J. Humphreys Photography

Senior Photos: Rachel and Jasmine

A few weeks ago Rachel and Jasmine, who are high school seniors at Erie High school, and both in the youth group that I volunteer with asked me to take their senior photos. They decided they wanted to take their photos at the same time, since they are such great friends. I've gotten to know both of these girls fairly well over the last year or two and knew that this would be a ton of fun. 

So last week we headed downtown to take their photos. Internet, meet Rachel... 

And Jasmine... 

As you can tell, both girls warmed up to the camera so quickly! 

Jasmine has one of the best laughs of anyone I know... that usually includes some snorting... 

She also has been skating for most of her life, and so she definitely wanted a few that helped show that aspect of her life. 

Of course we had to take a few just of them... this one which perfectly describes their personalities. 

And this one which is just plain cute. 

Girls I had a blast! Thanks so much for letting me document such a great period of your life. I hope you love these! 

Jessica and Greg: Wedding

After just shooting their engagement session a few short weeks ago, I was pumped to say the least to shoot Jessica and Greg's wedding in Crested Butte this past weekend. Not only did I get to leave behind the Denver heat and head to a beautiful charming mountain town that I had never been to (but plan to go back to immediately!), but I got to photograph a beautiful wedding for two amazing people! 

Almost everyone at their wedding came from out of town (mostly the South) which made their wedding such a great experience! And given that Jessica and Greg are two of the sweetest people you'll ever meet, it just made my own weekend that much better! Nothing like being surrounded by southern hospitality! 

I got to drive up a day early to take photos at their rehearsal dinner. 

The location of their wedding was on a beautiful piece of property that had long grass, beautiful mountain hills, and horses! Unfortunately they were no where to be found after the ceremony when we were taking Jessica and Greg's photos but I did manage to get some photos of them as the girls were getting ready earlier in the day. 

Jessica's dress was beautiful! 

The girls were stunning! 

Jessica was absolutely gorgeous! 

How dashing does Greg look! 

When we finished taking photos of Jessica, her father handed her this four leaf clover he had found. How cool!

I am so in love with this shot of Jessica and her dad walking to give her away. 

Both of Jessica's step brothers got to be a part of the ceremony, one played the music and the other one performed the ceremony. 

I love moments like this, when Greg couldn't quite get Jessica's ring on! 

I followed Jessica and Greg as they walked and waited for their bridal party to follow, and got some great photos right as the sun was going down. 

It was a southern wedding, of course they wore cowboy boots! 

Their reception was beautiful with all of the yellow and white lanterns! 

I kid you not when I say the coolest part of the reception was the specialty made grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup shooters. Amazing! And so much fun! 

The guests definitely were having a blast!

Loved this last photo! 

Jessica and Greg, what a blessing you both are! I continued to hear all weekend long from your friends and family how so many knew that while you were friends first you'd end up together in the end. And while it took several years to get to this day, it was 100% completely worth the wait! Congratulations! Have a blast on your California honeymoon!

Jessica and Greg Engagement Session

I had the pleasure of meeting Jessica and Greg for the first time a few days ago. It's always a little nerve racking meeting clients for the first time, after they've already booked you. I always make it a priority to book people who I get along with and with whom can picture my style for wedding photography as their own. I was thrilled driving home from their engagement session, thinking about how great a couple these two are. It's no wonder, they've known each other since junior high and have been together almost 8 years! I met them down in Colorado Springs at their house, where they've lived for about the last 3 years or so. The only thing I knew about them before meeting them was that they were from the south, which was evident by their thick southern accents that they each had when we had talked over the phone! I got to know them a lot more and I simply cannot wait for their wedding in August in Crested Butte! 

They had originally talked about going to the Garden of the Gods but we decided to head to the lesser known about Open Space next to the Garden of the Gods... just as beautiful and a lot less crowded! Awesome! 

Jessica and Greg decided to have their two beautiful dogs included in their photos. How cute are they?!

Jessica went to Auburn and Greg to Mississippi State, to which they both hold strong alliances to! If you look close their dogs have matching collars! 

