The Steve Z Photography Blog

Carolyn and Ben signed up for the downtown Boulder engagement shoot extravaganza. We started off properly with a pint at Conners. :>)

This entire shoot was performed within a one and a half block radius of the Steve Z Photography downtown studio! I’m psyched to have such cool locations at my disposal. Locals will recognize these lines as the curves of The Bandshell in Boulder Civic Park.

Across the street at the Dushanbe Tea House there was a wedding reception taking place. That didn’t stop us from borrowing the roses for a couple shots.

I really like laughing. Ben, I’m not really sure where you pulled this out of, but it makes me laugh every time I see it!

By this point in the shoot we were developing a powerful hunger. Fortunately, the Draft House was serving 50 cent wings. After some refueling, we were properly motivated to take some cool nighttime portraits in the alley around the corner.

Engagement shoots are so much fun! Getting to know awesome clients like these guys, mixing some social time with some creative photography . . . it doesn’t get much better than this. Thanks guys, I’m looking forward to the wedding!

My most recent engagement session was with Lauren and Rich.  We met up at the Denver Millennium Bridge, which connects the Highlands to LoDo and the 16th Street Mall.  Interestingly, the bridge is the first bridge of it’s kind ever built!

We had such a gorgeous day!  After a few warm up photos, we stopped for a couple pints to chat about the plans for the big day.  Not that they needed much warming up,  as you can tell by the playful photo above!  The shadows were my idea, but the pose was all them!

At the other end of the Bridge is Commons Park. There is a cool stone sculpture structure thingy there.  Sitting down inside the walkway, we took some more intimate portraits.  We decided to move on after almost getting run over by some skateboarders.

We arranged the shoot to occur in the early evening, and we were blessed with some magical light in the golden hour.

But as the sun set behind the buildings, we just kept on shooting. Lauren and Rich were a great couple to hang out with and willing subjects for all my crazy compositions. This fence made out of skis caught my eye.

We wound things up were they began, on the bridge over I-25. Because there is nothing more romantic than wire fence and headlights. Haha. Tune in again soon, lots more engagement portrait sessions coming soon!

My buddy Neil Van Niekerk is coming to Denver on August 18th to do a workshop on state-of-the-art flash photography techniques. This is an amazing opportunity and space is limited: head over to Planet Neil for more information about the workshop, dates, and how to sign up.

I did a great shoot this past April in New Jersey with Neil. It was set in the Paterson Historical Museum, and the modeling was done by Priscilla.

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Emma and Jasper’s wedding rocked at least an 8.2 on the Richter scale of awesomeness. Their ceremony was held at the New Hope Baptist Church in Denver. Emotions were running high, and there were a plethora of amazing photojournalist moments captured.

I thought that I’d post some variety in the old blog this week. The flower girls and ring bearers had some modeling moves that would surely register a knockout punch to Zoolander should they ever face each other in a ‘walk-off’.

After the ceremony we transferred to the Omni Hotel at Interlocken in Broomfield. The Omni resort is home to the Omni Interlocken Golf Club, which is a most excellent location for shooting some creative wedding portraiture of the couple.

Even the spacious interior of the Omni had cool lines and angles. I couldn’t get enough!

I should also mention that Emma, Jasper, Judah, and I shot their Engagement Session in Boulder a couple months ago. You can view those pictures HERE.  Thanks guys for the good times and the great photos.

Associate Vendors

Venue .:. Omni Interlocken Hotel

Gown Boutique .:. Amanda’s Bridal

Florist .:. Christian Floral

Hair Stylist .:. La Vie

Last weekend I shot my second wedding at The Breakers Hotel in Palm Beach Florida. Victoria and Alex found my previous blog entry on Google and “fell in love with my style of photography”, as the story goes. I jumped at the opportunity to get some beach time on my birthday. It was a win-win situation!

I started off in my usual manner, warming up with some detail shots. Last time I took the epic shot of the shoe on the balcony, looking over the beach and turquoise blue ocean. Options in the room were limited, so I ventured out into the hallway. How does this one rank on the epic scale?

The dress may look pretty good on the hanger, but seriously, how good does it look on Victoria? 10 on the epic scale, I say!

Well, one problem with shooting wedding in the tropics in the summer, is the ever present threat of thunderstorms. South Florida was in a moist flow of the Gulf Stream, and it had rained every afternoon for 2 weeks. Today was no exception. Luckily we were able to get the First Look in before the first round of storms rolled in.

But soon enough, the rains came and we headed into the Breakers to shoot some indoor portraits. I had noticed this particularly cool steel gate earlier in the day.

But just as fast as it started, the rain subsided, and we were able to get some more fantabulous portraits on the spacious grounds of the resort.

I think I may have accidentally manifested the wedding to be held indoors instead of on the ceremony lawn. So sorry guys! When I first arrived at the Breakers, I was secretly hoping the reception would be held in the Gold Room.  I found out that it was actually being held in the Magnolia Room.  Well, as it turned out, when the outdoor ceremony was rained out, it was held in the Gold Room instead!  I always get what I want.

This wedding was an intimate affair, with only around 30 close friends and family in attendance. The happy couple is planning a big bash in the near future where everyone can tear the roof off. On this night, the couple enjoyed a gorgeous venue and intimate moments amongst the people who they care about most. Even the first dance was opened up to everyone around halfway through the song. That didn’t stop anyone from enjoying the moment to the fullest.

Speaking of living life and the fullest, Alex managed to throw down an entire sundae! Yes, there was wedding cake AND sundaes.  I lied earlier in this post; I don’t always get what I want.

In order to work off desert, we headed outside to fool around in front of the fountain. Here is a photo of Victoria and Alex running off to their honeymoon. Or something like that. Whatever. I’m out of jokes. You should check out the vendors below if you are planning a wedding in the area. That part is no joke!

Associate Vendors

Venue/Event Coordinator .:.Virginia Parmigiano .:. The Breakers

Videography .:. Doyle Productions

Gown Boutique .:. Brides Against Breast Cancer

DJ .:. Music Works Talent