'trash the dress, 'the day after session,' and 'hitched to haute' are all terms that have surfaced to describe the experience of a bride / groom putting wedding attire back on after the wedding. while the trend continues to grow here are now websites dedicated and may fade, the intent is to create beautiful photographs that will stand the test of time and will also be fun to look back in 50 years :)

sara & eric's trash the dress session rocked! they both had a wonderful experience and wanted to share their experience with other brides considering doing the same. here's what she wrote:

Before my wedding I don’t think I would have considered a “trash the dress” photo session. I thought of my bridal dress as a pristine object to be cherished. At our wedding we danced hard and truly enjoyed ourselves. My dress ended up soaked in sweat. The underneath was filthy from being drug around the reception all night. Tidbits of food and drink had been spilt on it, and there were footprints on the train left behind by guests. It still looked great, but I was definitely going to have to get it cleaned. When R. J. suggested a “trash the dress” photo shoot, I figured “Why not get it a bit dirtier before I get it cleaned?” He also explained to me that the name isn’t truly fitting of the essence of the photo shoot. It’s not about destroying a dress. It is about capturing the bride and groom in a unique and natural situation doing something different and perhaps wild. If the dress gets a little dirty along the way, don’t worry about it! I loved the idea of being more free for some photos and figured despite what R. J. said that my dress would end up truly filthy. Surprisingly it didn’t get much worse than it already looked. The sand from the beach brushed right off.

Looking back I am so grateful that my husband and I did this extra photo session after our wedding. Our pictures from the wedding day are beautiful (different photographer) but they are also very stiff. On our wedding day, as the bride and groom, we were preoccupied with the stress and emotions of the “big day.” Our time was very restricted with all of the events, the guests, and the celebration. Our focus wasn’t on capturing quality photos with everything else going on. A “trash the dress” photo session was a chance for us to relax, just to focus on each other, to feel beautiful and to have fun getting our photos taken. We weren’t thinking about anything else. My husband and I chose a six hour package. We are so glad we went with such a large package because the time flew by so quickly. We ended up with a great variety of shots even after the sun went down.

R. J. is very friendly and really comfortable to work with. He’s the kind of guy you feel like you’ve known for years. He is full of energy and extremely enthusiastic about his work. He made my husband and I feel very pampered and appreciated. The photo shoot is a whole experience and not just about the end product. He truly made us feel like models, and I have never felt more beautiful. We have wonderful memories from the day of our shoot, along with all the gorgeous photos.
________

want to learn more? contact us to learn about pricing and availability. also, be sure to check out trash the dress, a website dedicated to sharing some of the great work in this growing niche of progressive wedding photography & portraiture.

artistic wedding photojournalism is all pure shooting of moments which can not be predicted or planned... they just happen. and being in the right place at the right time is all that matters to capturing the right moment. those ideas are in the back of my head in all of the weddings we shoot. a bonus of serving as a second shooter is the expanded creative freedom, the opportunity to experiment and try out new ideas with a slightly less pressure to perform.

9 times of the 10 the experimentation pays off :)

such is what went through my head while shooting at crystal & tom's wedding with christina dooley last weekend.

but first, the rock shot on tom's car:


introducing tom (and two guest pigeons :)


a relaxed, environmental portrait of crystal before putting on her dress. she was soooo chill.


and now with a dash of candid nervousness seconds before the ceremony:


introducing, "Trouble" (yes, with a capital "T :)


the newlyweds:


shot at 70 mph, a few miles before running out of gas en route to the reception.


my favorite-most image of the day, shot while getting fuel:


crystal's bouquet on the hood of tom's classic car:



tom cut his hand on the car door earlier in the day. the band-aid from his wedding day survival kit (a surprise gift from crystal) came in handy.

katie & shawn gave 110% enthusiasm for life and their love of each other on their engagement shoot last week. we revisited the exact spot where shawn proposed on the 16th street mall then explored a few denver locations featuring great texture, perspective, and light.

we're excited to be at their side with their closest friends & family on 10.18.08!

