Brad Walters Photography

Adam and Keeley

2009-08-03T20:19:25Z

We have shot a number of very emotional weddings lately, or at least it seems like it. Adam and Keeley's wedding is certainly no exception. Their wedding was full of tearful and humorous speeches.

This was a larger than average wedding, so I asked our dear friend Charlotte Geary to second shoot at this wedding, and her help was.......there is no word to describe how valuable it was at the wedding. The images she captured were stunning as usual. View some of the photos she captured on her blog: here

Bill Nixon (pictured above) also came along at this wedding. Bill owns Coastal Videography located in the Denver area, and is one of the best videographers I have ever seen.

Keeley gets her done early the day of her wedding.

We did a short photo session in the lobby of the hotel where the girls got ready.

I just love Keeley's hands in this shot. They really seem to be fulll of love and joy, don't you think?

Adam sent a gift to his future bride the morning of the wedding. On her right hand, you will see a Claddagh ring. This ring has a very interesting history. You can read about here. My wife Sarah also wears one of these!

Adam and Keeley took time out of the wedding day to visit Adam's grandmother. She was too ill to attend the wedding, and I'm sure it meant the world to her to be able to see them on their wedding day. Sadly, she passed away less than a week later, while Adam and Keeley were still on their honeymoon.

The reception was held at the El Jebel Shrine in Denver. This place was huge!

Holly, the maid of honor, gets a bit teary-eyed when she tells a story about how long Keeley and she have known each other. They met as toddlers on a soccer field while their brothers were playing.

Adam escorts Keeley to the dance floor for their first dance.

See how huge this place is?

A shot from the balcony. Yes....they're doing YMCA!

Congratulations Adam and Keeley!

Special thanks to Denver Wedding Videographer Bill Nixon of Coastal Videography, and Colorado Springs Wedding Photographer Charlotte Geary for all of your help! I really appreciate it. Go dream team.

Denver wedding photography by Brad Walters Photography.

Our album design process

2009-07-21T14:52:04Z

We're in the middle of our wedding season, and the pace is a bit intense. However, I wanted to pause for a few minutes to let this year's clients know how we design our albums. If you are one of our current clients (or a client from last year who hasn't begun the album process yet), this post is for you!

This is the pre-designed album we just completed for Megan and Luke who were married on June 13th of this year. We decided on Megan and Luke because Steve and I felt so welcome at their wedding, and because Megan and Luke's family seemed to play an extra special part in their wedding day. From Luke's mom helping to plan the wedding, to Megan throwing a surprise baby shower the morning of the wedding for her new sister-in-law. The day was just full of heart-warming emotions and family.

This is the opening page of Megan and Luke's album. I always pick out an image that I am particularly fond of regardless of when it took place during the day. Usually it is somewhat abstract, like this one of Megan and Luke sneaking a peek at each other right in the middle of their ceremony.

The rest of the album is designed in strict chronological order. Here are some images of Megan getting ready in her hotel room. Some of these images won't make any sense to someone who wasn't there, but they have meaning to Megan and Luke. For example, the family member who just happened to be walking by Megan's hotel room and noticed that it was Megan's room, then stopped to tap on the window to say hello to Megan (upper right photo of the spread). I never knew who she was, but she was important to Megan.

We always try to capture a least a handful of photos of the guys getting ready in order to suggest putting a few in the album design. Usually....after the bride sees ALL of the photos, the "guys getting ready" photos are 86'd in favor of other photos. Sorry guys....that's the way it be.

Here we see Megan putting the finishing touches on the getting ready phase. On the right side of the spread, we took a few moments before heading off to the ceremony to not only get a shot of Megan and her ladies (including her mom), but also to capture a glimpse of the location, which is a constant goal of our photography.

Again...this spread might seem strange to the casual observer with the beer used as a background, but again it has meaning to Megan and Luke. Luke imported this specialty beer especially for his wedding day.

Now we move onto the story of the ceremony. This spread is dedicated to the processional.

An entire spread (left and right side of the album when it's opened) is usually dedicated to the Father walking his daughter down the aisle.

This spread is unique to Megan and Luke's album, as they greeted their family members with roses and hugs during the ceremony.

Then of course, lots of images of the ceremony are included into the design. We loved Megan's expressions during the ceremony.

Here is an entire spread dedicated to Megan and Luke being proclaimed man and wife, their first kiss, the guests clapping at the announcement, and Megan and Luke walking back the aisle hand-in-hand.

The group shot on the right is of everybody at Megan and Luke's wedding. I stood on the balcony of the venue to get the shot.

An entire spread dedicated to just Megan and Luke.

The number of formal photos varies greatly between albums depending on the Bride and Groom's taste, so we usually showcase the most important formal photos in a spread. This spread is of Megan and Luke's parents, and close family members. Of course Megan and Luke will have final say as to how many and which formal photos will be in the final album design.

Then we move on to some creative photos with either just the Bride and Groom, or the entire Bridal party. In this case, we took the Bridal party downtown for some fun shots.

This spread marks the beginning of the reception. Notice that the background color changes to black to signify the change not only in the time of day, but also the change from ceremony to
reception in the timeline.

This spread consists of a detail shot of the cake and Megan and Luke cutting their cake.

Of course no wedding album would be a complete story without a full spread of the important dances. Here you see Megan and Luke enjoying their first dance (left side of the spread). On the right side, you see Megan dancing with her father, and Luke dancing with his mother.

Almost all of our albums showcase another entire spread of guests dancing and enjoying themselves.

To end the story, we end the album with a shot of the Bride and Groom leaving their reception.

