The Steve Z Photography Blog

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

This wedding was a bit unusual for me, as I was second shooting for my second shooter, Chad Moore.  This was his first full-on solo wedding, so I was there to offer advise and support.  I was pretty excited about it, as it meant that I could have some fun without a lot of the usual pressure!  Plus the wedding was up in Vail and I love any excuse to get up into the mountains.

The day started off by splitting the getting ready duties.  Chad stayed with the girls, while I hung out with the boys.

The ceremony took place right in Vail Chapel of the Covenant Presbyterian Church which is right in Vail Village.

For the reception and the creative location portraits, we went back to the Vail Cascade Resort. There were many great location in the surrounding buildings and along the creek path.

This shot is here solely for the humor!  I’m not really sure what the Vail Honeywagon is all about, but it sure reminds me of honeymoon, and nothing screams honeymoon more than an industrial sized dumpster.

I love this shot of the matron of honor’s speech.

Outside on the porch there was some cigar smoking celebrations. Here are a couple fun portraits from that.

The evening wrapped up with a top notch dance party to a great wedding band.  The house was rocking until last call!

Every single time that I shoot a wedding at the Pastures of Plenty, it looks like it is going to rain. Carolyn and Ben’s wedding was no exception. It was raining when I left Boulder for the short drive up north. Fortunately, it always seems to work out, and the clouds give way to awesome skies and afternoon light.

Carolyn had a great wedding dress with a unique textured pattern. But my heart goes out to this awesome cuff link collection. Ben wore the sprocket ones in the center; the perfect gift for your favorite gear head on his wedding day!

I love the farm weddings. There are so many great locations for group shots of the groomsmen and the bridal party!

The approach for the processional proceeds across a small bridge from the cottage to the ceremony lawn. I always manage to get an epic shot of the bride and her father at this location. Carolyn was clearly the most epically excited bride at the moment of first sight!

These guys made some alterations to the alter which I really enjoyed. The white fabric prevented me from getting my reverse shot through the bushes, but on the positive side the background really makes their profiles stand out from the background. I love the lines in this next shot, which was the moment right after The Kiss.

I don’t think I have ever posted a shot of a family formal shot on the blog. As photographers we usually don’t show them since they are usually not the most creative shots of the day. But I wanted to show this one, to show what I do with the lighting for my formal shots. I bring a lighting setup so that everyone is lit really well, even in difficult bright and sunny conditions. I go the extra mile!

For the creative shots of the couple, I decided to break from tradition and explore the front of the farm. Last year I shot a bridal portrait on an old FJ in the field. I love that shot, but I can’t repeat myself. Fortunately, there is more than one broken down old car on the property. This old International has been turned into a flower planter!

Here is a funky wide shot out near the old silos. I posted a picture of the tree that you can see growing out the top on my Dark Side Blog.

As much as I like shooting at the Pastures, there is one thing that I like even more. The food is natural, healthy and amazing.

The reception featured all the amazing laughs and emotions that everyone dreams about. Fortunately I was there to capture them with amazing 3-D wrap around lighting. Yes, I’m a nerd. Yes, this is the end of the blog. Yes, it’s time to go to bed. Yes, thank you Carolyn and Ben for having the magic that makes my job easy. Cheers.

And one last shot before I go . . . here is Ben’s car on his wedding day. Because that’s what friends are for!

Wedding Vendors

Venue .:. Pastures of Plenty .:. 303-440-7103

Gown Boutique .:. Here Comes The Bride (IL) .:. 303-825-4545

Florist .:. European Flower Shop .:. 303-442-7802

Florist .:. Pastures of Plenty .:. 303-440-7103

Makeup Artist .:. Speranza Salon .:. 720-261-5757

Musician .:. Dechen Hawk

Caterer .:. Big Bang Catering .:. 303-447-8900

Cake Artist .:. Indulge Bakery .:. 303-926-1676

Welcome to Lydia and Bryan’s wedding blog! Hold on to your hats; we showed Denver how it’s done!

We started off with the getting ready festivities at The Curtis Hotel.  Let’s make no mistake about it, I <} The Curtis! If you want an artistic, stylish, and alternative hotel, you need to look no further!  The fashion bridal portrait above was shot in the lobby, and the dress photo was in the elevator of awesomeness!

There were A LOT of kids present for this ceremony.  The priest said that he had never seen so many children walk down the aisle in all his years of doing weddings. Well, these shots were captured during the pre-wedding festivities.  So C-U-T-E.

