Mount Falcon Colorado Engagement Photography
Anna & Jeff’s Engagement Session | Mt Falcon Engagements | Morrison, Colorado | Red Rocks Photography | Apollo Fields Wedding Photographers
I’m so excited to be working with Anna and Jeff because they are both outdoorsy, laid back professionals who are very much so our ‘vibe’ of people! I first met them through a dear friend, Kerry, since they had just relocated from the East Coast to Colorado for work and were recently engaged. Anna was in the beginning phases of wedding planning so we were chatting about some of my favorite venues in the mountains. They were between Colorado and Maine and of course, I was down for either location!
They ultimately decided to have their wedding in Maine at the Granite Ridge Estate & Barn in Norway, Maine which was a totally win-win for us! We love barn weddings and I’m a huge fan of Maine :) so we jumped at the opportunity. But I still loved the idea of doing an epic Colorado mountainy engagement session to represent the different parts of their lives, so in December, we set up an awesome photo sesh at Mount Falcon in Morrison, Colorado.
I love this location because it’s easy to get to, puts you right in the mountains, and you have Red Rocks Amphitheater in the background. Red Rocks was one of the big things that ultimately drew us to CO so I just love everything about the energy there. We met up and Anna and Jeff had such an awesome energy together that I immediately knew we’d be a great fit. They are a lighthearted and easygoing couple, but we were quickly able to connect about our mutual friends and East Coast boarding school life. They both transplanted from Taft School which was part of the same New England consortium that I was a part of in high school (I went to Ethel Walker for four years in addition to working for a boarding school so I can totally relate to this industry!)
This engagement session was so much fun because they had such a great time hiking and hanging with each other in the mountains while the sun set. I loved wrapping up the weekend with these guys and I am so excited to shoot their wedding in just a few months!!!
Photography: Heather Huie for Apollo Fields
Location: Mt. Falcon | Morrison Colorado
Harlem NYC Engagement Photos
Lizzie & Rob | Harlem Engagement Session | NYC Engagements
When you walk in New York City you get lost in the crowd, paradoxically providing you an opportunity to assert yourself as an individual. The sheer population density of the five boroughs is a marvel to contemplate, a frustration to endure; it is your license to be loud and a soundboard for your creativity. Some perish in the gutters while others shine on Broadway, but it all comes down to your will and the company you find yourself in.
Rob & Lizzie find themselves in good company. They act and play and laugh. They smile. They bring happiness to others at Touch Performance Art. They're just another couple faces in the NYC crowd but they stand out because they use their freedom to perform the dialogue in their hearts. You can’t fake that kind of happiness.
Heather and I met not too far from where Rob & Liz’s engagement pictures were taken, but for months we shared the same sidewalks as strangers. Close proximity doesn’t promise connection, you have to seek it out for yourself. I remember the first night I got Heather’s number she almost walked away from me in shy embarrassment, but I didn’t let her get away. I yelled “your phone number would be great for something like that” after she turned her back when I told her that I’d love to see her again. Happiness like Rob & Liz and Heather & I have is a reward for our respective self-expressions.
When I think of love I think of two people who can’t help being themselves, embracing the most positive sides of their identities and celebrating them. When we shoot a wedding it is clear as day which couples have this brand of relationship because their vibes reverberate through all of those in attendance. It all stems from an honesty to themselves and each other, asserting their identities as individuals and as a couple.
New York City can make you or break you but it’s obvious that Rob & Lizzie will make it. They are the walking paradoxes meandering through the collage of people crowding the sidewalks of Manhattan. They are the ones smiling and laughing, working hard and loving harder.
These guys didn't miss a beat. We popped a few beers and brown-bagged them in the park. They brought water guns, bubbles, and a lasso. Rob successfully lassoed Lizzie on his first try... did I mention they are performers? It's SO MUCH FUN to photograph people in the entertainment industry. They weren't shy or bashful, rather they were animated and theatrical and treated their engagement session like the biggest performance on Broadway.
We wrapped the session under the NYC lights in Harlem, dancing into the headlights of the traffic, with people buzzing by and taxis nearly running us over for their epic dip under the bridge. We even ran into a mutual friend on the street! It was in every way the best that New York has to offer, and reminded me of why this city will always be my city.