Southern even to the tips of their toes... both wore worn out cowboy boots! 

Loved this shot where you can see the actual Garden of the Gods in the far off distance. 

Seriously, these two are adorable! 

I had such a blast getting to photograph these two and I am beyond excited for their wedding in a few weeks. Should be one to remember! 

 

Lauren and Frank: Wedding

This last weekend I got to photograph Lauren and Frank's beautiful (albeit rainy) wedding day! I've always heard that it's good luck if it rains on your wedding day, and if that's the case, these two were definitely off to a great start! I had gotten to photograph their engagement session last fall downtown, so I was readily anticipating their wedding, after all Lauren and I have known each other since the day I moved to Colorado, as she was my freshman RA! I couldn't have been more thrilled to be a part of it! Lauren was beautiful and Frank was very handsome and despite some uncooperative (lucky!) weather, the day seemed to go off without a hitch! 

I loved these shots of Lauren's bridesmaids (and Brian who stood up with her bridesmaids, making him an honorary bridesman!) I loved that while the girls all got their hair down, Brian got a facial and a scalp massage! Sign me up! 

I rarely get to photograph the boys getting ready, but Lauren really wanted us to document this, so I headed downtown to grab a few of Frank and his boys. 

Lauren was gorgeous! 

Lauren had some of the most fantastic flowers I've ever seen! Beautiful! 

Definitely one of my all time favorite dresses! Stunning! 

Loved this photo of Lauren's brothers and sister in law. 

The wedding was held at the Regis University chapel, and we were lucky to get a few shots off on the gorgeous campus before the rain started pouring down! 

We then opted to head downtown towards the University Club, where the reception was being held, hoping that the rain would've passed at that point, and lucky it had! 

Loved this! 

Loved this shot of Lauren's brother Michael and his wife Dani! They were so much fun to watch on the dance floor! 

Loved this moment as the night winded down. So sweet. 

Definitely one of my many favorites from the day! 

Lauren and Frank, I hope your off having a phenomenal honeymoon! Thank you for allowing me to document your beautiful wedding! Many blessings to you both, may you truly live happily ever after! 

 

Amy and Nic

I was fortunate to meet Amy and her mom a few months ago at Starbucks and to hear about her upcoming wedding to Nic. She was charming, having just graduated college and in love. She and Nic had gotten engaged back on Christmas day of 2009 in one of the most adorable ways possible involving 10 seasons of Friends on DVD and a sort of scavenger hunt that concluded with Amy at the Christmas tree looking at a ring on one of her favorite ornaments and Nic down on one knee behind her. The rest was history. Since that time Nic has started and completed his first year of medical school and Amy just a few days before her wedding found out she had gotten a 2nd grade teaching job (talk about having a good week!) It seems that life has really come together for these two and was celebrated beautifully with their wedding yesterday. 

The wedding took place at the beautiful Boulder Country Club and director Kate and her assistant Julie did an amazing job of making the day go on without a hitch. 

This has to be hands down one of my favorite ring photos I've ever done. I couldn't resist when I saw this little tattoo on the neck of one of Amy's bridesmaids. It worked perfectly! 

Love when couples choose to do the "first look"... 

As a gift to each of his groomsmen, Nic got each of them a pair of these white Converse. 

Loved this moment of Amy's dad wiping tears from her face right before he gave her away.

Great spot for a wedding!

I imagine that when you've been planning a wedding since 2009, you really feel the need to celebrate when that day finally comes! 

Photos at sunset are so wonderful! 

At the beginning of the reception, Amy's dad surprised everyone (Amy especially) by singing "Cinderella" by Steven Curtis Chapman... I don't think there were many dry eyes at this point! 

In case you were wondering, Nic and his boys all had these hats made for the wedding. And they just couldn't seem to resist wearing them throughout the day!

Ah yes sparklers! It is the 4th of July weekend after all. 

Amy and Nic, I hope you guys have a wonderful honeymoon and come back and enjoy your life together as newlyweds! It was a pleasure getting to know you, and your families and friends. Thank you for making me feel so welcomed. It was an honor to be there with you both on this beautiful day. Many blessings to you both. 

