we felt like guests at andrea & ryan's rocky mountain wedding last weekend in granby, near our favorite colorado ski area, winter park. ryan & andrea planned a holiday weekend of fun for their guests, including thanksgiving dinner. they were sweet to include us in their pre- & post-wedding events which allowed us to meet family & friends. ever since their fun engagement shoot, they seemed so comfortable and relaxed around our cameras on the big day :) settle in for an epic entry...

the small details shined throughout the day.


what better to go with a mountain wedding dress that a full moose rack?


here's andrea.




and ryan with his best "blue steel/james bond" impersonation.


the guys broke the the nerves after a few rounds of texas hold 'em.



the first glimpse.



andrea's sister, brook (newly engaged), looking up at her big sister.


the bridal party headed up the base of winter park for some fashion forward portraits.








the evening was packed with heartfelt toasts:



then, there was the 'gifting' of the "lisa floriculture" award... a rich family tradition which you'd have to be there to understand.



... folowed by some hilarious entertainment (in full costume).


stunning dancing.


the flower girl had a wonderful time!


andrea hand-drew a wonderful map detailing the various venues of the day. as a self-professed map guru, i had to showcase her work.


an artsy collage with some details of the day:


andrea & ryan are both physician assistant's (pa's). in fact, pictured here are a dozen p.a.'s at the wedding, including my wife, nicole. i would be in good hands if i slipped and fell :)

sublime, simple landscape photography of barns have been around since the turn on the century (the last one, that is). focusing on composition, light, and staying warm, i headed into the nowhere in south dakota in search of the random barn to try out an idea. the first three didn't have what i had in mind.

sans front door, the painted green room caught my eye as I drove down a dusty road. with no 'private property' signs in sight, this was a suitable location. i placed a single nikon sb-800 on the floor, and did a test shot (see below), which turned into a cool self-portrait.


i imagined a perspective of an old-school landscape juxtaposed with sterile reality.... something nostalgic, but creepy. steven king lurks around the corner...

#9 on my list of 101 goals is to photograph 10 national parks i've never visited. do national monuments count? i'll count it, mainly since it is staffed by national park service, which have awesome uniforms reminiscent of my old boy scout uniform. i visited pipestone national monument earlier this week. i wanted to learn more about red pipestone (rock jocks call it 'catlinite'). many native americans consider it sacred. they carve the soft stone into pipes used in traditional ceremonies. the tradition of pipemaking stems back thousands of years. it is wonderful to see the tradition alive. today, carvings are made and sold for art and ceremonial use. only a few pipestone quarries exist, making this small southwestern minnesota town special.

the grand entrance:


i arrived at sunset, which provided wonderful, clean light. i knew the 'good light' wouldn't last long, so I had to hurry. it was about 15 degrees without wind chill when these photos were taken.


a fisheye perspective of an active pipestone quarry. permits are required to quarry the stone and may take up to 6 years to obtain.


tools of the trade:


red twig dogwood (cornus sericea/stolonifera) resembles red pipestone.


prayer flags hung around the quarries serve as spiritual reminders to natives.


milkweed seed pod with a distant light in the background (taken with Nikon 85 f/1.4 at f/1.4). gotta love that creamy background bokeh!

i stumbled upon this old house yesterday en-route to aberdeen, sd. the great plains has a rich, subtle beauty -- a nice contrast from city life. the breath of fresh air was less than welcome this morning, thanks to zero degrees + wind chill.

we love to meet clients in local coffee shops. why? here are our top ten reasons.

10. caffeine gets those creative synapses firing

9. cool decor, super comfy chairs, and great big tables make for productive work spaces

8. clean, public restrooms

7. free parking

6. safe, comfortable, and (usually) easy to find

5. it's the bar of, like, the 2000s

4. art displayed on the walls... very cool inspiration

3. you can tell a lot about a person by what they order. nicole's favorite: grande no water 2% chai. r. j.'s top three favorite: 1) standard drip 2) quad shot espresso/americano 3) the biggest skinny mocha w/half the amount of chocolate pumps. all of r.j.'s aforementioned included splenda and/or half& half seasoned to taste.