katie booked us when sean was overseas, so we had to wait until his return from a tour in iraq to shoot them together (although he did get some seriously PG-13 comments from his superiors when they saw some of these photos printed and hanging on a wall in a non-disclosed location in iraq :)

shawn's got some sobering stories about his iraq experiences. however, i am proud there are fine soldiers like him on the front lines.

here's what we cooked up at 5280 feet at 70 degrees for a few hours:




spring is here :)







catch the lens flare cast on shawn's. gotta love those happy misteaks :)

we met sara & eric at elyse & corey's wedding a few weeks back. they loved our work so much after seeing our reception slideshow, they opted to trash her dress in style at larrabee state park located on the shores of bellingham, washington. the park serves as eric's former stomping grounds for rock climbing and they both have fond memories of the scenic locale. the weekend prior, they drove up from seattle to scout the location and it was raining and windy.... not exactly the perfect stage for a bridal portrait session.

so when the big day came, we were super boy scout prepared... i'm talking about a pop-up shelter, blankets, and a gas-powered space heater they packed in. when we left the parking lot, we looked more like we were going overnight backpacking :)

sara and eric were 100% up for anything. the goal of the shoot wasn't necessarily to 'trash' the dress, but photograph them in a beautiful setting without concern of keeping the dress pristine. most brides cringe at the idea of doing something like this on the day of the wedding. sara and eric embraced it. sara even commented how dirty her dress looked after dancing at their reception and figured it couldn't get much worse.

i say if you are gonna make the effort of putting a wedding dress back on (which can be an emotional experience for some brides), either go big or go home!

and we went big HUGE. view their slideshow by clicking HERE.


part of their modern platinum package included a 'summer salsa' bridal bouquet and a vintage bottle of dom perignon.



the moment of just letting go...



after sunset, we busted out the strobes for some high-end lighting. the champagne didn't last long.


then went back to playing in the sand :)



... and then wrapped things up with some edgy lightpainting using mini-softboxes and halogen flashlights lightsabers.

keith, angie, zack, & ben invited me to gig harbor, washington last week to dodge some raindrops and catch a glimpse of their fun family. it rained and rained (as it usually does in seattle), but we pulled out every trick in the book to avoid getting drenched, including driving where there was a clear opening in the sky a few miles away (which lasted a few minutes before the sky opened up back where we started... so it goes :).

the cold weather didn't dampen our spirits. they were perfect models in a perfect setting simply being themselves...



kinda reminds you of a drunken sailor :)


gotta dig the color coordination :)



angie & keith are such a cute couple :)


a boys' moment.



playing 'fireman':



simply magic:



a favorite family portrait. i love how the focus is off just enough to make things a bit fresh. modern. fun.

view carolyn & adam’s wedding slideshow below or click HERE to view in a separate browser window (be patient as the show downloads to your computer).

this is my favorite time of year... the smell of fresh cut grass, blooms on the trees, warmer weather, and spring baseball. we visited our 2007 national league champs last night and we treated ourselves to the $10 seats at the rockies game last night (normally, we're seated with the $4 rock pile crowd). the $10 seats with a $6 beer we've found to be better than the $16 seats. and a secret tip: towards the end of the game, you can move closer to home plate in search of a better seat. we asked permission from one of the seating ushers. he said it was okay and we enjoyed the remaining innings in our new $70 seats with a clear conscious :)

we snapped this colorado sunset with our iphone camera in the bottom of the third:


the ambient light balanced nicely with the field lights in the top of the fifth.


another reason to have a camera in hand at all times: for that rare occasion when a female streaks across the field while being chased by the cops. the game stopped, the crowd roared, and she got a free escort to the paddy wagon.


while the game ended with a loss against the phillies, we had a relaxing time enjoying yet another cool thing we love about colorado: spring baseball.

april 12, 2008 marked a huge day for carolyn & adam. after planning for months and months and months, they were so excited their wedding day to finally be here. and all their planning paid off: they both never looked so happy or excited to be together with their closest family and friends.



the bridal prep:




count four adams getting ready :)


a final moment with the guys before the ceremony with a glimpse of boulder's stunning flatirons in the reflection.


adam couldn't wait to savor his 'first look' of carolyn...


there she is!


a priceless moment caught by second-shooter gino siller!



