workshop that will address the real issues of being burned out and help us find true satisfaction, actually consider it a retreat. At this point, I have no idea when I will be ready to lead this retreat for professional photographers, but I can guarantee that I will work on it. And, no, I am not just preaching to the choir.

Stay tuned for more details...

Family Photos - Denver

I had the great pleasure of working with Renee several years ago, before I pursued the world of photography on a full time basis. She is such an awesome person, and I love getting to see her. For a little over a year, we have been trying to collaborate on a time to do her family session. Of course, the day before their session, it snowed. But, I have to say that aside from the mud, I love the snow-capped pumpkins in the photos. Thank you Farmer family for braving the cold for these awesome shots.

Red Rocks Country Club Wedding - Style Shoot

A huge thank you is owed to all of the amazing people that helped put this style shoot together. The theme was absolutely flawless and the colors amazing. This style shoot makes me want to get married again incorporating a garden vegetable theme. The following people are amazing and were involved in the success of this theme:

Venue - Red Rocks Country Club
Catering Manager - Nicole Saloum
Flowers - Courtney Cochetas with Flowers Forever
Table Linens and Details - Brooke Flanagan with As You Wish Events
Hair - Kim Jurgens Jundt
Models - Emily Houston, Nathan Sheets, Megan Carey and Mike Sitzman
Photography - Samantha Randall

Denver Engagement Session - Danielle and Shawn

I first met Danielle and Shawn at a Starbucks with her parents. It was quite an interesting meeting, as I hit a horrible hail storm on the way there. When we sat down to chat, I don't think we covered much at all about photography. Instead, we spent our time laughing and just sharing stories. I absolutely adore Danielle and Shawn. They are an incredible couple. In getting to know each other, Danielle, has mentioned that they are just a couple of old souls. Honestly, I can envision them being happily married, and fifty years from now, sitting on their front porch enjoying tea together. They were really are quite the match, and the love that they share is just unbelievable. I can't wait to photograph your 2012 wedding!

Lower Lake Ranch Engagement Session - Crystal and Don

I absolutely love spending time with Crystal and Don. They have great chemistry, love the outdoors and love their dog Bailey. These photos are from their beautiful fall engagement session at Lower Lake Ranch.

Downtown Denver Engagement Session - Sarah and Garret

Sarah and Garret share a common love with me...the love of ridiculously stupid movies. They have been together for six years and will be sharing their vows at Red Rocks Country Club in June 2012. I love Sarah's expressive face and Garret's chill personality.

Golden, Colorado Senior Photos - Madison

Madison had stated that she didn't feel very photogenic and never took good pictures. All I can say is, WOW, I beg to differ. Her photos turned out amazing, and she is extremely photogenic.

Lower Lake Ranch Wedding - Kat and Zach

Kat and Zach are an awesome couple. She loves to climb rocks and he...well, he's crazy about her. When I met them for the first time, I knew they were a decisive couple and that they had decided that they would be together forever. I absolutely love fall weddings, and their's is no exception. Zach and Kat are some of the most loving and kind hearted persons I have met. Kat's style for their wedding was unique...I love the black boots with the wedding dress. Their gorgeous wedding took place at the scenic Lower Lake Ranch in Conifer, Colorado. Courtney Cochetas with Flowers Forever Design arranged the beautiful flowers. In his glorious debut is Rocky, the clydesdale from Kodiak Ranch.

JW Marriott Wedding - Cherry Creek

Wendy and John are absolutely crazy about each other. My job was so easy, because the two of them couldn't stop smiling at each other. Wendy loves the color red more than I do. She is passionate and outgoing. John is more reserved and quite the thinker. The two of them are a perfect pair. Their Cherry Creek wedding at the JW Marriott was a complete hit. Wendy incorporated classic taste with a bit of a modern flair. I had a wonderful time working with their family and friends. Best wishes to the two of you. Thank you for allowing me to share in your special day.