2. free wi-fi

1. happy-hour priced drinks all day or night long! our clients are encouraged to order WHATEVER they want, without feeling guilty.

this morning nicole and I slept in after shooting andrea & ryan's wedding up in winter park, colorado. stay tuned for the blog posting in a few days. we walked around low-key 'main street' winter park and grabbed a little self-portrait reflection in a christmas tree ornament hanging in a local park. it was grand just to be tourists in a small town an hour's drive from our front door! all the colorful holiday decor was out in full display, which is no less exciting than when we were kids.

earlier this week we went swimming in a favorite nearby swimming hole. the weather was about 80 degrees, which was freaky unusual for denver this time of year. we soaked it up. here's our lost sailor struggling for his bootie:


once in a blue moon i can freeze dash's invigorating 'towel off.' folks, this is some serious business.

nicole's folks invited the whole family over for turkey feast this year and it was GRAND. i could eat turkey ever day, and this bird was slow cooked to perfection. feast your eyes:


the proud chefs, cheryl and murray.


it was grandpa ron's 70th birthday. i told him 'chicks dig older men' and he laughed.


here's his bride laughing at an AARP-inspired, all-purpose remote control complete with super-sized buttons!


it was also jeremy's 32nd b-day. cheers, man!


tonya viewed her completed wedding album for the very first time. she was so excited!


the sisters.


a normal rockwell thanksgiving mother & daughter portrait.


the whole gang.


dash's thanksgiving meal with large dash of turkey & sweet potatoes which was...


gone in 60 seconds!

we wish a blessed thanksgiving to all. we have so much to be thankful for.... namely:

1. faith

2. family & friends

3. furry friends (i.e. our 4-legged little boy, dash)

the mcbride's (nicole's parents) are cooking up a feast for the family in a few hours. here is a quick snap documenting one of the most important kitchen tools at thanksgiving.... the serving utensils.

we're excited to ski up in winter park on friday with r. j.'s family and will be posting some of our favorites soon!

one of the perks of shooting for the denver sports guide is the opportunity to be apart of important events about local heroes. jasmine warfield, a 16-year-old gateway high school junior in aurora, co, won the 'in my shoes' back-to-school contest. her award: court time with denver nuggets' carmelo anthony ('melo') on her high school court. family, friends, her team, among many others, turned out to support her sunday. jasmine’s winning contest entry read:

“In my shoes…I will run faster, jump higher, and score more points. I will cross my defender and drive hard to the basket. I will create plays on offense and move the ball to the open man. I will be a team player! In my shoes…I will protect my goal like a lion protects the jungle. I will take a charge, be big in the paint, and I will forever have my hands up on defense! In my shoes…I will practice like a champion, and I will play like a champion. I will leave it all on the court. I will walk in the gym with confidence and walk out with humility. And the next time I step to my opponent, she will not be ready for me…in my shoes!”

witnessing her first 15 minutes of fame was wonderful! in a game of 'horse', jasmine pleased the crowd as the shots got more and more difficult.


denver's BEST mascot, rocky, dropped by for additional encouragment. featured left-to-right: jasmine, rocky, 'melo,' and my assistant, robert fisher.


'melo' offers jasmine tips from his pro basketball experience. i love the detail lighting effect on 'melo,' which reveals his sincere side, despite recent bad press. detailed rim light created by a nikon sb-28 at 1/4 power triggered remotely across the gym. for a top-notch article detailing different lighting strategies specifically in prep basketball, check out the strobist's 'on-assignment' article discussing (1) big gym, little lights and (2) prep basketball. for the techies, this shot was taken with the 70-200mm at f/2.8 iso 800 with the strobe at 1/4 power and 85mm spread.


during the q & a, 'melo' drew intense focus from a large crowd including gateway high school basketball players.


my assistant, robert, provided great assistance with lighting logistics. dimly lit gyms present challenges when photographing action. our strobist-inspired answer: nikon sb-28 and sb-800 flashes triggered remotely by quantum radio slaves mounted near the bleachers.