The ceremony was held at the Chapel of the Immaculate Conception in downtown Denver. It is quite an impressive structure!  My motto is ‘massive structures require massive lenses’.

After the ceremony, I had a generous amount of time to shoot fun, creative photos.  So we went back to the Curtis for some more stylish locations.

So, there is a bit of a story about these next two shots. After Lydia and Bryan booked with me, I asked for a photo of them since they live in LA and we didn’t meet. So they sent me a funky photo, somewhat similar to the ‘American Gothic’ style photo that you see on the right.  I replied, complimenting the photo, but also sending one of my own that was a picture of me jumping, along with a note that said “Cool composition, but I prefer jump shots!”.  Well, wouldn’t you know it, but Lydia responded with 4 or 5 photos of them jumping, at locations around the globe. I was dumbstruck, and thought, “I can’t believe they OUT JUMP SHOTTED STEVE Z!” So clearly, it was a client photographer match made in heaven.  And damn straight a jump shot was going to happen on the wedding day!

After messing around at the Curtis, we headed over to the Denver Art Museum, which was the site of the reception.  We took more photos, imagine that.  These guys had an epic number of bridesmaids and groomsmen.  Here we are with a classic ‘groomsmen goofing around photo’.

Followed with the more elusive ‘bridesmaids goofing around’ photo.  How do you get 9 bridesmaids and a bride all in focus?  I don’t know about you, but I use a tilt shift lens.

At this point in the night I thought that we were going to be done taking posed shots, and move onto the usual reception photojournalism.  But during dinner I just kept staring at this metal tube and thinking how much I wanted to shoot in it.  Fortunately, these guys are possibly even bigger camera hams than I am, and were game for just a few more shots

Quite often, my cake cutting shots look more or less the same.  This is my first shot of a couple cutting the cake with a 14mm lens. Oh, and where I was standing outside the building!

So they look like models, clearly have great sense of humor, are smart, funny, and have too many friends to have a normal sized bridal party, and are scoring the most epic wedding photos of the year.  Do you hate these guys yet?  Well, yeah, they can dance too!

OK, I’m going to post some pictures of other people so that their heads don’t get too big.  This little guy was rockin’ “The Worm” all night long!

I’m going to close out this blog with an awesome Bouquet Toss image. I call this photo ‘With Authoritah’ (said like Cartman from South Park).

Wedding Vendors

Venue .:. Cathedral Basilica of the Immaculate Conception .:. 303-831-7010

Venue .:. The Curtis .:. 800.525.6651

Venue .:. Denver Art Museum .:. 720-865-5000

Cake Artist & Caterer .:. Gourmet Fine Catering .:. 303-825-4545

Florist .:. More Flowers .:. 303-477-0947

Music .:. 5280 Mobile DJ .:. 303-594-1771

Makeup Artist .:. Simple Moore .:. 303-399-4151

Hair Stylist .:. No.55 Salon .:. 303-744-0448

Well hello there! What time is it? Yes, it’s blog-thirty, so raise a glass to my latest newlyweds, Lauren and Rich Baloy! Here Here!

We start out this pictorial tale with some getting ready shots at the Marriott in Boulder, Colorado.  I had a little extra time and I was able to get so many fun shots I had a hard time narrowing down for this blog post! This amazing ring is a family heirloom from the Baloy family, and let me tell you, it is A-MAZ-ING!

This was the first wedding that I brought my newest lens, the 85mm PC (tilt-shift) lens. My new toy didn’t disappoint, and I captured this shot. I’m not sure exactly what I like about it so much, but there is something special for me here.

Here we have the most epicly Boulder shoe shot ever. Shoes? Yup. Flatirons? Of course. Folsom Field and the University of Colorado campus? You betcha. Bride that went to CU? Aw, rats. Well, Rich did, so that’s close enough. And yes, I did mean to have the curves of the straps match the curves of the mountains thank you very much.

After some fun group shots of the ladies at the hotel, Chad and I headed downtown to meet up with the fellas who were getting ready at the Hotel Boulderdo.  Smart men as they are, they were already having some beverages at the Corner Bar.  Around the corner from the corner bar, is an alley.  We hung out in the alley, because everyone hangs out in alleys right before they get married, right?

Onward to the Red Lion where the bulk of the festivities were to take place.  We had gorgeous slight overcast weather and were spared the usual August heat.  We came, we wed, and magic happened.