NYC Engagement Photography: Apollo Fields
Cherry Blossom Engagement Session at City Park in Denver
Eve & Bobby's Cherry Blossom Engagement Session | City Park, Denver | Spring Engagement Photos | Colorado Wedding Photographer | Apollo Photojournalism
Eve and Bobby and are fun loving couple who are able to roll with the punches. They wanted their engagement session to be outdoors and since they live close to City Park in Denver, shooting there seemed to perfectly reflect their lifestyles. They are laid back and go-with-the-flow, which was great when the weather was freezing cold, overcast, and rainy on the day of their engagement session.
Rescheduling wasn't an option, so we crossed our fingers for a break in the weather and met up in the park. I'm so glad we did, because the shots are so beautiful! It never warmed up and the sun never poked through, but you can't even tell in the pictures. And we had the cherry blossoms all to ourselves, an almost unheard of luxury this time of year because their season is so short.
This was my first cherry blossom session that I have done and I was surprised by how much I love the color palate. I am usually more drawn to earthier tones than pastels, but I found that Eve and Bobby's outfits worked so well with the setting that I really enjoyed the pinks, whites, yellows, and light greens of the grove that we shot in.
We moved quickly through the session because the skies kept threatening a harder rain, and with frozen fingers and no golden light to play with, I wanted to get these lovebirds back in their warm car as quick as possible! They made my job easy because they have such a great balance of playfulness and tenderness. They were just as happy to be dancing under the trees as they were to cuddle up with each other and have a quiet moment together.
Peaking at my viewfinder on my camera and I knew that despite the weather (and the cranky geese) we had some gems to work with! I was so excited to get home to warm up and offload all these beautiful pictures from their engagement session. I'm so excited to shoot their wedding this season!
Denver Engagement Photographer: Erny Photo CO | Apollo Fields
Wedding Coordinator: Jennifer Wetterlin | Denver Event Pros
Location: Denver, Colorado | City Park
Pikes Peak Engagement Session by Apollo Fields
Jenny & Tara's Epic Mountain Engagement Session | Pikes Peak, Colorado Springs | Denver Engagement Photographer | LGBQ Weddings
I was so excited when I first heard from Jenny. She is friends with Lindsey, one of my beautiful brides from 2017 and happened to be looking for a wedding photographer when I delivered Lindsey's photos. She loved them and immediately reached out to have me photographer her own wedding! So much of my business is word-of-mouth and I am so grateful for my awesome couples who refer me and connect me to their other awesome-couple-friends.
I met up with Jenny and Tara and immediately clicked with their fun personalities, and the sweet way in which they interact with each other. They have a great energy, and I knew right away that I wanted to be their photographer. They must have felt the same way, because I asked them at our meeting, "Do you ladies have any questions?" and they seamlessly responded with, "How do we book you now?" Love it!
They initially weren't looking for an engagement session, but I'm so glad that they decided to do one because look at how epic these mountain backdrops were! A photographer's dream. I had never been to Pikes Peak before, so I was just in awe of the landscape the whole time. We caught golden hour (my favorite!) just in time before the park closed. Literally, they were closing the whole roadway up for sunset and we were being swiftly shuffled out of the park by the time we had captured every last golden ray that we could!
They also brought their three children and new puppy along for the shoot. I have quite a few couples that have children and while it might not seem obvious at first to have them present for engagement photos, I feel contrary to that old-fashioned traditional expectation of what it means to be an engaged couple. Marriage is about partnership and family, and if kids are already part of that equation, I feel like they should be included in some of the pictures. Oh, and if you have a cute puppy too... that doesn't take any convincing! We are animal lovers to the core, and have an impossible time keeping our composure around tiny pups.
Colorado Adventure Photographer: Erny Photo CO | Apollo Photo
Location: Pikes Peak, Colorado Springs
Rocky Mountain National Park Engagement Session
Don & Aliyah's Autumn Inspired Engagement Session | Gold Aspen Trees | Rocky Mountain National Park | Colorado Engagement Photographer | Apollo Photojournalism
When Don and Aliyah asked for the iconic gold aspen trees for their engagement session, I knew I wanted to make it happen right away for them. The season is sort for the leaves, and Colorado autumns can be unpredictable. This year, we had an early frost that stripped most of the trees naked out by the ski villages, which is where we were originally hoping to shoot.
September is also my busiest month of the year. And for good reason! I love fall weddings because the air smells so good, the mountains look majestic, and those leaves make for the most colorful and bold photos. But it's no guarantee out here. Mother Nature can be a real mother at times, and when the season for the aspens got cut short this year, I had to call an audible on our original plan to shoot later in the month out west.