Relay for Life

This past Friday I got to participate in my first ever Relay for Life. It's basically an over night walk and sleepover, sponsored by the American Cancer Society. While I don't talk about it much on here, I'm a leader for my church's high school youth group, Rev. (Short for Revolution.) I was thrilled to hear that some of our students were participating and when a fellow leader who was helping to organize the event asked me to help photograph it I was ecstatic! And truthfully, it exceeded all of my expectations! 

Tradition is that the survivors take the first lap around the track. 

Some of our youth group students. 

Throughout the evening there are different events that take place to help raise money, my favorite was definitely the local firefighters vs. police force tug of war. The police definitely took it! 

Jose, a fellow youth group leader, and one of the head organizers did an amazing job throughout the night! Love that cape! He's definitely a super hero! 

Some of our students decided to try for an entire lap of leap frog... 

... unfortunately they didn't make it too far. 

As one of the main fundraisers for Relay for Life, participants sell luminary bags, and people write the names in honor of those who are fighting or who have lost their battle to cancer. These bags line the track and as the sun sets they place lights inside, and for about an hour, they turn off all the over head lights in the stadium and someone over a microphone says each and every name written on the bags. It's such a powerful time. 

And as the night went on our students just had a blast hanging out and playing games. 

And yes... goofing off. (the legs actually belong to a fellow youth group leader if you can believe it or not!) 

Stretching for games!

Our students can be... well determined to say the least when it comes to games at 1am in the morning. 

And gradually people started to attempt to go to sleep. 

I unfortunately had to leave around 1:30am and didn't stay for the rest of the event, but our Rev. Team won the award for most people who stayed up all night! So proud of our students for participating in such a great event for an even greater cause! 

Day After Session in Breckenridge, Krista and Zach

Yesterday I met up with Krista and Zach who had just gotten back from their honeymoon in Aruba. They were leaving Monday, to move the rest of their belongings down to Texas, where Zach is stationed with the Air Force for the next 4 years. Luckily we were able to fit in a quick trip to Breckenridge for the afternoon before they left, to take their Day After photos. Boy did we luck out, beautiful blue skies and a quiet, practically empty town, made for the perfect setting for their photos. It's actually one of the first places that Krista and Zach met so the town itself is especially meaningful to them, and I'm thrilled that we had what seemed to be the perfect day to shoot there. 

I was thrilled when Krista said Zach was willing to wear his uniform for these photos... who doesn't love a man in uniform? 

He does look pretty dapper, don't you think?

And yes Krista was seriously this stunning in person! 

Love this last one! 

Krista and Zach, I'll miss you both especially after having gotten to spend so much time with you over this last week. Don't enjoy Texas too much, because Colorado will always be your home. 

Just the other day, I was thinking about how great it's been getting to photograph Krista and Zach over this last week and I can't believe how blessed I am to be able to document these moments for them and other couples. It brings me so much joy to know that I've given them tangible photographs that they can share with their families, friends and the people they'll one day get to meet. 

I think I may have one of the best jobs in the world. 

Krista and Zach

Hello blogosphere! It's been a few months! But J. Humphreys Photography is back getting into full swing for wedding season! And I had a great kickoff this last weekend!

When I was a freshman in college I met a girl named Krista, who lived in my dorm. She was from Minnesota, and I was from Illinois, so you could say we were kindred state little spirited freshmen lost in a whole new part of the country, trying out this whole "college" business and I'm pretty sure if you were to rewind our lives back to the first few days of college, you'd find that we were both pretty terrified. But luckily we started getting into the swing of things, and before we knew it we had both graduated and were officially adults!

I got to live with Krista for a few months after graduation, and I'm so glad that I did. Not only did I get to know her a ton better, but I got to know her awesome boyfriend Zach, who at the time was currently attending the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs. He would drive up a few times and spend the weekend, and he was such a blast to get to know. I quickly learned how great these two were together and their love for wine and great food and conversation was contagious. I always knew secretly in the back of my mind that these two were meant to be together and I was thrilled when they got engaged last year. Despite having lived in two different states for the last year as Zach completed his pilot training in Texas, it's been a long time coming to see the day when these two would finally get married and get to spend the rest of their lives together. 

