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Top 4 Reasons to Shoot Formals Before Your Wedding

One of the biggest concerns brides have when planning out their wedding photography is should they shoot their formals before or after the ceremony. If they do it before, then won't it kill the excitement and surprise of seeing each other for the first time as the bride walks down the aisle? As a wedding photographer in Colorado, I don't believe the wisdom of the choice is strictly limited to one region or another. Here are my top 4 reasons I use to encourage my clients to get them done beforehand.

4. Don't Kill the Thrill! Seeing each other in a 'first sight session' won't ruin the experience when you actually walk down the aisle an hour later. Expressions on my groom's faces still show they are totally blown away when they see their bride at the ceremony for the first time.

3. Great Stress Buster. Clients have consistently told me getting to see each other, hold hands and embrace for 5-10 minutes in a completely private moment before doing formals helps them relax and be in the moment. Normally we will have the groom wait in a scenic and fairly private spot and then have the bride come out to him. No one is allowed out with them, except for me and my camera for just a couple of quick photographs. Then they get to be all alone amidst an otherwise whirlwind day. For them it is kind of like an oasis, a spa moment, if you will.

2. You Look Maaaahvelous! All that hard work spent in the salon doing hair and makeup can be lost if you just spent 45 minutes standing in the hot sun during your ceremony, emotions flowing. Shoot your formals beforehand and you will be at your absolute freshest, especially if you just had 5 relaxing minutes alone with your spouse-to-be!

1. Party Time! Best of all, when you walk back down the aisle in your first test of physical endurance with your newlywed spouse, you get to go straight to the party! No more keeping your guests waiting and you missing your own party that you worked so hard to plan. Need I say more?

Red Door Alley, Pearl Street Mall, Boulder

One Engagement, Boulder

Portrait Session Video Post

Instant Pixar Pick-Me-Up

My daughter loves this video. We just bought the Incredibles on DVD and this short film is included on disk 2. But here is a version I found out on YouTube. Great pickup if you are feeling down about life, or just want a smile to carry you through the day.

Amazing Place, How Sweet the Sound...

With overcast skies and rain threatening, we decided to postpone an early morning family portrait session set for Chautauqua Park in Boulder. I went ahead to the park to just an hour later we were standing in the middle of the meadow making some gorgeous images. Draped in emerald, purple lupine and yellow penstemon leapt up and greeted us as we set out a picnic blanket. The clouds had burned off and stunning light crept in and painted the Flatirons something proud. Young Perry broke out the NY Times while Ainsley force-fed mom a croissant. Dad Peter and I discussed home in Australia and his work at NCAR as a climate scientist. It was a fine morning...

See the session slideshow here.

Browse and order prints and digital files here.

Ever Seen Boulder This Green?

Boulder is known for being green. Eco-types and greenbacks all flock here. Even March 17th each year brings out the world's shortest St. Patty's Day parade and the green beer flows something fierce. But every few years a wet springtime just might turn our beloved 25 square miles surrounded by reality into a patch of the Emerald Isle. This little one shows off his delight of all things green, taken just this day in front of the Flatirons. Top of the mornin' to ya!

We Boulder wedding photographers have such a gem right in our backyard!

How to Kiss Your First Kiss

Okay, I'm not going to get too graphic here since I don't want screams of "too much information!" But I need to share some thoughts on the big first kiss when you are getting married.

1. Don't crane your neck. Cranes work great for constructing buildings, but not for first kisses. Lunging towards your soulmate while standing many feet apart does not result in the best kiss on film. Move close and then make it happen.

2. Take your time. One client of mine kissed their first kiss for precisely 2/10ths of a second. That makes it harder for us photographers to capture something good. You are not kissing your grandma here--no quick pecks on the cheek allowed. Think Wesley and Princess Buttercup--enjoy the moment and have fun. Kiss for at least 2-3 seconds. And try to count in your head (1-Mississippi, 2-Mississippi...) or you will ruin the kiss if you count out loud! But remember, though you are not doing a grandma kiss, she is probably sitting in the front row, so keep it PG-rated if you get my drift.

3. Take a dip. Guaranteed to win the crowd over every time. Talk about romance and true love. Might want to practice first. But the look of surprise on the bride's face during and after is priceless, so surprise her, too!

4. Get your limbs involved. Get creative here. Embrace. Put hands on his lapels, ladies. Or touch her face, guys. Throw an arm around their back and reel them in. Remember the key here is being natural, yet passionate. Might even get your legs in on the kiss, too, if you excel in the creativity department.

