My brother is part of the crew touring with comedian Jeff Dunham and today the show rolled into Colorado Springs. We had some other appointments today so we couldn't hang out for the show but I got a chance to watch the stage being set up for a little while...it's amazing how much gear gets unloaded and set up to put on the show, but even more amazing that this all gets packed up in about 2 hours after the show! Check it out:
Crazy Rocky Mountain spring notwithstanding, I'm thinking this may be the last of our snowy engagement sessions until winter. Ellie and Ryan brought their dog, snow boots and a great attitude for this fun session at Fox Run Park. Enjoy the images and slide show below!
We chose Fox Run Park because it's where Ryan proposed...not a bad view!
Their dog, Aurora, had a great time bounding through the snow too!
My favorite image from the shoot:
And some great real moments 'dancing' by the lake...thanks for a fun shoot guys!
DeAnna and I went to the Garden of the Gods Club for lunch today and met with all our friends at the HSMAI luncheon. We were treated to fantastic food & service with an incredible view. We've shot here a few times in the past couple years and will be back in just over a month for a wedding so it was nice to reacquaint ourselves with the staff and get an official tour this time!
We couldn't have asked for better weather...just picture perfect today!
A little spinach salad to start off but my eye was on the dessert in the background... ;)
Yummy chicken & green beans for our 'green' theme.
And the good stuff...
A couple of speakers telling us how to be green...ok.
And then we got a tour from the director of sales & catering...the rooms are now available to anyone, not just club members and you can enjoy the dining room and facilities when you spend the night.
DeAnna and I went to Acacia Park today to do some street shooting at the Tea Party. I had fun getting photographs of the signs and the characters and it was a great opportunity for De to get behind the camera, as she doesn't get to do that very often! We ran into local politicians Jerry Heimlicher and Jeff Crank and the nice folks at Congressman Lamborn's office asked us to make some photographs for them too.
Here are a few of our favorite images.
We had a band stoking up the crowd at the beginning but the sound was so bad I couldn't hear their name. Thankfully they got it fixed.
ummm...sure.
Of course, we had some 'dangerous' types too....haha.
We put up a web gallery with all of the pictures for free download, the access code is 'tea'.
Funny how we haven't had a lot of white Christmases lately but plenty of white Easters! I remember shooting a wedding on Easter a couple years ago and the bride running outside in her strapless dress for some portraits in the snow! This year it's nice to relax with family and let the kids hunt for their eggs.
So what's the reason for the egg as part of Easter? I did a little research and saw this interesting description:
"Easter eggs historically also held a particular appeal to Christians who observed Lent. For many years, eggs were prohibited by the Catholic Church, along with meat, during the period of the Lenten fast. Consequently, Easter eggs were an eagerly anticipated part of breakfast on Resurrection Sunday, or Easter morning. It is customary in some Slavic countries to bring brightly dyed Easter eggs to church on Holy Saturday to be blessed before consumption at breakfast the next day.
Through the ages, Easter eggs have been dyed with natural dyes made from plant materials and other foodstuffs. Today, while some people still prefer the subtle tones produced by natural dyes, commercial dyes are available in tablet, powder, and liquid form. Different cultures have different customs attached to how they make Easter eggs a part of their Easter celebration. Hunting for hidden eggs and egg-rolling contests remain popular."
While we don't prohibit eggs during Lent, the tradition is still nice (and the egg casserole at church this morning sure was good!!). Eggs are also a metaphor for new life and this is perfect on Easter since they symbolize our new life in Christ, made possible by His death for us on the cross and His resurrection 3 days later on Easter morning. This means we get to spend eternity in heaven with Him! Hallelujah indeed! Happy Easter everyone!
oh PS -- here's my favorite shot from that Easter wedding a couple years ago:
Happy Good Friday. We attended church tonight to recognize the death of Christ our Lord. Our church music director is also artist in residence at Colorado College and brought in an orchestra tonight to perform Faure's Requiem. Here are some images I made for the music program web site from the performance:
I didn't know anything about this work until tonight when I did some reading about it and ran across this comment on the piece by the composer himself: "It has been said that my Requiem does not express the fear of death and someone has called it a lullaby of death. But it is thus that I see death: as a happy deliverance, an aspiration towards happiness above, rather than as a painful experience." - Appropriate words considering Good Friday leads to Easter and the resurrection of Jesus -- our salvation!
Happy Easter everyone! We're off to photograph a couple hundred kids with the Easter bunny as a gift to our neighborhood association tomorrow. Drop on by!
