Steve Z Wedding and Portrait Photography » Denver | Boulder | Colorado

Sometimes the best photo shoot ideas arrive at the last minute. Jenny and Matt were clearly excited about their post wedding Sport The Dress session, but when the big day arrived, we still didn’t have a solid idea of where we were going to shoot. My Sport the Dress sessions are not always radical and potentially hazardous. Sometimes we just pick a great location and capture creative wedding portraits that weren’t possible on the wedding day due to time, location, or weather restrictions. But in Jenny and Matt’s case, we already had an overload of stunning outdoor portraits from their wedding day at Perry Park Country Club. So for these clients, I needed to step it up and come up with something over the top. I’m not sure exactly how the idea to have Jenny and Matt tubing in Boulder Creek popped into my head, but I do know I wasn’t exactly sure how well this risky idea was going to turn out. Fortunately for me, my clients are awesome and willing to to take the plunge, so another epic Sport The Dress shoot was on!

We warmed up with a wedding portraits on the side of the creek. It takes some extra time and effort to set up a shot where the water is silky and flowing, but I love the results. The wedding day is usually busy and time is a premium, so this type of shot benefits from the slower pace afforded by a post-wedding day session.

The behind the scenes logistics of this session were a little more than I had bargained for. The current was very strong, and it was challenging to get both tubes exactly where I wanted them, because they kept floating away and getting pulled into the strong current. As it turns out, I was still in possession of a borrowed wetsuit from my river trip down the Grand Canyon. This came in very helpful, as Colorado river water was recently in the form of snow. The funniest part is that I found myself pulling these guys around by their foot to get them in position!

This photo shoot was featured in a blog post on the military wedding blog Something Navy. Check out this letter Jenny wrote about her Sport The Dress experience.

Our Sport The Dress idea came about in a rather sporadic fashion. For a few days before our actual photo shoot, we bounced ideas around with our photographer, but nothing seemed to really fit us. We knew we wanted to do something new, different and “legendary,” but our lack of creativity kept our aspirations at bay. We thought about riding bikes, taking pictures on top of a mountain (which are plentiful in Colorado) and doing the classic in-front-of-random-buildings shoot, but it just didn’t fit. Luckily, our photographer is incredible and (two hours before our photo shoot time) he came up with a brilliant plan. The phone call went a little like this:

“Hey Jenny, how do you feel about tubing?”
“Umm I like it. Wait… in my dress?!?!”
“Yeah.”
“Let me get back to you.” (hangs up phone)
“Hey mom, how angry would you be if a ruined my wedding dress?” (She paid for it).
“Not too angry. Just make sure you take good pictures and that I get a copy.”
(Calls Steve Back)
“We’re down.”

Unfortunately, Matt couldn’t wear his uniform in the dirty Boulder Creek water (Perhaps we’ll create a “Trash the Uniform” photo shoot when he retires), so it was up to me to be the brave one and ruin the one dress that I’ve ever actually cared about. But, I guess I’ll do anything for the sake of a good picture.

Once we got to the creek, we started accumulating a crowd of unbelieving people. We took a few pictures on the side of the creek, so spectators mostly thought it was just a model photo shoot (which made me feel pretty cool!) Then, as we climbed into the (freezing cold) creek, we started getting more and more people (and more goosebumps… that water was really cold). We even had a reporter following us around for a local online newspaper, which was super cool!

We took most of the pictures toward the side of the creek, trying to avoid being swept up by the strong currents. Luckily our photographer had a wet suit, which came in handy when he had to rescue us from nearly falling down a small waterfall (and then when he swam after my runaway tube after the grand finale). Our grand finale was going down the creek and getting dunked by the rapids and waterfalls. The photos speak for themselves and I think it’s safe to say that we literally took the plunge. It was an absolute blast, but after having my husband and I spend so much time in that freezing cold water, I’m just glad we took the photos *after* the wedding night.

{Jenny}

After spending some time playing in the eddies of the creek, it was time for the moment everyone had been waiting for; the trip over the falls! A small crowd had built up, and everyone was waiting for the carnage. This was a one shot deal, so we had to get it right! Well Jenny did not disappoint, and even flipped over after the big splash!

The Boulder Daily Camera found our shenanigans interesting enough to send a local photographer/videographer down to check out the scene. He made a great little video that gives you a feel of what it was like to be there.

I have to tell you, this shoot was a ton of fun for me, and we all laughed a ton. I love adventures, and pushing the limits of what I can accomplish is always satisfying. Cheers Jenny and Matt, and thanks for a wedding highlight that we’ll never forget.