5. Don't rush into the kiss. Kind of restating #2, but don't feel like when your officiant says 'You may kiss the bride' that you have to leap towards her and start kissing instantly. Just like when there aren't 250 people staring at you, hooting and hollering, take your time and look at each other in the eyes for a moment. Remember why you are marrying this person. Flash back to when you first met or when you first laid eyes on each other and knew you would be married someday.

6. Kiss the first kiss, then go for two. Who says you have to kiss just once? One of the most exciting first kisses was actually two. They kissed a pretty passionate kiss. Pulled away and then went back in for more. Well done. And the crowd went wild!

Camilla & Ryan Get Hitched at Rembrandt Yard

This was the first wedding I shot for a former soccer player I used to coach. Granted Ryan was just 8 years old when I coached his Boulder Junior Soccer team back in the mid-80s. And Camilla grew up in England and is a big fan of Little Britain TV show. After promising to not get heat stroke at their wedding last weekend, we ended up having a great time over at Rembrandt Yard just off the Pearl Street Mall in Boulder (inside joke--you'll just have to hire me to shoot your next wedding to find out what that's all about!)

Watch the slideshow here to see what we did during the formals session before guests arrived. Got to love all the texture down on the alleyways off Pearl Street.

Go to the online gallery for the full event here.

Top 5 Best Spots to Get Engaged Around Boulder

If I were secretly being paid by a groom to photograph them actually in the act of getting engaged, here are 5 really sweet places I'd want to be:

5. Lost Gulch Overlook: Beyond the top of Flagstaff Mountain another 5 mins up the road--sweeping views of Continental Divide and of Boulder. Lotsa big rocks to scramble upon, just don't drop the ring or yourself off the edge or it will be a very short engagement.

4. The Boulder Train Museum just NW of Valmont Butte. It's free and also a cool spot, especially for train buffs. Climb on restored locomotives and usually nobody out there to spoil the moment. Private. Vibrant colors, too.

3. While rockclimbing up the 1st Flatiron--never tried it but I bet it would be neat. Unequalled views and a rush for adrenaline junkies. But I will be shooting with a long lens, as you won't get me to bring my best gear where one slip up and it (or me) drops 800 feet to an untimely demise.

2. Hidden alleys in back of Pearl Street Mall--great brick walls, strange things stuck to the sides of buildings, and lots of neat people out and about. Okay, so this would be better for an engagement shoot rather than having to drop to 1 knee to propose for the actual thing. Up to you. But great texture!

1. Mesa Trail hike ending in romantic picnic above Chautauqua Park and the Flatirons. Charming. Gorgeous. Popular, but well-deserved reputation. Have picnic outside of concert hall and listen to world-class Colorado Music Festival for free. Walk the heavily wooded trail just south of hall for a fun adventure.

How the Top 5 Coolest Spanish Words Make For Great Wedding Photographs

Something about that Spanish lifestyle I remember from our trip around the world for a year after 9/11. "Estilo de vida", or the style of life. That slower pace that comes only from oppressive summer humidity and great sangria. "Manana por la manana", tomorrow is for tomorrow--just think 'don't worry, be happy'. These and the top 5 I collected here can help you turn your wonderful, yet stressful wedding day into pure joy, but only if you live 'em out.

5. cállate - Means "shut up". Often the best policy, guys. Keeping your mouth shut has many benefits, especially on wedding day when everyone is excited and excitable. Something about a closed mouth gathering no flies comes to mind. And shutting up in Spanish is always so much more fun!

4. chiste - A joke. Learn a few, deploy sparingly. Humor during a tense ceremony gets everyone laughing and relaxes even the most uptight. Just make them tasteful or you will be called a "baboso". Look it up here (it is not one of the top 5).

3. las nalgas - Buttocks. Not sure how that fits in here, but I just like the sound of that one. Has a certain ring. Now you can turn the other cheek in Spanish when you get a strange look from one of your guests.

2. pantalones - Pants. Not necessarily a cool word, but it sounds cool. Also can be used to mean "courage" or "guts". I like it better than pants or jeans. Just sounds more fancy. Be sure not to forget your pantalones as you stand at the end of the center aisle as your gorgeous bride comes walking your way.

1. tranquilo - Cool, quiet, composed, laid back, chilled out. Can also use it as a command to tell someone to relax and calm down. My favorite brides are cool under pressure and make my job a piece of cake. And they look more beautiful on wedding day. Tranquilo is the enemy of bridezilla and the lesser known, yet equally devastating horror film nightmare known only as Mother of Bridezilla.

Hazlo! (go do it) Your friends will call you "genio" (genius--used similar to "cool!" or "awesome!")