So blog world, I introduce you to Krista and Zach and I'm so proud to show you their photos from their gorgeous wedding at Red Rocks. 

Getting to shoot at Red Rocks may be my new favorite place! It was amazing! 

How great do these two look? Just stunning, both of them! 

If you've been in Colorado in the last 2 or 3 weeks, it's been what seems like nonstop rain... except for last Saturday! It was so beautiful, perfect for a Red Rocks wedding. 

It seems pretty obvious why Krista and Zach chose the Red Rocks Trading Post to get married at! How stunning is that view! 

They even had their reception at the Red Rocks Welcome Center. 

Krista and Zach opted to do something I've never seen before at a wedding, they played their own version of The Newly Wed Game, which I thought was so much fun. 

And with keeping with tradition of sharing my favorite... 

Krista and Zach are off on their honeymoon now, but when they return this weekend, I get hang out with them up in Breckenridge and do a day after session for them. I simply cannot wait! Thank you for allowing me to photograph your beautiful wedding! 

A Puppy Weekend

This weekend we are doing some puppy sitting for some friends of my brother Chris and his wife Katie's. So blogosphere, meet Shep (Chris and Katie's pup) who is a 16 month old Alaskan Malamute. 

and his friend Midge... the bulldog. 

They make quite the odd pair don't they?

They actually get along quite well.. for the most part that is. 

Shep is really a very easily read dog... ears are back = totally happy. 

Midge... not so much. 

Together they spent most of the day fighting over a bone... and despite there being several bones sprawled in the yard... they fought over one single bone. 

And with most fights. There is a winner... 

And sadly there is a loser. 

This should make for a very interesting weekend. 

Alexandra and Wes: Married

Last week I flew back to Illinois for Alexandra and Wes' wedding! Having just done their engagement session right after Christmas, I was really excited for their wedding and it certainly did not disappoint. The wedding itself took place at the Metropolis Ballroom in downtown Arlington Heights. The whole staff at the Metropolis did such a fabulous job of making the day run so smoothly. Everything seemed to work itself out perfectly, including the weather. Just a week prior Chicago was hit with one of the biggest snowstorms in recent years, showering the area with almost 2 feet of snow! Thankfully it was just what Alexandra and Wes had been hoping for when they had planned for their winter wedding... snow (and an abundance of it really!)

The day started at Alexandra's mom's house to get ready. 

Alexandra's shoes and flowers were so unique and beautiful! 

Wes and Alexandra opted for a first look. I absolutely love these intimate moments. 

We quickly ran across the street to this wonderful little park for a few photos in the snow ... despite it being about 25 degrees, and there still being about a foot an a half of snow on the ground. You guys rocked it out! 

After about 15 minutes of being outside, we ran inside to take a few more photos. 

Awesome details at the Metropolis! 

Nontraditional was the way to go for these two. Wes met his bride at the beginning of the aisle and they walked down together. 

Many people release balloons or throw rice at the bride and groom... Wes and Alexandra opted for paper airplanes being thrown at them as they walked back down the aisle as husband and wife. Such a great touch. 

All day Alexandra seemed to have her eyes glued to the window watching the snow fall in the morning. She had hoped it would continue when we took photos outside later, but since it had stopped we didn't get that chance at that point. I did notice right after the ceremony that it had started to snow again so I pulled them outside for a few more shots. 

When i had photographed Alexandra and Wes at Christmas, they had mentioned that the only thing they really wanted was photos of them walking home at the end of the night of their wedding, as you could see Wes' apartment from the Metropolis. I loved this idea and it made for some beautiful photos. Wes dragging the "just married cans" was the perfect touch. 

I leave you with one of my favorites from the day. 

Alexandra and Wes, I hope you had a phenomenal honeymoon in Jamaica! Thanks so much for allowing me to be a part of your day! I had such a great time photographing it for you and I hope when you look at these photos they take you right back to your beautiful wedding! You guys are awesome!