Search Results

I was so excited for Shannon and Ty’s wedding! I get to see Shannon quite often as she works at Thrive Chiropractic, which is where I have been going for I think around 2 years now (wow!). So I have gotten to check in with Shannon and talk about her wedding in person a lot more than I do with many of my couples. I loved being able to chat about the wedding a bit before and after my appointments! It just got me so hype for their big day! They had their wedding at a beautiful property just east of Durango, the weather was perfect, there was a beautiful view of the mountains, the ceremony site was so cute, everything had that fun rustic ranch feel but also felt quite cute and homey and all the neighbors were so nice! I mention the neighbors because one neighbor let us do their first look on the side of his barn, and he was so welcoming and kind about it! I loved their first look! They were both so cute! They both got quite emotional, and then were so cute checking each other out and just having a cuddle moment before their ceremony! We were able to get the wedding party photos done before the ceremony, but the main reason they really wanted to do the first look was to have that moment be private and just for them. They knew they would be emotional and wanted to feel free to let those emotions out and hug each other and just take each other in. I will say I think that was the hardest thing for me having not done a first look, I didn’t think about the fact that after we saw each other for the first time we would be IN the ceremony already by that point and we couldn’t hug or really talk to each other or anything until after the ceremony was over! So I thought that was very smart of them to do a first look for those reasons, they know themselves well! I loved how personal their ceremony was, not only did they have Ty’s grandfather officiate, but his brother played music for their processional! They had friends and family involved in so many different aspects of their day I loved it! They had a tree that they added dirt and water to for their union ceremony, but it wasn’t quite as simple as that. The dirt they added to their tree came from their respective homes! I mean come on! How cute and awesome is that!!! Everything in their day was adorable and awesome, I had SO much fun capturing their day and hanging out with them. I even stayed after my hours were done to just be a guest and dance around a bit! It truly was a magical amazing day! Congratulations Ty and Shannon and thank you for including me in your special day!

Brittany would have been one of my 2020 brides, but you know, global pandemic. So she ended up changing her plans to a Las Vegas elopement and switched her package with me to an engagement/family session, and it was so fun! Her little clan was so great about waiting through the engagement session moments, and hiking down into canyons, and going along with my "family band photo" poses. And Brittany and Leif were like magazine models to photograph. We had a little harsher sun than I would normally like to shoot with, but it totally fit their vibe! I loved how everything turned out!

I love working with other wedding creatives in the Durango area, not just on weddings, but with their own businesses too! I had so much fun doing Emily’s head shots, getting to hang out with her and capture her beauty and joy was so great! If you haven’t heard of Mountainesque Weddings, you need to check it out, because Emily is not only one of the sweetest people, but she is extremely talented at making things beautiful and helping everything go smoothly! I can’t wait to work on more weddings and shoots together with her because she is just a joy to work with!!!

I loved styled shoots! Getting to just be creative with other talented Durango people and make beautiful imagery from what we can all do together is SO much fun! This beautiful styled shoot did go through a few bumps along the way to become reality, finding dates that worked for everyone is tricky sometimes and we had to postpone once. But I think the postponement actually ended up being a blessing in disguise because a few of us were able to do something on both the original shoot date and the new shoot date so we got so many fun images out of everything! Our lovely group was made up of Florals by Lady Southwest Dresses from Katerina’s Darling Bridal Design by Mountain Arrow Events Jewelry and Macrame Arch and Decor by Belle and the Bear Modeling by Kate and Bryce We had so much fun putting this all together, even if finding locations wasn’t always the easiest since spring was a little off this year with some late freezes and extreme winds. I am always so excited to be able to capture the beauty and talent of my friends, so I am very excited to share these images with you all!!!

