Sunrise Session at Eldorado Canyon in Boulder, CO
Eldorado Canyon Photography in Boulder, CO | Colorado Engagement Photos | Sunrise Photo Session | LGBTQ Engagement Pictures
Mercie + Dan
Will I ever get bored of photographing these two love birds? Definitely not. I have been privileged to get to capture Dan and Mercie’s engagement, boudoir, wedding, and now anniversary sessions and have no plans to stop being a part of their lives, both photographically but also as friends.
I usually don’t like the phrase “old souls”, but that’s truly how I feel about these two. They have a certain wisdom and awareness that always leaves Terrence and I feeling both inspired and hopeful. Their love for each other has always been so tender, and makes my job way too easy. They hold space for one another to be their own people, but support one another the way that an ideal partnership functions in my opinion.
We were lucky to get to hook up with Mercie and Dan in Estes Park a few days before this session because they were actually babysitting Capa while we shot a wedding in RMNP! Besides the fact that they were conveniently already in the area, they were the obvious choice to hang with our mini because of their love of children. They both have extensive experience as nannies, but more importantly, embrace kiddos with joy and respect.
Capa got to spend the afternoon getting showered with love by them and their little squad, and we couldn’t have been happier knowing that he was having a blast while we worked! And then on our last day in Colorado, they were down to rally for a sunrise session at Eldorado Canyon in Boulder! Sunrise can be a hard sell sometimes, but it is ALWAYS worth it! There’s something so amazing about venturing out into the mountains when it is still dark, with a little of that alpine chill in the air, seeing the first light start to inch it’s way towards the horizon line.
We explored the canyon, walked through nature, played in the water. It was so joyful and good for the soul that it felt like the photos were just sugar on top!
Sunrise Elopement Vow Exchange at Brooklyn Bridge
Apollo Fields | Brooklyn Bridge Engagement | Sunrise Brooklyn Bridge Photos | Wedding Photos Brooklyn Bridge | Brooklyn Bridge park, NY
It’s funny how the arches of Brooklyn Bridge, in all of their man-made glory, reminded me of the natural beauty of the Grand Tetons at sunrise. I’ve really learned to love the quiet of early mornings, especially in places like New York City that are known for their cacophony of sounds. When we met up with Vanessa and Jake to photograph them as they shared their vows that October morning, there were plenty of cars whizzing by below us but none were blaring their horns. The only sounds we heard were the heavy breaths of bikers passing by and their bells ringing in the distance.
Vanessa and Jake are one of those couples that claim that they don't know what to do in front of the camera then proceed to dance and play like they are the stars of a rom-com. I’m trying to find a word more accurate than ‘chemistry’ that captures this--the way that two people interact when they are so obviously in love. I think it’s part being comfortable with PDA and part being comfortable with yourself; and we could tell very quickly that Vanessa and Jake had it whatever it is.
Vanessa and Jake picked the Brooklyn Bridge to have a vow sharing/first date anniversary because that’s where Jake proposed. They playfully recreated the moment on the spot where it happened while popping a bottle of champagne! It seems that in every proposal story the person who is proposing is always uncharacteristically failing at trying to be sly to get their partner to the spot they want to propose and we think it’s hilarious. I mean there’s no smooth way to be like, ‘let’s walk to this super picturesque spot and just take in the good vibes’ without it sounding super forced. Everyone knows that those fleeting moments are so great precisely because they aren’t scripted. Here’s one for all the romantics out there like Jake and I who try no matter what.
From there we trekked to both their old and new neighborhoods in Bed Stuy and got some shots of them at other landmarks of their relationship. We love taking a trip down memory lane with our couples, it gives us a chance to really get to know them. Jake and Vanessa even took a silly photo in front of a token NYC Chinese food restaurant because Jake has an affinity for those hole-in-the-wall joints--and who can blame him, boneless spare ribs are effing delicious.