the boulder flatirons as seen from chautauqua:


every bride goes through the roller coaster of emotions on her wedding day. carolyn was a pure champ through it all.


adam in a final moment of humor before the ceremony.


a bird's eye glimpse of the packed ceremony at the first congregational church in boulder, a special place for their family for many years:


such excitement!


right on!


carolyn looked stunning in her dress (flowers by boulder blooms).


carolyn and 'grandmommie herron' share an emotional moment:


beautiful lighting brought to you by God himself :)



some signature kern-photo reception light on the excitement of the reception:


back when i first met carolyn & adam, i asked them to describe how they envisioned their reception. carolyn's response, "a big dance party."

and it was :)


the happenin' party was facilitated by slim event productions.


with each wedding we shoot, we love to try on new creative ideas. wedding rings, while symbolic, need to be shot with the same enthusiasm as brides, otherwise they can lead to the boring 'same old, same old' images. while keeping it fresh & fun, and adding a spice of character, here is a favorite rock shot featuring ralphie, the cu-boulder mascot:


sorry, colorado state university fans. loyalty goes out to my alma mater grad school :)

we're major procrastinators when it comes to purchasing big-dollar toys camera equipment. but when the nikon d-300 was announced in november of 2007, we were expected a something good was on the horizon. after plunking down the dough a few weeks back and shooting a few weddings with the nikon d-300 digital slr, we can safely say it kicks the former nikon d-200 and $5,000 D2Xs square in the pants.

is it worthy of being named the 2007 camera of the year?

yes, and here's why:

- 12.3MP is about all we will ever need, unless nike wants us to shoot a billboard
- greater dynamic range helps retain important highlight and shadow detail
- faster auto focus (51 points)
- much better weatherproofing
- higher ISO performance (ISO 1600 looks like 400 on the d-200)
- bigger & badder LCD monitor... we're talking star wars movie theater screen huge!
- better battery performance (shoot all day & night)
- 100% view finder coverage which means we now get what we see and not 95%
- 8 frames per second responds like a v-8 ford mustang
- the self-cleaning sensor cleans up after us :)
- batteries included.... the d-80, d-200, and d-300 batteries and chargers play nicely together.
- the rubber pc-sync leash prevents loss to the little screw cover, which has always been annoying on our d-200

the list price of $1,799 (or a tad over $2,000 w/ vertical grip and extra battery) isn't cheap, but for the cost of ONE $5,000 d-3, you could can have TWO d-300s and an extra $1,000 for a decent vacation for two anywhere southwest flies (vegas, baby!).

the 1.52x digital crop factor on the d-300 may be a negative consideration to some, especially when using a 50 f/1.4 or a 85 f/1.4 where you may want a tad wider angle of view, say, with the nikon d-3. however, we embrace the digital crop :)

get this: some of our favorite lenses actually work better on the d-300 than either the d-3 or the d-200. call it better reverse engineering or luck, but the nikon 10.5mm fisheye f/2.8 has less chromatic aberrations, the 12-24mm f/4 holds superior sharpness and color for those scenics, and the 70-200mm f/2.8 becomes a 300mm monster, a perfect weapon tool for shooting in stealthy ninja mode (a.k.a. wedding photojournalism).

the handy pop-up flash comes in handy to trigger those nikon's wireless i-ttl flashes, which means we don't need to have an sb-800 on camera to trigger another off-camera, which the d-3 requires. our mini-flash will get used far more once we receive our radio poppers, which production shipping starts today :)

sexy accessories for the nikon d-300 include the mb-d10 power grip, which now has one battery in the grip and a second battery in the camera. sa-weet. no longer do we have to remove the camera's battery compartment cover to add the grip.  as an added bonus, the vertical grip can be added or removed from the camera quickly, which is great for traveling incognito. 

with grip, the d-300 exudes confidence that it won't slip out of my hands (knock on wood), which is important since i hate shooting with a neck strap. in fact, the neck strap hasn't made it out of the box yet... and won't.  the vertical grip does add some nice weight and bulk to the camera, which helps to balance out monster lenses, but is also good for pulling off slow(er) shutter speeds 100% hand-held. 