On a whim, I called Don and said, "Could you guys do 6:15AM in Rocky Mountain National Park on Sunday?" I think at first he thought I was joking. Deep down, I sort of hoped I was joking, too. I'm not a morning-enthusiast, so the idea of voluntarily signing up for that kind of wake-up was normally outside of my vocabulary. But this was our last chance at getting the trees and the morning light was my only option because I was booked solid for my evenings. He quickly agreed, and found an epic location with beautiful mountains and a scenic river.
I drove up the windy mountain roads in the morning, and as the alpenglow began to creep over the peaks, so did a hard rain shower. Suddenly, a rainbow broke and I knew that we only had a small window of time to grab it! We hit the jackpot. We got a rainbow, all of those mountain views, a river, and the gold aspens! It was SO worth it. I just love my couples that are down to adventure and trust in me when I ask them to get up crazy early and hit the rockies. We had an awesome time shooting together, and I'm so excited to shoot their wedding this upcoming September!
Adventure Mountain Photographer: Erny Photo CO | Apollo Photo
Wes & Chelsea's Breckenridge Engagement Session in Colorado
Chelsea & Wes' Engagement Photography in Breckenridge | Colorado Engagement Photography | Mountain Wedding Photographer | Apollo Fields Weddings
What could be dreamier than a wintery snowy engagement session in the beautiful Rockies!? Breckenridge is best known for being a popular ski town in Colorado and gets a lot of tourism in the winter months. Chelsea and Wes were visiting from their hometown in Texas to celebrate and I was so excited to be able to shoot their engagements for them in this iconic ski town.
The town of Breckenridge is really settled around the slopes but makes it very easy to get around. There are cute little coffee shops, bars, and shopping stores to pop in and out of. We did our session down by the little river that runs through the town from all of the snow runoff. We were lucky to have a snowy day but nothing too severe.
I actually blew my tire out on the way to this session when a rockslide on i-70 came barreling down onto the highway. I was busy dodging the smaller rocks when I hit the mac-daddy of boulders and immediately popped the tire. I was stressing out because I knew I had to get up to this session and luckily, Terrence was able to throw the donut on the car and we drove to a little mechanic shop in Georgetown and the guy was able to hammer it out and refill the tire (he originally thought it wouldn’t be salvageable so you can imagine my excitement when we got back on the road for only $20)!
I was still able to get up to Breck on time (the benefit of leaving ridiculously early for shoots) and meet up with this fun loving couple. These two had such a great and easy chemistry with one another that made this wintery session a blast to photograph. It was chilly but they never once complained, and one of my favorite things about the dry cold in the mountains is that the snow doesn’t get heavy and soaked through your pants so it is easy to stay happy without needing a wardrobe change!
I can’t recommend this location more to anyone visiting Colorado and love to shoot in this cozy mountain town so please reach out to set up your own engagement and/or wedding in this great ski town!
Colorado Engagement Photographer: Erny Photo CO | Apollo Photojournalism
Mitch & Bobby's Engagement Session at Golden Gate Canyon State Park in Golden, CO
Mitch & Bobby | Colorado Engagement Photographer | Golden Gate Canyon State Park | Golden, Colorado | Apollo Fields Wedding Photography
Golden Gate Canyon State Park is a real gem for photos because you get such a wide range of landscapes to use as your backdrops. The mountains are lush on one side and arid on the other which gives a lot of variety for photos. There’s also some great areas with open space and good hiking trails to roam around and keep moving around.
This was great for us because Mitch and Bobby wanted to bring their rescue dogs to their shoot. They were recently engaged and so excited, and naturally, their fur-family would be included. We’re the same way! We couldn’t have imagined not having our dogs a part of our engagement session or our wedding. We’re total dog lovers (no surprise there) and love when couples want to bring their four legged friends along!
Mitch worked at a dog grooming and boarding facility and her and Bobby are enthusiastic about rescuing over buying dogs. It was obvious right away that their dogs have a great quality of life now because you could just tell right away how loyal they were. When I wanted to snag a few shots without the pups, Terrence held their leashes and they both couldn’t wait to get back to their owners! Being able to have the trails and paths to keep everyone walking was great for the pups, too.
One pro tip for this location is to meet at the visitor center because the cell reception in this state park is pretty much nonexistent. That is probably the one and only drawback of the spot, if you are meeting up with your photographer in the park instead of driving in together, it can make it hard to actually find each other. The visitor center is pretty easy to find (also, there is an entrance fee so do your due diligence) but it is really convenient for actually hooking up with one another so you’re not driving around the (beautiful) roads unable to find one another!