Spending that morning with Vanessa and Jake really solidified why I love New York as much as I love the mountains. We just walked and told stories and watched as the city came alive (I was totally blown away by how many people go for a run at sunrise). Heather goes on and on about the beautiful alpen glow of the morning and the golden hour at night and I hate to admit that I’m beginning to enjoy chasing the light with her. Whether it is on mountain peaks, city streets, or a fluorescent light behind a Chinese restaurant sign, to the light we go.
Enjoy these images from Vanessa & Jake’s sunrise ceremony:
Photography: Apollo Fields
Autumn Foliage Engagement Photos in Connecticut
Autumn Foliage Engagement Photos in Connecticut | West Hartford CT Photography | Fall Leaves for Engagement Pics
Ashleigh & Joe
It was 6:30AM when I pulled up to the parking lot at the reservoir near Hartford, CT where I was going to meet up with Ashleigh and Joe for their engagement session. I was relieved that these two were all aboard for the idea of a sunrise sesh (turns out they are early risers anyway!) because the light is just SO worth it, and this morning did not disappoint.
The parking lot was totally empty and only a little bit of light had begun to break at that point. The morning chill was pretty real and wasn’t promising to warm up any time soon, but I was walking around by the reservoir watching the fog rising up gave me a real sense that I was happy to be out in nature, despite the early wake up. I sipped on my coffee and waited for the dawn to break and Ashleigh and Joe to arrive.
When they pulled up, I could just tell that we were about to have a great morning. Ashleigh and I both went to The Ethel Walker School and it was fun to have that common ground while also catching up on life post-high school. It has been twelve years since I graduated from Walkers, and it was there where I discovered photography for the first real time in the darkroom. My graduating class was only 36 to paint a picture of how small our school was, so even though Ashleigh was in a younger class, we were such a tight knit community that everyone knew everyone. I’m so lucky to get to revisit many of these friendships now as a lot of my old classmates are getting married and we have the privilege of shooting their weddings!
I also loved getting to know Joe a bit, too. They have such a fun and whimsical energy between them, but you can also tell that their relationship has a super solid foundation. I think my favorite takeaway from our morning together was when we were chatting and I asked them how quarantine has been for both of them. I got a surprisingly positive response from Joe, “It' has been amazing for us!” he started, “It sort of fast-tracked our relationship, actually”. COVID was the reason that Joe was able to move up to Ashleigh and brought them closer both literally and figuratively. A silver lining for an otherwise crazy year, indeed!
Enjoy these pics from Joe & Ashleigh’s sunrise engagement session in CT:
My Colorado Sunrise Maternity Photos
My Colorado Sunrise Maternity Photos with Lindsey and Lauren | Denver mountain photography
It was early Sunday morning when Lindsey, Lauren, and I pulled up to the location that we were going to take some photos. We had planned a sunrise session in the mountains and it would be the first time that I would have professional photos done of my pregnancy that didn’t involve a tripod and a timer. My second trimester “bump” had suddenly turned into the third trimester “belly” and with that, the feeling that time was moving faster than it had the last six months.
My first trimester was a bit of a fog— falling right on top of the panic of COVID and intense quarantining, we were also navigating the anxiety of a high-risk pregnancy. I had just enough morning sickness and extreme fatigue to actually want to be in lock down at home, and luckily right around ten weeks, the world became a little less scary at the same time that the doctors became a little less scared about us.
Second trimester, on the other hand, was both sweet and savory. I was no longer considered high risk and I was able to start shooting again. Our little bean started wiggling around, every prenatal test was coming back great, business was picking up, and we slowly reintegrated into traveling and visiting family again. All seemed to be right in the world and none of it went unappreciated.
Here we are now, embarking on the third trimester and simultaneously pushing through a surprisingly busy “busy season”. Our work is giving me life while I am growing a life and somehow nothing feels more natural. But I know that this time is fleeting, and in just a few weeks, we will officially hunker down to get into full on baby mode. Despite the buzzy/swarmy feeling that I have, I am also realizing my own desire to document this chapter.