30 seconds of one-on-one time with 'melo' proved worthwhile in tickling our creative brains. we used our 'light on a stick' to capture this candid. stay tuned for a kern-photo tutorial with specific details.


'melo' being melo.


we had little time to set up a shot with 'melo' and jasmine. i used two of jasmine's friends to serve as lighting models to pre-visualize 'the big shot.' i wanted to get 'melo' dunking in the background with jasmine up close, similar to the shot below. previsualization is great, but when your 'professional' model would rather not dunk (his coach would kill him), plans change. so we had to react.

here's my 'big shot' at my first editorial-style shoot of a professional athlete.

technical recipe: to overpower the harsh overhead lights, i used a single lumedyne strobes at full power (200W) bounced into 40" westcott silver-lined umbrella with direct sb-28 at 1/4 power for rim light. taken with d-200, 28-70 lens at 28mm, 1/250 sec shutter, f/6.7, iso 200, standing on chair. set up and taken down was less than 10 minutes.

u2 tribute band under a blood red sky (uabrs) has been good to us ever since we shot them at a sold-out red rocks concert. they invited us to nissis, an award-winning new restaurant and music venue in lafayette, co, to hear them perform. we sat down in our comfy seats, ordered up some wonderful food, and enjoyed the show :) if you're ever in the area, you gotta stop by for a show AND dinner (which is normally priced at what you would pay for JUST a show in denver!).

our good friends joey & nicole (newlywed kern-photo models) invited us over to warm up their brand spankin' new house. nicole whipped up a killer turkey, mashed taters... the works. there's nothing like that homey feeling of a good home-cooked meal.... mmmm, a blissful treat. dessert ingredients were on full display even before dinner was ready.... here's the smorgasbord of caramel apple dippin' goodies, precisely labeled.


mark, who played the supporting role in the recent nicole & mark wedding, had a country fair of a good time with his m&m dipped apple.


a new kern-photo record was made in this self-portrait featuring 11.25 human heads.


bill nye the science guy inspired the efforts to create this homemade pumpkin bomb by the three boys (father included).


the pumpkin didn't explode, but *only* caught fire, providing a mild house-warming effect. way to go, joey!

stumbling on old pictures is grand. so many memories can be linked to looking at a single photograph. looking beyond the the funky hair or goofy outfits, a photograph can transcend to deeper feelings, like joys, sorrows, giddyness, anxieties, yada yada yada. you can imagine when we stumbled on our websites filled with forgotten images, it was like finding a diamond in the rough. how your 'find' a old website. here's a blast from the past... all taken with my first digital camera, a waterproof pentax 3.1 megapixel point & shoot:

click on the photo to view each gallery:

old friends (all guys in this 2004 photograph will be featured groomsman in my brother sean and molly's wedding on december 29, 2007).


meet the parents.


the kids staying out of trouble


the proposal... the complete story of how it went down.


it's a boy! here's dash saying goodbye to his mom, echo, from dobson kennels in brookings, south dakota. view gallery 1 and gallery 2. and here's the movies: puppy imovie 1 -- puppy imovie 2 -- puppy imovie 3 -- puppy imovie 4

being a kid in the passenger seat looking out the window with a camera can be a fun thing. last night while driving back from our fun friday night date, i whipped out our trusty 50mm f/1.4 lens boosted the ISO to 1600 focused on the dashboard and waiting for something cool to happen. we passed a cop pulling over someone (they probably deserved it).


then another.


mundane city lights inspired this shot, reminiscent of the seriously somber soundtrack from the 2004 movie, 'crash.'


