{Rocky Mountain High}

{Anne & Josh} Vail. Colorado.

Yes, the title is cheesy but this was my first {TRUE} Colorado mountain wedding! I hope this is one of many because after becoming a wedding photographer I have such a newfound love for Colorado. Anne & Josh were married at Donovan’s Pavilion in Vail, Colorado in a perfect end of summer wedding. I loved the colors of Anne’s bouquet {Done by the fabulous! A K Haydon Design} in bold orange perfect fun color for summer while highlighting the upcoming arrival of fall. Rich oranges, browns and greens continued in the reception. Besides the amazing mountain backdrop there were so many lovely mountain touches through out the entire wedding, the bold but earth colors, cute little birds that held M&M’s for the guests, to the cupcake stands that were actual tree stumps!

Besides the design I loved how the couple involved their families in with their wedding. Most of the design work and an owner of Happy Cakes {the bakers behind the amazing cupcakes… the cosmo was to die for} was the brides sister. The true highlight to this mountain wedding was  Josh’s wedding band that was actually hand crafted by his father. If his father had a Etsy store he’s be a millionaire! Congratulations Anne & Josh, may your love always be on a mountain high!

{Painted by Numbers}

April & Scott. Denver, CO. Trinity Methodist

You always hear about those chance meetings on the dance floor. Two unsuspecting strangers who both happen to be at the same place at the same time, their eyes meet and without exchanging any real words they dance to the rhythm getting lost in each other. This chance meeting happened to April and Scott. Two lawyers who meet on a dance floor during law school and ended up happily ever after. Their ceremony took at the gorgeous classic Trinity Methodist. I wish I could have played more with the stained glass windows, but I was able to capture a quick silhouette of April just before she walked down the aisle.

Surrounded by family and friends the celebration continued at the reception which took place and one of my new favorite wedding venues, The Space Gallery. Not so much a blank canvas as being surrounded by amazing local art. I just love the way the space divides into two separate rooms, one where Scott and April dinned with their guests and the other a perfect dance floor with a loft for those who just like to mingle and people watch. The entire gallery was decorated with festive potted plants that April’s mother has been growing since the couples engagement {too cute right?!} and other little touches of mexico were added to the room for the couples favorite travel destination.

Congratulations Scott and April, may you always dance.

{L’amour}

BONJOUR! or BONSOIR! (depending on the time of day!)

A few weeks ago I went to the city of my heart, the city I love and adore, the city that so many have fallen in love with just like I have…. PARIS! I of course took my camera along and while I was looking threw over 1,500 photos {YES I SAID FIFTEEN HUNDRED!} I decided to relive my favorite city and take you along with me. I have no idea how many parts this journey will be, but I packed about a 2 week vacation into 4 days! Typically this blog is the home of my labor of love… wedding photography but here is my heart and my soul. Hopefully with my photographs will transport you to the city of my heart.

{La Sainte-Chapelle}

Paris is home of some of the world’s most famous churches. The first place I visited in Paris was La Sainte Chapelle. Notre Dame was probably the first thing to come to mind when Paris and Church are in the same sentence. Let me tell you an insider secret, Notre Dame is overrated. It is actually one of my least favorite churches in Paris. La Sainte-Chapelle is often over looked but the stained glass in this tiny church is breathtaking. Louis IX commissioned to have the church built as his own personal church to worship in while he visited Paris. Louis IX is known for bring Catholicism to France, later becoming Sainte Louis for his devotion to both God and the people of France. If you look closely through out La Sainte-Chapelle as well as the city of Paris you will see his royal mark… the Fleur de Lys. {This little symbol has also made it’s way on to my foot to commemorate my love for Paris} When you first walk into La Sainte-Chapelle it is like being greeted by the King himself with it’s royal blue and gold fleur de lys ceiling. Once walking upstairs you enter a room that is flooded with bold colors, windows that were made hundreds of years ago but still bright and vibrant. This is a religious experience. It is hard to not be overtaken with emotion no matter what your religion or point of view is, your jaw drops and you want to fall to your knees. The stained glass windows in La Sainte-Chappelle tell key stories in every book of the Bible, but overall the windows make you feel.