Neekita and Jarod had one of the most unique weddings I have captured to date and I had SO much fun helping capture it! Neekita and Jarod hired me as their wedding videographer alongside Allison Ragsdale doing photography and Lisa Hunter as their officiant. That was all of us, just Allison, Lisa and I accompanying the beautiful couple up into the mountains. Neekita and Jarod selected their own little secret spot a little ways down from Molas Pass. It was a location I would have never found, which made it so much more special and fun! Neekita looked like a straight up nature princess in the most beautiful golden sparkly dress with flowers in her hair, while Jarod looked so sharp in his suit and bowtie wearing a perfectly matching backpack on our trek down the side of the mountain to their ceremony location. The ceremony was unlike any ceremony I have ever been a part of before, it was SO awesome and unique to me. Neekita and Jarod put together their ceremony focusing on not only each other, but nature and the world around us. They started their ceremony by casting a circle. They drew a circle in the dirt, then filled the circle with salt and wine. They spoke blessings to the North, South, East and West, dedicated to the elements earth, air, fire and water. They brought tokens of each element and prayed blessings to the spirits of each elements as they cast their circle. It was so cool and beautiful to watch! Their ceremony was just so touching, so personal, and so full of life and love. They chose to do hand-fasting with a beautiful rainbow cord, in addition to their vows. They had their personal vows, their hand-fasting vows, and their ring vows, so many beautiful vows! After their beautiful ceremony was complete, and their circle was unbound, we headed up to Molas for some beautiful photos with the snowy mountains and glowy evening light. It was such a beautiful, unique, special evening and I feel so lucky that I got to be a part of it! Congratulations Neekita and Jarod and thank you for letting me be a part of your beautiful union!

Sarah + Nate Sarah and Nate had such a beautiful spring wedding at River Bend Ranch! Everything went so smooth, everyone was just so happy and joyful and I had so much fun working with everyone there. I have had the joy of photographing Sarah on 3 different occasions before her wedding, so even though we met through photography, by the time I was shooting her wedding we were friends! Which is my goal with all my couples, that on the wedding day it doesn’t feel like I’m just a vendor and they’re just a client, but that I am helping capture and memorialize a friend’s special day. Sarah looked so beautiful in her dress from Bri’s Bridal and Holly did such an amazing job with her hair and makeup! It was so fun watching her bridesmaids react to seeing her all done up for the first time, she looked stunning! Nate and his guys also looked great in Tuxes from Bri’s Bridal, they were so on it when I showed up for their getting ready images. Sarah and Nate chose to do a first look, which allowed us to finish all their family and wedding party portraits before the ceremony. I loved being able to get those necessary (but not always fun to take) photos out of their way early so they could focus on just getting married and celebrating! It really made the day just feel so smooth and stress free! Their ceremony was under the big beautiful willow tree at River Bend, I LOVE this spot, it has the willow, the water, the red cliffs, it is just such a beautiful location and Brittney at River Bend really helped make everything so beautiful and magical! Their ceremony was just gorgeous, even with (maybe especially with?) the spring wind! Before the new married couple entered their reception for their grand entrance, we had on the schedule to take some shots, and I mean spirits not photos haha, because as soon as they entered their reception they went straight into their first dance. I love this new tradition that has been popping up in many weddings I’ve done in the past few years, there are just so many pros to doing it this way! It makes the grand entrance especially grand, if you are nervous about your dance you get to get it done first so you don’t have to worry about it through dinner, and you still have some beautiful natural light for your first dance images. I loved the way their first dance images turned out, well I love how everything through the whole day turned out because everything was just so beautiful all day long! Their whole reception was so fun, Southwest DJ did such a great job keeping the flow, Thirsty Rooster did such a great job with fun drinks for everyone, and Porky’s Smokehouse was delicious! Sarah and Nate chose to be nice to each other when cutting into their beautiful Skillfully Decadent cake and feeding it to each other, Sarah’s sister caught the bouquet, and all their guests really got down on the dance floor which is always so fun to watch. I really can’t overstate how beautiful and wonderful this day was, it was such the perfect wedding to start off my 2021 wedding season. I absolutely love this couple, and although I am happy for them starting their new adventure outside of Durango, I will miss getting to work with them and see them around town. But clients turned friends, are still friends even if they don’t live here. So congratulations Sarah and Nate, I know you will have such a beautiful life together and I can’t wait to watch it unfold from afar!

Mini sessions are so great for little ones! And I almost can’t believe this was a mini shoot with all the great stuff we captured! Violet was just the cutest little baby, and the Morrisons were just the cutest little family. I went out to their property in Hesperus to make it easier with the baby and the weather, and their property was so beautiful! Their views were amazing, they had so many beautiful trees, and their house was so cute! I love exploring new places to shoot and get creative with, and these guys gave me a great place to explore and be creative! Thanks for finding me and letting me capture a bit of your beautiful family!