and my favorite shot pulling into our driveway. i would love to see this blown up to a 40 x 60, printed on a canvas wrap, and hung in a gallery with a little red 'sold' sticker.

denver isn't wildly know for our sunsets like hawaii & california. the culprit: our rugged front range topography facing due west blocks the sunset. but just outside the kern-photo condo, i was able to grab a shot of a really cool sunset from last night looking north from our patio.


a few minutes later the sun warmed up the clouds to perfection (our office window pictured).


literally as i was blogging about last night's sunset, yet another killer sunset appeared. check this: you can see the photos from last night on the monitor and while tonight's sunset is featured prominately outside.

here's the kern-photo crib. yes, here hangs a georgia o'keefe inspired turquoise steer skull above r. j.'s first published cover of carmelo 'melo' anthony of the denver nuggets.

i love photographer brouhahas, especially when fellow OSP photographers show & tell, share, and play nice. isn't that what wedding photography 2.0 is all about? that is exactly what went down at the center avenue imaging pad hosted by gracious shannon kaple (a fellow nikonian!). too many to name photographers were there, including a long-time hero, chris humphreys, all the way from cali (pictured below).


rumor has it [b]ecker is capable of doing self-portraits (while holding the camera) with 9 others, kinda like this. we easily beat him this evening with 11 and could have easily fit another 9.


thanks, guys, for a wonderful night (my nicole would have totally been there, but she had a major exam to study for).

happy GIS day! this day is dedicated to the efforts made by professionals, educators, and students to spread the word about using gis and to create greater geographic awareness needed in the world. r. j.'s day job is teaching geographic information systems (GIS) using ESRI software to the bureau of indian affairs and federally-recognized tribes. so any excuse to tele-evangelize his GIS enthusiasm is great! while making maps isn't all GIS does, but making pretty maps is r. j. loves to do. here's to geography!

all digital cartographic products were creating using ArcGIS Desktop 9.1 software with data provided by ESRI Data & Maps 2005.

r. j. has been collecting seed pods since who knows when and has amassed a collection ranging from your standard pine code to the martian-esque specimens. why? 'kernel' translated from german to english means 'kern', our last name (according to babelfish). which leads us to our pop quiz.

QUESTION: a 'kernel' is:

a) the central component of most computer operating systems
b) an atom stripped of all its valance electrons
c) a small embryonic plant enclosed in a covering called the seed coat
d) the name of 'lilo & stitch's experiment 014, an experiment in the disney animated series 'lilo & stitch'
e) all of the above

ANSWER: "e) all of the above" (source: wikipedia)

inspiration for the project lies in the range of possibilities between the aforementioned extremes. true that, yo. so on with the developing seed pod project, item #20 in my 101 goals. the kernel's secret recipe is in the works and the test batches look like this:

illyarrie (eucalyptus erythrocorys)


bushy yate (eucalyptus lehmannii)


stay tuned for the completed series of 16 pods in all (to hang in an arrangement of 4 by 4). comment below and shape the destiny of the project!

dash has been eager for photoshoot with his new lindsay designs dog collar. he never fails to strike a quick field pose... just enough to catch the attention of the occasional cabela's photo editor, which we are BOTH still waiting for. r. j. took these last night while on a green mountain hike with nicole, which is one of his favorite things to do. we've had an indian summer here in denver, which has been nice despite the shorter days, brown foliage, and a world series sweep.

dreams are simply goals with a deadline. setting goals for me has been and will always be apart of who i am. earn the rank of an eagle scout. check. graduate with honors in environmental geography and art/art history. check. row on the crew team for 4 years in college. check. work for national geographic. check. power squat 415 lbs. do the splits. earn a master’s degree. buy a house. earn a 3rd degree black belt. check times 5. while i never wrote those goals down or made them publicly available, i wonder what woulda coulda shoulda been done had i did. looking forward, i'm gonna grab life by its little horns and ride into the wind! i look forward to reading this in exactly 1,001 days, precisely on sunday, august 8, 2010. so here goes:

101 photo goals in 1,001 days
by r. j. kern on november 11, 2007

1. photograph my wife in her wedding dress
2. book 101 referrals
3. exhibit in the cherry creek arts festival
4. shoot a celebrity wedding
5. complete our wedding album
6. shoot landscapes with ken rockwell
7. get an image published in a book
8. get placed on three preferred wedding vendor lists
9. photograph ten national parks i’ve never been to
10. blog everyday for a month three times (0/3)
11. photograph all 12 original chrysler 300 letter cars and create a calendar
12. lightpaint a car
13. get to know the work of 25 dead photographers
14. get to know the work of 50 active photographers
15. present at a pictage user group meeting
16. photograph my brother's wedding with my wife
17. invest 30% of our buisness income
18. donate 20% of total income in the way of a services-in-kind to a charity
19. launch a fine art project website
20. finish my seed pod personal project
21. read one book per month for six months to benefit our photo business
22. give away the books to benefit someone else
23. second shoot at a wedding for someone i admire
24. resist the urge to buy some expensive camera equipment and do something important with the money instead
25. shoot with a nikon 200mm f/2g if-ed af-s vr lens
26. shoot with a nikon 200-400mm f/4g if-ed, af-s vr zoom-nikkor lens
27. purchase nikon 85mm f/1.4 if af lens, one of nikon’s finest lenses and a bokeh champ
28. take at least one new business workshop from score in denver
29. have coffee with someone business-related i don't know very well once a month for six months
30. become involved in a toastmasters group in denver
31. launch portrait photography website
32. learn to make pie from my wife then photograph the result and see if you can tell the difference
33. grow our business by 200% each year
34. shoot a medium format camera
35. teach a photography class
36. write and produce at 3 tutorial articles to help other photographers
37. create a signature marketing piece
38. print and mail signature marketing piece
39. write a piece for a magazine, paper, or journal
40. give another vendor a complete wedding album for free
41. photograph muscian(s) for album cover art
42. photograph u2 in concert
43. build our portrait photography business by doing two location shoots per month for six months in a row
44. go on an african photo safari
45. photograph sashi & alex
46. get a studio
47. shoot a wedding at our church, the cathedral basilica of the immaculate conception
48. do something creativity different on each shoot
49. build a photographer resources portion of our website
50. build a wedding planning resources portion of our website
51. send out birthday cards to all clients
52. learn to whistle with two fingers (rounding up those huge groups)
53. become a nikon pro
54. photograph a denver broncos game (with sideline credentials)
55. photograph at least one of every major professional denver sports team (with sideline credentials)
56. shoot 100,001 shutter actuations from my d-200
57. shoot 300,000 photos
58. photograph a u.s. president
59. learn a different style of photography
60. create a series of custom photoshop actions
61. learn to use a large format camera
62. make a book of personal travel & art photos
63. make a book of just dash photos
64. win the lindsay designs photo contest 3 years in a row (2/3)
65. host an osp trash the dress session with other photographers
66. take an advanced studio lighting class
67. become involved in a professional photographic organization
68. post three tutorial videos on cutframe aimed at helping other wedding photographers
69. complete a personal abc project
70. speak at partner con
71. shoot production stills for a major motion picture
72. go to the annual wppi conference
73. enter a photo in wppi print competition
74. win a photo wppi award
75. speak at wppi
76. donate a wedding package in which 100% of proceeds would benefit a charity
77. get an image published in patagonia catalog
78. shoot a portrait with a soft box
79. figure out just how jessica claire makes her images look so freakin' good.
80. get in touch with at least two early art mentors
81. shoot with a ringflash
82. volunteer for a week in a foreign country
83. take a vacation and not bring a camera
84. travel to a new place with one prime lens and no flash
85. shoot a destination wedding
86. encourage or mentor an upcoming photographer
87. meet wedding photography heroes mike colon, david jay, [b]ecker, joe bussink, jessica claire, and nate & jaclyn kaiser
88. shoot a wedding in 3 new countries
89. shoot a wedding on another continent
90. form three new partnerships with another company
91. help another vendor book a referral event
92. inspire someone to pick up photography as a hobby
93. inspire a fellow photographer to blog
94. become a member of the wedding photojournalist association
95. become a member of the artistic guild of the wedding photojournalist association
96. win a top 10 award in the wpja contest, individual category
97. develop a few exposed rolls of b&w film that have been sitting in my desk drawer for years
98. be listed as one of the top photographers in the wedding photojournalist association
99. qualify as one of the top 10 artistic photojournalists in the world
100. refer a wedding to a new photographer
101. finish, post, and share this list [completed 11-11-07]