{Au Revoir Mon Chéri!}

{For Reasons Unknown} part deux

FINALLY! Here is part two of Nicole & Jake’s engagement session. Again I can not say how much I absolutely love these two and can not wait for their wedding!  I’m going to let the rest of the photos just speak for themselves. Enjoy! Just incased you missed it…. although thanks to Nicole’s mass advertising of my blog I doubt you did {Thank you Nicole.. Love you} Check out part one.

{Au Revoir Mon Chéri!}

{For Reasons Unknown}

Nicole + Jake

Dream Job, Meet Day Job. I had the pleasure of taking photographs of two people that I work with; I love it when two worlds collide. Jake is a pilot; Nicole (was) a flight attendant and somewhere in between a mile high and 37,000 ft they fell in love. Originally I was not photographing their engagement session. A photographer friend of mine the fabulous Krystal from Verve Studio, whose work I love and admire was helping me with my photo skills and I asked Nicole and Jake to pose for me. As luck would have it Jake was planning on purposing to Nicole and less than 24 hours before our little get together he got down on one knee and asked Nicole to be his Mrs. I would say that it was the worlds fastest engagement session BUT I did photograph my friends Jon and Bethany while Jon proposed to Bethany. Awwww.. LOVE!

I love finding new places to photograph. It wasn’t so much a find since their happened to be literally 4 other photographers photographing people the same time I was there but that still doesn’t take away from it’s greatness. I loved the verity this park offered from green grass to urban pealing paint sometimes I forgot the pictures were actually taken in downtown Denver rather than a small field in Kansas. SO many amazing images it deserves TWO parts!

{Au Revoir Mon Chéri!}

Baby, I don’t think we’re in Kansas any more… stay tuned for part deux{2}!

{Wonderwall}

Lauren + Mike: July.10.2010

Oh how I LOVE a bride that uses design through out her entire wedding! I am not just a wedding photographer, I am obsessed with weddings! I read bridal magazines for fun without a ring on my finger, I am constantly on Style Me Pretty and Wedding Chicks and I have ALL the wedding shows on my DVR {David Tutera IS a Wedding Planning GOD I don’t care what any one says.. the man is genius!}. I’ve even considered combining a sort of highbred Wedding Photographer/Planner because I {J’ADORE} weddings SO much! All that aside I love when a wedding shows the couples personality and style in a wedding… a wedding is so much more than flowers and your favorite colors… CELEBRATE YOURSELVES!

Lauren and Mike were married at Inverness Hotel just outside Denver. The ceremony was outside in front of a bed of flowers that seemed to inspire the bold colors that were through out the wedding. I just love the bright fun orange that was the colors of the bridesmaids dresses and the groomsmen ties {AND the brides shoes}. The bridesmaids dresses were so cute, unique off the shoulder dress that although cute apparently weren’t very easy to move in. They couldn’t move their arms past their elbows, but they were great sports about it and had awesome robot dance moves!

Lauren and Mike decided to do a first look and do the photographs before the wedding rather than afterwards. It was truly a fun moment, I just loved the anticipation on Mike’s face and Lauren’s huge smile as she giggled walking up to see each other for the first time. Lauren and Mike were such a cute couple, their love just radiated from them and their contagious smiles.

{Au Revoir Mon Chéri!}

This wedding was photographed by Laura Brooks for 2Sisters Photography

{We Will Become Silhouettes}

Hello, it’s been a while.

Maybe you’ve noticed a few changes. The awesome part about starting a business is that you get to see it grow. I am trying to get my head wrapped around this whole “branding” thing. It’s something that’s seamless, consistent and noticeable. I will be working more and more on introducing my concept of Elle Bea Photography, focusing more on my niche and making everything “Zen”. Unity and Balance.

Besides the importance of branding one of the important things I have learned in being a photographer is to do photo projects, or just shoot! So I took advantage of the Free Day at the Denver Botanical Gardens. (Who doesn’t love those!) Although who really needs another reason to LOVE summer, I love summer because the Botanical Gardens stay open till 9pm! On the way downtown I noticed the dooms day Denver summer thunderstorms lingering above and just as I found parking it started to rain. Cursing the sky as I sat in my car I decided to wait 15 minutes see what would happen… and of course the rain slowed to a low drizzle and I happily said my apologies to the sky as I walked into the Botanical Gardens. What a hidden blessing the rain was! Once inside everything smelled so fresh and clean and the flowers were covered with fresh little dew drops that made them look so beautiful. It was so much fun to just relax and enjoy beautiful nature. My personal favorite photographs were at the very last minutes of sunlight where there was a lilly pad pond and the colors in the water were so beautiful. ENJOY!

