The Steve Z Photography Blog

Last week I was down in Denver shooting, schmoozing, and hanging out with friends.  I had all my gear with me and got the crazy idea to do a shoot for fun with my pro photographer friend and fellow DWF member Mario Masitti at an urban location near his place in Denver.  I’m excited for the off season to be here so that I’ll have some time to do some shoots for fun in the name of artistic development. I really like the color of this building that is right across the street from The Penthouse.

Then we just drove around for a while until we found somewhere cool. We liked the look of this graffiti encrusted building! I started out just taking some pictures using natural light.

Then I busted out my new portable beauty dish for some harder light.

For this final shot I just turned and took a shot in an opposite direction that what I intended. I really like the short lighting look in this case! Also, I used the tilt shift to make both of his eyes in focus with a shallow depth of field despite the fact that his head is turned away from me!

As part of the trade, we exchanged RAW files to compare editing styles of the same photos. It is really cool how the same photograph usually has a completely different look depending on who processes it. This is why the whole concept of ‘digital negatives’ in wedding photography is so inherently flawed. The photo isn’t done until it’s processed people!

So these next photos of me were all taken by Mario Masitti Studios.  I did the processing in my own style, thus my watermark on them.  But the pics are his, to be marginally clear   These shots are going to be the ‘before’ shots, before I go in for a haircut tomorrow!

OK, I know I already said that I was done posting weddings for the year. But I sortof forgot about this last one! This was a bit of an unusual circumstance, because I was covering this wedding for an injured wedding photographer friend at the last minute. As a result I wasn’t responsible for editing this wedding. However, the ceremony was at such a gorgeous location on Lake Dillon in Silverthorne, that I felt the need to post a couple of my favorite scenery shots. So here you go, enjoy! BTW, the ceremony was held at Lake Dillon Condos, and the reception was at the Wolf Rock Brewery in Keystone.

Here are some recent photos from an awesome senior portrait photo shoot that Hannah and I had a couple weeks ago.  Hannah goes to Centaurus High School is Lafayette but we held the session in downtown Boulder.  We rocked out my usual mix of funky and cool urban shots with some solidly gorgeous nature shots.  We got so many great images that it was hard for me to narrow them down for this blog post!

We started off in the downtown alleys near my office. I found a completely unusual shoot location! I doubt many people shoot yearbook portraits in front of a wall of used alternators! Fortunately, Hannah came prepared with the perfect alternative alternator outfit.

After the urban alley fun we headed over for some nature shots near Boulder Creek.

But even during the nature photos I can’t help but find ways to make things funky!

It seems like I’ve been blogging about shoots in Estes Park for about a month now . . . but this is the last one for a while I think!  The day after one of my weddings I shot some senior portraits up on the hill in the middle of town.  Darien actually attends high school in Lyons, but lives in Pinewood Springs which is halfway to Estes, so we chose that as a cool location to shoot at.  Like most of my seniors, Darien was looking for something funky and different like shooting around junky old cars and buildings.  Well let me tell you, rusty trucks and broken down shacks are pretty hard to come by around here!  Let me know if you have any location ideas because I’m always looking for new ones. This location was great nonetheless, as there was this historic, wrecked old stone building with a view of the snow-capped Rocky Mountain National Park.  At the bottom of the hill there was a nice field setting as well.  Enjoy the photos.

Well its a bittersweet post as Amy and Todd will be the conclusion of my 2009 wedding season! We are closing it down in style with yet another mountain destination wedding in Estes Park! The Taharaa Mountain Lodge is located up the hill on the south side of Estes Park with a spectacular view into the valley. I applied the rustic western style to the ring shot. I asked Amy if she was a vegetarian before I took this shot, but I won’t tell you what her answer was!

This was my second weekend in a row up in Estes Park. I took a little time the week before and scoped out a cool location to take some creative shots. I found a little shacky shack very near the lodge. Amy and Todd are the perfect alternative type bride and groom for some funky, American Gothic style shots!

We had to make quick work of the portrait session, and the rest of the guests were anxious for some more T & A at the reception.

Well that is all for Steve Z Weddings for 2009! Keep tuning in for lots more fall portraits and whatever else I decide to do for the rest of the year. I’m planning on renting some studio space again so there will be adventures coming soon in that department as well. Thanks for reading.

Wedding Vendors

Venue .:. Taharaa Mountain Lodge .:. 970-577-0098

Florist .:. Petals from Heaven .:. 303-682-3246

Caterer .:. Greens Point Catering .:. 303-772-2247

Cake Artist .:. Nancy’s Best Cakes .:. 303-946-9816

The latest installment of the wedding blog comes to you from the mountains of Estes Park, Colorado.  Eric and Nicole chose Lost Antler Ranch as their wedding venue.  The Ranch is a brand new venue that sits in a gorgeous valley on the edge of Rocky Mountain National Park.

Nicole, Eric, and I had a fantabulous engagement photo session back in Boulder a few months ago.  They are already the tallest couple ever, and I told them that during the wedding I was going to use the wide angle lens to make them look even taller.  Just like this.

Eric is a friend of mine who I know through his managing of wedding rock band of awesomeness, Meniskus.  Since I know these guys, and I know that these guys are a bunch of jokesters, we took a lot of fun pictures of the guys goofing around.  You should see the ones that I’m NOT posting.

The ladies also had their fun, but in a more traditional, scenic, and dare I say, dignified manner.

After days of cold weather and rain, the ceremony was held on the shore of the man made lake on a picture perfect bluebird day in the mountains.

Immediately after the ceremony, the wedding party paddled kayaks and rowboats out to the island in the middle of the lake for a celebratory toast. Well that was a first!

There were so many great locations for the Creative Portraits. I could have shot for hours if I had the time. There were great lines and angles around the barn.

Later in the day, the sun was setting down directly across the lake. The specular highlights in the reflections in the lake were incredibly bright. I don’t think I’ve ever seen highlights quite like these.

As the sun went down the guest retreated into the heated tent as the temperature was dropping quickly. The “Best Band” kicked into gear and everyone danced the night away to cap off an incredible day. Until next time, Cheers. -Steve Z