Kristi and Kevin had the wonderful idea of making a whole trip out of their Colorado elopement. Driving all the way from Oklahoma City, they rented out a VRBO and had their wedding and Christmas in the snowy hills of Del Norte. This was an interesting day for me, and Kristi and Kevin were SO wonderfully understanding about my unusual predicament. I had been suddenly scheduled for back surgery that was to be done the day after Kristi and Kevin’s wedding, so I had some surgery prep things I had to do the day before surgery, their wedding day. I was very nervous to tell them that I would be needing to drink magnesium citrate (laxative) on their wedding day. I was ready with diapers on, and my family with me for support and assistance, so I was prepared to do whatever I had to to make sure this didn’t get in the way of me capturing their special day. But when I told them my situation, they were more than understanding, in fact Kevin had had the same exact surgery I was scheduled for, so he had been through the same thing and understood completely. They were so accommodating, fun and easy to work with. Their wedding day was beautifully laid back. I arrived at their adorable wood cabin VRBO, my mom came with to assist, and immediately felt at ease and comfortable with them. It was just Kevin, Kristi and Kristi’s daughter. I started shooting details as my mom chatted and got to know the couple more. We did a bit of getting ready stuff, but they were pretty much 95% ready when we got there, all we really had left was the dress and a letter. Kristi had written Kevin such a sweet letter, I didn’t actually read it, but I could tell from watching him read it and tear up. They were so cute with each other, in this cozy setting, with their Christmas tree decorated at the base of the stairs. Kristi came down, tapped Kevin on the shoulder, and you could just see both their faces LIGHT up as they took each other in. They were so ready to get married. At this point, some wind had picked up outside, and when I say some I mean some biting, freezing, intense wind. But they were willing to brave the cold, so we went out to their back patio area, set everything up as quick as we could, and got them married. Their officiant was ready with his scarf and earmuffs, he kept it beautiful and short, jokingly mentioning a touch of hypothermia at one point haha. It was so cold we needed to go inside and warm up a bit before attempting any more photos outside after the ceremony. Kristi and Kevin were really such troopers heading back out into the cold, it was really so so cold in that wind. We popped some champagne, did some twirling, dipping and of course snuggling for both adorableness and warmth, and were ready to go back inside. At this point, I have already drank my magnesium citrate, and am not feeling very good. But we needed breaks from the cold anyway, so it actually worked out quite well in that respect. It was such a beautiful little intimate ceremony, despite the cold and the laxatives, I was able to capture the intimate, adorable nature of their day. I was able to capture the immense love between these two people, and I think that may have been what pulled me through, because as soon as we were finished and I was back in the car I felt terrible. So I think the immense joy and love coming from Kristi and Kevin was so powerful, it kept my ill feelings at bay! Which would totally make sense because their love was thick in the air, they were just so cute with each other! So first congratulations Kristi and Kevin on braving the cold, and celebrating each other and your love so strongly and beautifully! Congratulations on your beautiful marriage! And second, thank you so much for making what could’ve been a somewhat nightmare situation for me, totally bearable and beautiful! Thank you for being so understanding, accommodating, and supportive! Thank you for letting me capture a piece of your story!

I love this family!!! I shot Dan and Hannah's wedding video, and we have been friends ever since. I have had the pleasure of shooting their maternity and family photos ever since. And this most recent shoot was so fun because it was maternity AND family! And I didn't know it was maternity until Hannah got out of the car. So excited for their family to be growing! And so happy I get to keep capturing all these joyful moments!