{Au Revoir Mon Chéri!}

{Naked as we came}

We turn not older with years, but newer every day.- Emily Dickinson

Birthdays for me are kind of like New Years.It’s a great time to reflect and clean slate to looking forward to the future. At 23 I am still quite young but I’ve always felt like an older soul. There are times when I look at my life and think I’m not much farther than I was when I was 18. I’m still working on my college degree. Still scraping by pay check to pay check, many people my age have graduation form college, are getting engaged and seem to be such… grown ups. I’m ready for that next chapter in my life and I think this year, my 23rd year of life is the year to make things happen.

I have made plenty of mistakes along the way to 23, and I’m sure I will keep making many but it’s learning life’s little lessons from those mistakes that makes an individual stronger. This year it is my goal to continue staying focused on my dream of becoming a professional photographer, getting the most of my education from Metro State and loving every person around me a little more.

Some of the best lessons I have learned…

To breathe more…. Thank you Erin

To not sweat the small stuff… Thank you Matty

You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take… Thank you Lara Casey (and Wayne Gretzky)

Inspiration is everywhere.

Take pleasure in the simple things.

Life is Beautiful.

Day One. 7.17.1987 in Altamonte Springs, FL

You can tell were sisters by the matching outfits. Me and My half sister Lacey.

One Year Old. One of my favorite baby pictures, too bad about the scratch.

Christmas. 1988.

For real this time.. this is my favorite baby picture of me. I love how you can still see your adult self in baby pictures.

Five. My mom chopped my hair off, forever traumatizing me from getting my hair cut.

My first interaction with snow. Southern Girl at heart. I still hate snow.

My little sister Serena. She changed my life forever. She made me stronger.

Eight. Those teeth would be the death of me until high school.

{Long Black Veil}

Fareeba + Ali: July.02.2010

I always love when I get the chance to experience something new. Every wedding is unique and different but this wedding was extra special since it was a different culture. No white wedding dresses here, instead it was an ocean of beautiful color and fabric! Fareeba & Ali had a three day Indian celebration of their marriage, I was lucky enough to photograph the first day of the marriage ceremony at their home. At Ali’s home in a beautiful area in Highlands Ranch the backyard was transformed into a wedding sanctuary. The tent was beautiful decorated with colorful fabric that matched the Brides traditional Indian wedding gown, flowers and lights.  One of my favorite parts of the evening was instead of the couples’ first dance their were dancers that preformed for the bride and groom and all of their guests. Wish I could have been there for the other days to see the whole celebration but I was happy to experience the first day. Also loved something the officiant said during the ceremony… no matter what your religion is Muslim, Christian or other the family that prays together stays together.

This wedding was photographed by Laura Brooks for 2Sisters Photography

{La Bamba}

Molly + Lucas

REDEMPTION SHOOT!

Molly and Lucas were married at Willow Ridge Manor, which is the same place I photographed a wedding just the weekend before. This was my opportunity to master the lighting… I’ll let you be the judge.

Molly and her bridesmaids were full of giggles and smiles while getting ready for Molly’s walk down the aisle.  Molly was probably one of the most laid back brides I have ever seen and it was rare to not see a bright smile on her face. I just loved her personality and how she truly was enjoying her wedding day and the start of her life as a Mrs.

It was a treat to be at Willow Ridge Manor again because the scenery is seriously amazing. Just miles away from Red Rocks, mini red rocks are the backdrop of Willow Ridge Manor that sit on a hill over looking Denver to the east and the foothills to the west. It’s truly an amazing backdrop for any wedding. Molly and Lucas’ wedding was no different as the two of them said their I DO’s surrounded by Colorado beauty.

The party really started during the reception, I have never seen a dance floor so packed! I loved how enthusiastic Molly and Lucas’ family and friends were to DANCE… DANCE… DANCE! The guests started dancing before the couple’s first dance. Many weddings I have been to it take a while for even just a few people to get out on the dance floor. At times it looked more like a club than a wedding. I have never captured so many amazing dance photographs. One of the best songs that really got the crowd jumping was Shout! This wedding really made me wish I was a guest so I could join in. Just DANCE!

This wedding was photographed by Laura Brooks for 2Sisters Photography