each year we become a member at a special 'expand your mind' place. last year was our grand dam. this year it's the denver zoo. we have always had a love/hate relationship with zoos. while we opt for their family-friendly, mind-opening experience, zoos can also lead to the disneyfication of nature. as photographers, we must avoid imparting the notion that our images of big game behind bars were taken on an african safari. disclaimer stated... now back to regular programming. meerkat manor, anyone?


a fishy kiss.



eyes hold powerful emotion.



these are part of a new personal project on animal portraits which elicit a certain 'quietness.'


pontificating about our day at the zoo.

if you'd like to see images from our last zoo visit, check out the gallery here.

in light of some creative reflection, i've dug back into the archives.... and i'm talking about 15 years in the archives of some of my earliest, showable work. ricker winsor, my high school art teacher and photo inspiration at charles wright academy, has been an inspiration to me. ricker lead me to think differently about photography through experimentation and through learning to embrace the 'happy mistake.' the origin of these creative moments is usually at the will of a frantic moment, mixed with the dash of creativity, and a twist of the will of GOD. this image was my first simultaneous collision of 'perfect creative moment' while completing a self-portrait assignment.

the 'mistake' was a double exposure at the end of a roll of 36 using my father's honeywell pentax slr which later became my first 'real' camera (the fisher price one doesn't count). the shutter exposed more than a frame and a half of 35mm t-max film. the double exposure was actually longer than 35mm wide in length, giving the appearance of a panoramic image. while the image certainly isn't pulitzer prize winning material, it was an important lesson which continues to inform my creative conscious.

i did not realize the importance of this image to me until about 3 years ago, when i started to get paid for my photographic creativity and began looking back at earlier work. i kept this image at the forefront of my mind during my college photography experiences, during personal work on travels, and shooting for profit at events. i realized 'happy mistakes' should supplement the creative consciousness. technically, 'creative mistakes' may be deemed by a seasoned professional as "amateurism". but here is where it gets better: rules are meant to be broken, and it is often those 'happy mistakes' which leads to a new discovery. following along with creativity, i've been able to produce some of my most original work. most often it is not the camera, or even the lens that contributed to the creative discovery, but the courage to create.

tonight i decided to drive on out to capture some great dramatic southwestern landscape in camera, but just 'missed' the good light. i looked forward to using 'golden hour' of natural light, which occurs 30 minutes prior to sunset to 30 minutes post sunset/sunrise. usually, it is during this time in which i capture the best dramatic landscapes because the lighting in fairly evenly lit and within a dynamic range suitable for capture with a digital SLR. so when i arrived at the white mesa trail in the ojito wilderness, it was so quiet. i said some special prayers for loved ones and it felt like god was right there. here is the handheld glimpse of the jemez volcano backlit by the sunset (all images processed sans photoshop effects).


when all else fails, grab the fisheye for a unique perspective. spot the jemez volcano far off in the distant in the right side of the photo. the vignetting is naturally created by the combination of the low light and the wide-angle perspective.