After the ceremony we stole away for some quiet moments.  The Red Lion sits in Boulder Canyon right on Boulder Creek.  The wildflowers were in bloom and there was just so gosh darn much nature everywhere that I couldn’t help but to take a pile of amazingly romantic wedding photos.

Peek-a-boo.  85 mm tilt shift I :} you too.

Juxtaposed against the soft and fuzzy nature photos I’ll post a modern and edgy shot in the tunnel under the highway. Bam.  In your face.

Well that kind of attitude doesn’t last long when you have a couple as cute as this.  A big basket full of golden retriever puppies might not even be as sweet as this. Aaaaw.

Well kids, we have reached the end of another entry here at Blogstyles of the Beautiful and Married. I’m your host Steve Z, and I bid you farewell from the land of tilt-shift wishes and Radiopopper dreams.

Wedding Vendors

Venue/Caterer .:. Red Lion Restaurant .:. 303-443-5882

Cake Artist/Florist .:. Vinnola’s Italian Market .:. 303-875-7718

Gown Boutique .:. Priscilla of Boston .:. 303-355-9491

Florist .:. The Perfect Petal: Crystal Oleskevich .:. 303-480-0966 x 3

Videography .:. Stalls Videography .:. 303-681-8957

Music .:. Ron Ivory and the Miles Apart Band .:. 303-344-9904

Hair Stylist .:. Rebecca Wells .:. 817-846-5878

Makeup Artist .:. Jill Rosenfield .:. 303-386-5102

Erin and Ryan were married on the slopes of the Winter Park Ski Area in a festival of radness. Erin invested a ton of blood, sweat, and tears into putting together a dream wedding in her beloved Colorado mountains. This wasn’t an easy task while currently living in Virginia with Ryan!  So we started the day in my usual manner with some detail shots in the lobby of the Zephyr Mountain Lodge.

One of the fun parts about being me is that I’m never quite sure what style my photos will turn out like until they are composed, or even edited. While I usually lean toward lots of colors . . . today I’m all sepia!

Similarly, sometimes I’m all about using strobes to create great lighting. But on this overcast day I employed natural light techniques . . . for the early part of the day anyway! I placed Erin in between the two windows for some really cool split lighting. Then I just sat back and let the photojournalist magic unfold while her Mom helped her into her stunning dress!

Dr. Ryan and his boys, documented in not-so photojournalist style while chillin’ out front of the hotel.

Erin and Ryan chose to do a First Look and see each other before the ceremony. I was getting a little tired of the same old routine, so I came up with a new idea, where the bride would come up behind the groom and put her hands over his eyes.  The main idea was to capture the moment of anticipation, when she is there, touching him, but he hasn’t seen her in the dress yet. I think it was a smashing success!

We had big plans for a ski lift ride up to the top of the mountain on the Zephyr ski lift, but the weather was looking a little too sketchy to risk a rainy ride. So we stayed near the buildings at the area base for the Couple’s Portraits.

And it was a good thing that we did, because the rain did come. Umbrella shot with 100% bona-fide Colorado mountain summer rain. Completely different than that fake Orange County photoshopped-in rain LOL!

And while we were hopeful that the rain would stop before the outdoor ceremony on the slopes at the Mary Jane ski area . . . that wasn’t the way that it worked out. Erin did a great job of just letting it go despite tons of planning, dreams, and hopes. That’s just the way it goes in the mountains in the summer . . . you never know!

The ceremony was instead held inside the Club Car restaurant in the reception location. And the beauty and emotion of the ceremony far outweighed any locational physical beauty. Mix in two tablespoons of tilt shift lens magic and the resulting dish is quite tasty.

If you know Erin, then you know that High Kicks are a big deal! Here is Erin physically and metaphorically high kicking her way into the next phase of life . . . HK!!!

So despite my dubious comedic attempts, I sincerely wish Erin and Ryan the best in their future life together. All of those coincidences and happenstance meetings have surely led you on your true path into the future. Cheers!

Wedding Vendors

Venue/Caterer .:. Winter Park Resort .:. 800-731-6906 ext. 4

Cake Artist/Florist .:. Whole Foods Market .:. 303-477-3556

Gown Boutique .:. Alfred Angelo .:. 307-637-6623

Wedding Officiant .:. Kevin Cooper .:. 970-454-0787