I've known the Harms family for a long time. Last time I did a family session, the Harms brothers, Trevor and Brayden, were in that "I don't want to stand near my brother" phase of siblinghood haha. I actually remember photoshopping a photo for them to make Trevor and Brayden closer together in that particular photo because it was easier to photoshop it than to get them to stand near each other haha. This time we were incorporating Trevor's senior photos into the family shoot, and the brothers were much more willing to interact with each other! This family is ALL about adventure, to give you a small idea (because there are many stories of big adventures with this family), one year they rode the Quarter Horse (part of an annual bike race from Durango to Silverton through the mountain passes) with their downhill skis strapped to their backs and then spent the day skiing. They are adventure animals! So the outdoors are very important to them. They had found a spot off the side of the road with a nice view of Engineer Mountain, because that was an important peak to Trevor and he wanted that in the background of his senior photos. There was a LOT of snow out there, and of course the best photo spots were off the road, down the hill, through the deep snow. I wouldn't take too many family sessions to a place like this, because it was not easy to get down to the good spots, but sure enough they were all totally up for the challenge of trudging through the snow and over the logs and rocks to get to those cool places to get the cool photos. They were willing to do all the things to get the cool photos. I was about to ask my brother who was assisting me at the time to throw some snow up in the air for a cool photo of Trevor, when Dan, Trevor's Dad pulled out a snow shovel and said he would do it! He started throwing SHOVELS full of snow at Trevor haha, and that is how all the snow fights started. You can tell from the photos how much fun they had throwing snow at each other, pushing each other into the snow, etc. It was the right location for this adventurous fun family, and I am so glad I got to be a part of it.

Amanda and Lanier reached out to me at the beginning of November about a wonderful winter wonderland elopement. Being from Memphis they didn’t have much experience with snow or our mountainous landscapes, but were so excited to experience something so new and beautiful for their special day! We went through multiple different plans, at one point we were trying to find a sleigh company that could take them to a wonderful fun location, but it just didn’t work out. So finally we landed on a first look at the Strater Hotel and then driving up to Lime Creek Road area for a beautiful mountain backdrop during this intimate ceremony. Amanda looked beautiful in her lace sleeved gown, Emily Schmidt did an amazing job on her hair and makeup, and Lanier was looking so sharp in his striking blue suit! And the Strater was the perfect location for their first look and first portraits, besides just being inside away from the cold they weren’t so used to, there were just beautiful photo ops all over the place! We did their first look coming down the staircase, and a worker at the hotel even let us into a beautiful room to take some photos. We did a little gift exchange in the beautifully lit hallway that housed the ice machine, a few dips in front of the entrance, and then we were off! Up in the mountains we met Jaime Becktel of Southwest Ceremony for Amanda and Lanier’s intimate ceremony. There were snowy clouds that turned the mountains almost the same color as Lanier’s suit, it was perfect! And even though they blocked the sun that may have provided some warmth, it definitely gave the beautiful mountain scenery and even more cozy wintery feel. There were children laughing and playing on a hill in the background, little trills of child laughter and squeals were bubbling up throughout their beautiful ceremony, which was fitting as Jaime shared how much family and children were important to the pair. Jaime tried to keep the ceremony short due to the cold, but just had so many beautiful words to share about Amanda and Lanier. Then we got to their personal vows for each other and they were such a great combination of beautiful sweet words, and funny little jabs, between the love and the laughter you could tell how perfect these two were together. When all the official things were done, vows said, rings exchanged, kisses kissed and licenses signed. We let the couple warm up in the car while I shot the rings. We did some fun playing in the snow, throwing snow in the air, kicking snow with our boots, twirling and walking and laughing and then our collective tolerance for the cold ran out. Amanda and Lanier parted ways with us, taking advantage of the clever covid accommodations at the Strater (they started seating people in their own rooms and delivering food from their restaurant to the now “dining rooms”), they needed to head back into town for a private Mahogany dinner in one of the Strater’s beautiful cozy rooms. The day was perfect, beautiful, intimate, fun, adventurous, perfection. Congratulations Amanda and Lanier for braving the cold and the snow to start your life journey together!

Jessica and Dillon love golf. I am sure you can’t tell by these images haha. Their engagement session had quite a bit of a golf theme to it, as their wedding will as well! This shoot was so fun, it even started with mimosas and appetizers! What better way to start an engagement session! I had so much fun coming up with fun golf aspects to work into their images, putting their wedding date on golf balls and shooting through their golf bags, they really let me get creative! I had so much fun capturing them together, these two are so chill and easy to work with, so fun to hang out with, and really just have this lovely, calm, goofy, fun energy about them. I absolutely can’t wait to shoot their wedding!