life is a highway. i dropped the ragtop on the rental pt cruiser convertible and did a little self-portrait heading back to the hotel. growing up my father had a convertible that instilled the sense of exuberance and as the wind blew my hair it felt as if we were flying at lighting speed. i was reminded of a similar experience a few years ago in san diego with nicole... hertz treated us to a black thunderbird convertible, which was the cherry on top of a killer vacation. insert nicole in passenger seat (and dash in the back seat) and life is good. (image was taken at f/2.8 ISO 1600 at 1/10 of a second handheld, which is a great lowlight action setup with our Nikon D-200)

i dug around in the kern-photo archives for flowers that sing 'get well, nicole.' 1-800-flowers can't deliver these puppies:


hope works in the favor of even the little known things in life.


okay, so it's not a flower.... but a flower helped to make it. this little guy was from my mom's garden, so i know it is good to eat and makes still me smile. hopefully it will do the same for you, too!

nicole is home sick with a killer cold that has lasted for almost a week. i am in albuquerque teaching for the week. go figure. i hate that helpless feeling that you want to try and do something to help, but can't be there. so i know my honey bunny will be checking this blog in a few hours ('cause she usually does), so i'm gonna give her a wee surprise.

this photograph was taken on our first *real* date at the denver art museum a few years ago. it is also the site of our first kiss... which happened about 2 minutes after this photo was snapped. and it was like the BEST KISS, EVER (ps - forgive the hat and red shoes, but a guy has to do what a guy has to do that drives a pt cruiser with purple flames! hindsight is always better than foresight, especially with respect to r.j.'s cool fashion taste).

waaahoooo! and for the second year in a row, dash has placed top honors in the lindsay designs dog collar contest. here's our winning shot:

image taken near green mountain, co at sunset taken hand-held with a nikon d-200 using the 70-200 f/2.8 VR at 200mm, 1/250 sec at f/6.7, 100 iso, auto white balance. we have absolutely no idea what he was looking at, other than it was really interesting to him.

en route to new mexico's salinas pueblo mission national monument for a photo escape, r. j. passed over the majestic rio grande river:


the clear light at sunset paints a perfect backdrop to the sandia mountains with a touch of fall foliage.


the cultural resources in the desert southwest are amazing. here lies abó, the remains of a pueblo indian mission church influenced by spanish colonials.


after sunset a little creative light painting experiment yielded a message to his wife nicole... i love you! (ps- no photoshop used, just a 20 second exposure aided by light painting with a small halogen headlight it took about 10 tries to get it right).

when colgate university alum buddy, alex, found his way to denver recently, we met up for a killer good time and whipped up a little portrait session to try out some new tricks. since r. j. has known alex for more than a decade and was groomsman in our wedding, he was well prepared for what we had in store. alex grew up in a small village near kiev, russia, which was a strong inspiration for our mood. he came to the u.s. when he was 13 and went on to graduate with an mba from columbia university. we met up at our favorite shooting place and dash's favorite off-leash training grounds, green mountain park in lakewood. VIEW SLIDESHOW HERE. here we go with a few of our favorites:


alex loved his new coat, which was modeled proudly.


alex's jordan impression.


with sunny blue skies to set the mood, here we are for a little self-portrait.

here's the familiar 'i'm napping, don't bug me' look.


then the crankiness sets in and our dash drops a few iq points as he discovers his foot tastes good. perhaps he is just giddy over his new lindsay designs collar.

kelly, tony, and little hudson met up for a portrait session recently in denver. r. j. has known kelly since his gis learning met up with her gis training source years ago. kelly is a phenomenal teacher, and one of the best when it comes to gis trainining. tony is the creative brains behind the graphic design studio, ragu. CLICK HERE FOR SLIDESHOW. and here's some of the fun that was shared with our lens:


hudson was determined to step on every railroad track plank.


kelly & tony.


the smallest wonders of the world pointed out by hudson.



the pooches deserved a candid portrait as well.



here's gis training sensei, kelly:


ultimate frisbee stud, tony:


mmmm, chicken fingers taste like chicken.