Luckily, my friends are just as crazy and artistic as I am because what started as just having lunch together and catching up with Lindsey quickly turned into “let’s do a sunrise maternity session by a river”. I knew that I’d be running on fumes by then considering that the day before we would be driving out to Aspen, shooting a wedding, and then driving all the way back from Aspen. I also know that running on fumes isn’t always a bad thing and can serve us mentally and physically at times. So I enthusiastically jumped on board with this plan, and began manifesting my own vision for what I wanted to come from the shoot.
I can’t quite explain why, but I wanted something that felt intense, I wanted something cold, and I wanted water. Suffice it to say, I got exactly what I wanted.
When I first opened the door at the location, I was greeted with a sharp windblown chill and the reminder that Colorado weather guarantees nothing. The morning sun had started hugging itself across the horizon line, falling into its own unpredictable alpenglow as it worked against the wildfire smoke that could have easily be mistaken for rain clouds if you didn’t know better. The campfire smell was easy to ignore against the freshness of the autumn-kissed Aspens, and we all made our way down to the river knowing that the morning was about to be magical but unforgiving.
Nothing makes you realize the cold quite like standing practically naked in it, which was exactly how I would spend the next hour or so. We cycled through some beautiful outfits that Lauren had brought, which were more akin to garnishes on a plate than actually articles of clothing in terms of warmth. The light would come and go, but when it came, it would blanket my skin in a warmth much more soul satisfying than any jacket or blanket could have served me. It was then that I started to lean into the extreme sensations rather than work against them.
What a metaphor for birth itself, I began to think to myself as I chattered standing shin-high in the icy river. The snow-melted water would drag across my skin with a glasslike quality while slowly I worked through it so not to get swept down over the slippery rocks. We were all cold and we were all wet, but I would be the one physically trembling in front of their cameras.
The affect of Lindsey’s voice changed from photographer-to-doula (both of her specialties) as she calmly told me to take a deep breath. Just like that, my body would indeed stop trembling and I could control the previously uncontrollable chatter. That was the “aha moment” for me, realizing that in just a few months, that very exercise and experience could serve me in labor.
I realized that what I was feeling was physically intense, and at times downright uncomfortable. I laid in a pricker-laden shrub, against hard rocks, and eventually submerged my lower half into the river itself. But I also realized that I was safe, that the discomfort I was feeling would be temporary, and I was surrounded by two people who supported me. Again, a metaphor for birth.
I say this as someone who has never actually given birth before, but squirreling up all of the knowledge and resources possible to prepare for the experience. We are planning an unmedicated home birth and feel very confident that this is the best route for us. I am also practical enough to know that this is merely a plan, and all plans can become derailed. My Type-A side wants to meticulously craft the experience so that we don’t end up on the other side of our intended vision, but my intuitive side knows that the best way to do this also involves tapping into our instincts and nurturing our emotional strength.
Much like this photoshoot, I anticipate birth to be intense with moments of downright discomfort. I imagine that Terrence and I will be taken to extremes, but I also imagine moments of warmth and light. I am comforted by the fact that I will be safe and I will be surrounded by people who support me. I know that my breath work can make my body cease trembling, even if it is temporary and I have to be reminded to do it over and over.
I write this now on a plane back to New York a day after our chilly sunrise shoot: I am now warm and comfortable, sitting across from my husband who will occasionally smile through his mask at me and reach out a hand for a quick touch. What I am left with are these stunning photos from Lindsey and Lauren to remind me not only of my maternity experience, but as a way to empower us through the next few months. I am also left with a strong sense that not all discomfort is pain, and not all pain is without purpose. We should not fear intense experiences, rather welcome them into our lives as a way to learn more about ourselves and others. Here’s to the next few months of busyness and stillness, discomfort and euphoria, anticipation and patience, and all the other dichotomies that I believe can – and should – coexist in our lives.
– Heather
Photography: Lindsey Eden & Lauren Wright