an extra bonus: it comes with a battery clip holding AA batteries which serves as an extra battery back-up and boosts the frame-rate to rip 8/second.

for a more thorough write-up of all the nitty, gritty details, sleuth out the nikon d-300 review by our favorite ken rockwell.

so inspiring:

i've embarked on a new little project with pattern and paw. details will develop soon, but for the time being i wanted to share a few favorite images. first up, here's baby tia:





and bella:


bella's sister, maddy:




and 85lb max:


and, of course, our gooberiffic, dash:


if you'd like your pooch shot, contact us and we'll fill you in on the details.

the next few cropped images were taken from a single photo featured at the bottom of this post (which happens to be a new favorite wedding reception image). to appreciate a few of the smaller intricacies of what makes this photo work, we have broken it down into smaller cropped portions to see the story clearly .

i really like the drama here:


what a great sense of warmth:


weddings are all about connections between humans and i think this one illustrates that special moment of connection:


kids are a wonderful ingredient to bring-out the kid in grownups. corey (the groom) has one girl and elyse (the bride) has the other... love the hair and emotion:


the important details easily little girls' shoes and bracelet on the floor juxtaposed with the passion in the dancing couple make this crop a winner :)


the triangle between the empty table and the candles adds ambiance and mystery.


the photo was taken standing in a tall balcony and the lighting effect was obtained by using a small softbox mounted on a lightstand to the left of the left most candlestick and it was pointed toward the littlest flower girl. i waited for the perfect moment and snapped this:

elyse & corey have an interesting engagement story. the short version goes like this: at the end of a memorable day, elyse gave cory a photo box filled with handwritten cards, each illustrating a reason elyse loves him for every day they had spent together (182 days). as elyse read each reason to corey he became overwhelmed by the thoughtfulness of her gift. just when he thought he had heard the last reason she loved him, elyse leaned over to seal her gift with a kiss on the lips and gave him a platinum wedding band with a card that read "will you marry me?"

"are you shitting me?" was his initial response (the idea of a woman proposing to him had never crossed corey's mind).

once he was able to recover, he replied... "yes, i would love to spend my life with you!"

the rest is history :)

elyse & corey celebrated their big day on march 29, 2008. we felt totally blessed to work with them on their amazing slammeriffic wedding held up in them thar colorado mountains near vail. view the complete slideshow by clicking HERE.

first off, here are a few details:


hair by bliss studios and make-up by cos bar.



priceless:


elyse & corey followed our tips to get your best wedding images and arranged up a 'first look' at the lodge & spa at cordillera. their 'first look' allowed them to savor those first special moments together. as an added bonus, corey had some nice romantic time to admire elyse in her wedding dress away from crowds :)

pictured here, elyse lays eyes on corey for the first time on their wedding day:


the first look:





their serious love for each other shined through in their happiness... or was it she really just wanted to stick him???


elyse looked stunning in her dress. and corey seemed to think so, too!


walking around the beautiful grounds of the lodge and spa at cordillera:


blue sky peeked out for a few moments, just in time for a reflection in the pool.


groomsman patiently await the ceremony to start.


the ceremony filled the room with both laughs...


... and tears.


and lots of smiles :)


the staff at the handsome club at cordillera were world-class hosts and covered all the details. here's proof:


one thing corey really wanted was a non-traditional wedding cake, just for them, filled with tons and tons of fresh berries.

and he got it:

ps- guests were treated with the best warm chocolate molten lava cake, ever.

during the reception, corey & elyse invited guests to join them for a romantic mountain sleigh ride.



while it turned snowy & dark quickly, many guests still opted for the sleigh ride and were pleasantly rewarded by the thrilling experience:


the beautiful grounds set the stage for this twilight romantic moment:


a coordinated first dance sprinkled with some classy panache.


a favorite garter toss shot.... read from left to right: a new ring, corey's expression, the distant hand, a floating garter, and four slacker groomsman!

a favoritemost dancing shot... i love the expression of the dancing parents, guests, the action of the flower girls. this shot reminds me of a combination between edouard manet's 1873 painting, masked ball at the opera, and pierre-auguste renoir's 1876 painting, dance at le moulin de la galette:


... a prelude to her upcoming trash the dress session :)