katie & brad's washington dc engagement session

Last week, I flew out to DC for Katie and Brad's engagement session, and we timed it perfectly to coincide with the National Cherry Blossom Festival!  I had never been to DC before, and this was definitely the perfect time to be out there - especially because we don't get much of a spring in BV.  Katie & Brad were kind enough to drive me in circles all around town and we had so much fun getting to know each other while doing an epic & super speedy photographic tour of the city.  These guys are so laid-back and fun to be around, and I'm really looking forward to their cozy destination wedding (for them :) at Mt. Princeton Hot Springs Resort.  Katie & Brad- it was so wonderful to finally get a chance to meet you!  Thanks again for everything!

The National Cathedral was so stunning - maybe one of my new  avorite places ever - and I never even knew it existed :/

The gardens there are AMAZING!

As is the architecture:

Model face!

Then on to some fun at Union Station...

Then towards the monuments for some fun, dramatically-lit shots.  I love the mood of these.

What a fun session - destination engagement sessions are one of my favorite things ever!

santa fe (santa fe wedding photographer)

Last weekend was my one free weekend of the summer, so Zach and I headed to Santa Fe!  I grew up in Santa Fe and try to go back every few years, even though we don't have family there to visit.  (I still have kind of a strange accent.  I sometimes get asked what country I'm from... I blame it on Santa Fe.)  It's weird - I love the mountains and I'm pretty sure I live in one of the most beautiful places ever, but I frequently find myself missing the desert.  There's just something so peaceful and raw about it - it feels like home still.  The buttery light, the soft colors of the sage and adobe, the amazing food and the smell of dirt in the bright hot sun... sigh.  I love it.If you haven't been to Santa Fe before, you must go.  Must.  I'm sure you have a mental image of something called (unfortunately) "Santa Fe style" or "Southwestern style", but it's not like that at all - I swear.  "Southwestern style" is cheap and tacky and full of garish colors and stuffed rabbits with antlers glued on to their heads; but the real Santa Fe, the place, is classy and full of amazingly friendly people, soft pastel desert colors, great great light, and mellow earth tones with occasional punches of turquoise.   I would absolutely die to shoot a wedding or an engagement session there.  Please?!  I'll love you forever...

bermuda (bermuda photographer)

Here are a few shots of my recent trip to Bermuda...  Zach and I went to help out his mom (who had a broken foot) and grandfather (who's in a wheelchair), while they were attending a conference there.  I am so in love with all the color! It was kind of chilly and windy, but still amazingly gorgeous! What a beautiful place.   I just can't travel enough.  Seriously. Just a reminder and BIG HINT that I will gladly travel to shoot your destination beach wedding!  Wink wink :)  Come on, you know you wanna...

In the Tea Room of our hotel.  Yes, we stayed in a hotel that had an actual specified Tea Room - so quaint and British.

Subversive sticker graffiti on the window of the oceanfront Louis Vuitton store.  To the person who affixed this sticker...whoever you are, wherever you are... call me, let's hang out.  I'm not even kidding.

I love Bermuda :)

. st. croix .

It has been so brutally unforgivingly cold lately here in Colorado, and I'm definitely starting to feel the winter blues and cabin fever set in.  Good thing I have some awesome photos of an awesome trip to look back on!  Almost as good as being there... almost :)  I'll say it again - I LOVED shooting in St. Croix!  Fun, colorful architecture, amazing sunny light, and, of course, my incredible clients :)  Here are a few personal photos from the trip to help transport you to a warmer place for a moment (at least mentally).

(Actually, I cheated... this was over Puerto Rico or one of the other islands on the way in to St. Croix.  But I still love this shot)

We were traveling at such a weird time.  Everything seemed deserted.  I don't know if I've ever seen the subways at DIA that empty!  My favorite part of the long day of travel was getting to ride the cool 10-seater little plane from St. Thomas over to St. Croix.  The plane was so small that they stashed our luggage in the wings, and weighed our carry-ons to make sure they were evenly distributed throughout the plane.  The shot above is taken from the back seat :)

The next shot is the view from our friends Haven and Matt's house.  Jealous!  When they moved in, they also found a whole cabinet full of cool retro liquor, which I was naturally fascinated by.

I guess it was "worm season"... the frangipani worms eat all the leaves and branches off of a certain tree, at the same time every year.  The trees are essentially stripped bare.  It was crazy how fast that happened - the worms would descend upon a tree by the hundreds.  If you put your ear up close, you can hear them crunching away.  The locals apparently hate them, but I thought they looked cool :)

Once again, a HUGE thank you to Haven and Matt for letting us stay with them!  I'm dying to go back right about now...

. fort christiansvaern .

When I was in St. Croix, I loved having the opportunity to visit Fort Christiansvaern in Christiansted.  There is so much cool history that's evident throughout this compound (Courtyard! Archways!  Color!  Right on the water!  Alexander Hamilton grew up here! Dungeons!  Cool windows!  Oceanfront cannons!)  I wandered around, my mouth pretty much drooling at the thought of shooting a session here.  I have maybe a thousand ideas for this place, and it costs all of, I don't know.. three dollars to get in to.  So, here's what you want to do.  You want to get married or do a Trash the Dress session.  You want some amazing amazing pictures.  At the same time, you want a vacation that's fun and off the beaten path, but you don't want to have to deal with the hassle of passports and visas.  You want to hire me to come back to St. Croix and shoot your wedding / Trash the Dress at Fort Christiansvaern. Trust me on this.  This is in your best interests.  Haha.  See?

The view from Fort Christainsvaern:

Yep... you know you wanna :)