Happy Anniversary KUVO!

I'm a big fan of music, especially jazz. Not the bubblegum "smooth jazz", but the real stuff. From Bird, Diz, and Duke, to 'Trane, Miles, Monk, Sun Ra, and Ornette, to the present day lions. We are very blessed to have in Denver a great 24 hour jazz station, KUVO. You can listen in at www.kuvo.org. Named the best jazz station in the country for the past couple of years by Jazz Weekly, they celebrated their 22nd year on the air tonight with a party and concert in their performance studio. For the past few years, I've been documenting the musicians playing in their performance studio. Here are a few images from tonight's performance.

Interim CEO Carlos Landau, who has been with the station all 22 years!
Evening drive time DJ Rodney Franks introducing the group with the invited studio audience
Guitarist Paul Bollenbach
Bassist extraordinaire Ken Walker. I encourage you to check out his sextet's CD Terra Firma
New Orleans native Henry Butler relocated to Denver post Hurricane Katrina. We are very blessed to have such a great talent residing in our city.
Drum master Paul Romaine
And special guest the great Ricky Woodard. Ricky will be playing Labor Day weekend at the Vail Jazz Festival
Happy Birthday KUVO!

Wendy and Kevin

I had the pleasure of photographing Wendy and Kevin's wedding Saturday. The ceremony was in the pavilion at Cheeseman Park, and the reception was at the JW Marriott in Cherry Creek. Wendy was a stunning bride in her designer gown, which she purchased from the Bridal Collection in Marina Square. I usually don't mention the bridal shop, but I have a special connection with Gay Lynn and her crew at the Bridal Collection - I photographed her daughter's wedding two years ago, and her son's wedding earlier this year!

This was a wonderful wedding celebration. Not only did I get to work with a great couple, but I also had the chance to work with the extraordinary Dennis Hare of Over the Moon Films, the impeccable Design Works, and Stephanie Hinkle and the great staff of the JW Marriott. This was the first time I photographed a ceremony at the pavilion. It was a bright sunny day, and thankfully they set it up so the bride and groom were standing in the shadow of one of the columns.

This was a grabshot of Wendy while she was putting her shoes on. This was also a tip of the hat to [b]ecker and the "becker squat"!
Krista photographed this view of the ceremony from the the outside of the pavilion
while I photographed inside
A beautiful harp solo was played during the ceremony by the groom's niece
OK, now everybody smile and make sure your eyes are open on "3"
A couple of the stunning bride
Wendy and Kevin
I love photographing with strong shadows to play with
Their first dance
Tara Wolfe, attending the wedding as a guest and not in her usual role as a wedding coordinator, dancing with her husband
A short walk around the block and stealing a kiss in the alley.

Have a great time in Ireland!

Shooting with Beckstead

I had the pleasure this past week of participating in a workshop with David Beckstead. David was recently recognized as one of the top 10 wedding photographers in the world. It was a great experience to shoot with him and a dozen other excellent Denver area photographers. After shooting in several locations on Tuesday, we all headed over to my house for pizza, beer, and conversation. Then each of us was off to process the hundreds of images taken and edit it down to the 20 we thought were the best. On Tuesday we gathered at Grant Oakes' studio to project them so everyone could see and have David offer a critique. Thank you to David for his inspiration and enthusiasm, Grant Oakes for sponsoring and organizing the workshop, and all the wonderful Colorado photographers that participated and are helping to "raise the bar" of wedding photography in the area. Here's a few I showed and didn't show.

Jessica and Mike

It seems like I've been spending a lot of time photographing in Boulder lately! Saturday, I had the great pleasure of photographing Jessica and Mike's wedding at the St. Julian in Boulder. This was the second time in the last few weeks that I had the chance to work with wedding coordinator Heather Clark of Calluna Events, and Angie Vossler , the catering manager for the St. Julian.

Jessica and Mike are a great couple and a lot of fun to work with. I love the couples that are stress free on their wedding day and enjoy their family, friends, and the celebration. That is always the recipe for great pictures.

Jessica

Mike

While the bridesmaids spend their time before the wedding admiring their shoes...

and mugging oh so coquettishly...

Krista captured the guys hydrating!

The staging area for the wedding procession includes a walk through the indoor pool at the hotel. Perfect timing for Krista to catch this.

Some serious platinum and diamond bling!

The ceremony setting at the St Julian. Lynn Cunningham of Petal Pushers, did a beautiful job with the flowers.

Mike putting the beautiful ring on Jessica's finger.


A couple of Jessica and Mike after the ceremony.


They brought the house down with their first dance to "Hard to Concentrate" by the Red Hot Chilli Peppers.

Party time!

I love stealing away the bride and groom for a little quiet time for pictures. Here's a few:





Jessica and Mike are heading to Grand Cayman on Tuesday. Let's wish them a great trip and hopefully the hurricane doesn't hamper their honeymoon plans.