Get the Job Done: Downtown engagement session

This Saturday I will be shooting an engagement session with Gina and her fiancee Vachon tomorrow afternoon! I'm very excited about this opportunity to work with Gina because even though she already had plans for someone to shoot her wedding, she still booked me to photograph her e-session. And that will provide exceptional exposure for my studio because she intends to send out the photos with her invitations and thank you notes!

I will be shooting the couple in downtown Denver, near Civic Center Park and a few other key places near the 16th Street Mall that I've been scoping out for a few months.

Here are samples of some of my favorite e-session portraits:

Harriet and Peter


Adrian and Sherif


Kim and Mike


Jessaca and Nate


Krista and Scott


Then on Sunday, I will be attending a Valentine's Day themed Digital Photography Lighting Basics Workshops with Bill Murphy, one of my favorite photography instructors/ This will be my second year attending one of Bill's high key sessions, and I hope I will be able to use some of the images to update my boudoir portfolio.

Here are some photos I shot at last year's meetup:

This Weekend: Engagement Workshop and Senior Portrait Session

Starting this morning, I will be hosting an engagement/bridal workshop! About four couples and two former brides' whose weddings I shot will be modeling for me and about a dozen of my photography colleagues from the Mile High DPS Social Group and in the Mile High Photographers organization. You may remember the site as the secret garden inside the DU campus where I and my assistants took formal portraits of my last wedding couple, Peter and Harriet seen here:
Image courtesy of Paul Martin for Picture Your World Photography

I got this idea a few months ago to invite the brides I have shot to model their fabulous dresses so I could experiment with some illustrative, magazine style bridal portraits in a lush setting. All of the portraits of brides I've shot in the past have been during stressful times, usually sometime after the bride shimmies into her dress right before the ceremony. I had one session with a bride where I shot her in studio, but this will be the first time I get to relax and try out some lighting arrangements I've been researching without the pressure of wedding coverage weighing me down.

Taken by me while driving in the limo to the wedding

When a colleague told me he had a couple who needed engagement shots as well, we came up with the idea of having several more couples come to get shot as well, turning the shoot into a morning workshop. At first I was worried that we would have more models than photographers. But now we have plenty of shooters who need these kinds of shots for their port. Each bride or couple will be divided among a group of 2-3 photogs who will work with them for about 30 minutes, then we will switch so that each photographer has a chance to shoot all of the models. Afterwards, each photographer has pledged to give three free, unwatermarked images to the models, trading their time for prints. I will have the photogs email me the images and upload them to a private gallery on my website where the models can download originals from there.


Then, later that afternoon, I will be shooting a senior portrait session in downtown Denver. Jordan, 17, and his mother Monique, are one of the first people book a special discounted senior session I started advertising this week. The promotion includes a quick hour-long session with two 8x10s, four 5x7s, a strip of wallets and of course the yearbook image for just $150.

Jordan is an adventurous teen and he will be the first I've photographed with a prop -- his violin! He wants his shots to be urban, edgy and fun with interesting tilts and angled shots. He's definitely interested in doing some modeling, so the photos he chooses from this session could also be the start of his very own modeling portfolio.

Get the Job Done: Harriet and Peter's Engagement Session

My favorite shot from Kim and Michael's fall engagement session

This evening, during the Golden Hour before sunset, I will take engagement photos of one of my upcoming May wedding couples, Harriet and Peter. I'm excited about this session for a couple of reasons:

1) It will be the first one I've done for a client that will combine ambient light with off camera flash. I started charging my Alien Bee battery pack Tuesday night which will allow me to take one of my AB1600 strobes on location with me. Thanks to attending several sessions with the Colorado Strobist Flickr group, I've gotten tons of practice getting great results from a very simple, my pared down "travel lighting kit," which consists of a shoot through umbrella, a light stand, a single strobe, a reflector and two Pocket Wizards. My friend and fellow photographer Christine will be assisting me with the shoot.

Lately, I've been using my Canon 580 II used off camera with a Custom Bracket and a off-camera shoe cord. So I'm very excited to be taking my portrait photography to the next level. And I'm confident that I'm more than prepared.

2) Harriet and Peter are home bodies, so they have decided to have me shoot them near their apartment complex. One of the things they told me during their consultation is how much they love having home movie nights. I think it would be so much fun to have some outtakes while they are watching their favorite flick on their living room couch!

When I shot Kim and Michael's engagement session during the fall, I loved being able to do some storytelling images explaining how their romance began through a shared love of skiing and bicycling.



For inspiration, I spent the evening looking at great shots from the E-Sessions and Engagement Photography group pools on Flickr. I loved this series of shots from Ryan Richard:

Growing Pains: Client Who Cares about Photo Storytelling

Michael and Kim

My latest client's love of photos was a great thing to see and be a part of.

Too many times, people take photography for granted and are to willing to scrimp on the money to pay for a professional photographer. New stats are showing all the time that photography budgets are the first to get slashed during event planning. So many people believe that they can give a camera to anyone and end up with shots that are just as good, if not better than those taken by professionals. I have to admit I've seen some shots taken by so called pros that made me shutter, but the majority of the time I'm simply in awe of the work that so many talented professional photographers can produce. I'm glad Kim and Michael, my last clients, understood the importance of photography and made images and the power of storytelling a hallmark in their engagement.







I was blown away when I arrived at the events center to shoot their party. Every single guest was greeted with the photo I took of them during their engagement session and it totally set the stage for more images guests would see throughout the evening. Kim created wonderful displays of images that showcased the progression of her romance with Mike. They made you feel like you were being included in this great journey the couple were taking together, and the impact was amazing.







I loved hearing people ask "Who took THAT picture." I still can't believe how great it felt to hear Kim proudly say, "my professional photographer, the one taking pictures over there!" That's me they were talking about!!!! Other people kept coming up to me all night long telling me that Kim was pleased and gushing about my work, which makes me happy because I was very nervous about shooting for them. I know that Michael had originally wanted a friend of his to take the photos, but the photographer never really agreed to do it. So they hired me. I was worried they wouldn't be happy with my product, wishing Michael's friend would have shot the party instead.

I think Kim will be a great referral for me. Having my pictures featured so prominently during her party was better than a slideshow presentation. And she has a website up as well that will be highlighting more of my photos. I've agreed to offer her low-res online versions of the pics. I wish I could travel with them to take their wedding photos and I hope they get a good photographer to capture those memories as well. But I'm extremely thankful for the boon I'm sure they have brought to my fledgling business.

I think what Kim did at the party is a great precedent that you might try getting your clients to do as well. If you take the photos early enough in their wedding process, you too can have images showcased at engagement parties, bridal showers, receptions, etc. etc. I hope that I can be Kim and Michael's professional family photographer too throughout their lives, and those of their children and grandchildren.