At this point, we upload the album design to a password protected private gallery for the Bride and Groom to approve or make changes to. More often than not, they ask for changes to about 10-20% of the album. We then make those requested changes and re-upload the changed album design for them to approve or make more changes to. Our clients have complete control over what their final album looks like.

Thanks Megan and Luke for allowing us to showcase your album design. Steve and I really enjoyed your wedding!

Brad

Alisa Benay Shoot 2 of 4 - Mirabelle Gown

2009-07-10T20:15:32Z

We spent most of yesterday with Alisa Benay, her Mirabelle dress, and a host of make-up artists, hair dressers, Alisa's assistants, a model from Denver, and lots of lights. This was shoot 2 of 4 for Alisa Benay dresses. If you haven't seen Alisa Benay's dresses, you should check them out. You can view the Josephine dress (shoot 1) in the June archives. Or you can visit her site, which does not showcase any of our work yet, but soon will. Alisa Benay Couture Dresses

Extensive preparation was required for this shoot.

A detail shot of one of the custom veils.

Detail shots of the necklace, which is part of the dress design.

We will be doing a two day shoot in August with Alisa's full line of couture gowns, after which we will be posting more images of her beautiful collection.

Commercial and Product photography by Brad Walters Photography. Denver and Colorado Springs.

Stay tuned...

2009-07-10T16:02:00Z

for a post about an amazing photo shoot featuring Alisa Benay couture dresses.

A behind the scenes snapshot of Joy, the model for yesterday's Alisa Benay dresses commercial photo shoot.

Jessica and John - Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center

2009-07-03T00:50:11Z

Jessica and John

Date: June 27, 2009

Venue: Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center

Officiant: Dr. Pat Boone

Our latest wedding was that of Jessica and John, right here in Colorado Springs. Their wedding was full of emotion, as is evident from the images. I loved photographing this wedding for that very reason.

Jessica and John are both artists. Below, you can see the rocks that Jessica hand painted for each of her guests. I cannot imagine how long it took to paint each of these. This is actually only part of the collection. We plan to use this photo as a background for one of her album pages. Very nice. She painted one for me too, but I'm keeping that one to myself....cause it's mine. Thanks so much, Jessica. That really meant a lot to me.

Both the wedding and ceremony took place at the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center. I happened to catch Mellisa, the CSFAC Events coordinator in this shot. Photographers, don't give me any grief about the selective color shot, k? :)

Dr. Pat Boone helps makes one last adjustment to John's tie moments before the ceremony. Pat is an incredible officiant, ladies! Her link is above if you are currently looking.

Not what you think, but cool shot nonetheless. It was just a little warm in the Fine Arts Center that day.

Okay, these girls are utterly amazing harpists. I was stunned at how professional, and talented they are for being so young.

John's reaction at seeing Jessica for the first time coming down the aisle.

Jessica takes a moment to keep from crying.

John gazing at his bride as Dr. Boone speaks.

Jessica listens to her groom's vows.

As you can imagine, I hear a lot of vows, and they're all wonderful and meaningful. However, Jessica's vows brought a tear to my eye this time. It started with, "I was going to say that I didn't know what I did before I met you, but then I realized that I did know--I spent 10,950 days wondering if a man like you existed." WOW!

John's reaction to hearing Jessica's vows. As you can see, John's a big softy.

Emerson, the flower girl gets a little upset during the ceremony. Poor little thing. I really wanted to drop my camera and give her a hug. She was over it soon enough, though.

Jessica fighting back a tear moments before her and John are declared husband and wife.

John's grandmother being honored at the reception.

Jessica's father gave a great speech, warmly welcoming John into the family.

Emerson enjoys her cake with mommy looking on.

Creative portrait with the Bride and Groom at the reception.

Emerson gets spun by her Aunt Ragan.

Michael Jackson's "Thriller" was huge hit at the reception.

Congrats, Jess and John!

Colorado Springs Fine Ats Center Weddings br Brad Walters Photography.

Chris and Angela - Orange Beach, AL | Pensacola, FL

2009-07-02T02:05:26Z

Sooooo.....bear with us as we catch up blog posts from the past elebenty years. We are so behind we think we're in the lead.

Way back in May, I flew to Florida to shoot Angela and Chris's wedding. A very cool couple who was referred by Galin and Emily Knight, past clients and dear friends. Galin and I were in the Army together, and he married Emily a few years ago. You can see them here. (I can't believe that page is still up).

Chris, the groom for this wedding, is an F-18 fighter pilot (see the wings on the below photo? wish I had some a' dos) His groom's cake was a massive Aircraft Carrier (the Ronald Reagan), and was probabaly the biggest cake I have ever seen.

Chris and Angela met when Angela's family partipated in an "invite a Serviceman to dinner" program. They fell in love, and now there married!

The couple: Angela and Chris Viernes

Date: May 23, 2009

Location: Pensacola

Chris's "wings". More medals to come I'm sure.

A creative portrait with Chris and his men.

Chris and his men pose for a portrait outside the church. Chris is in the far back, and his best man Napolean is in the foreground.

The beautiful Angela is attended to by her make-up artist in the catholic church they were married in.

Angela inspects her troops before the ceremony, with Napolean as the enforcer in the background. Chris's military discipline has rubbed off. Clearly, this is a portrait I staged. Angela is far too sweet to do something like this. In fact, this is one of the only shots where Angela isn't fighting a smile.

Angela is escorted by both her parents to her wedding ceremony.

Even Fighter Pilots cry at the site of their brides for the first time.

...as do their brides.

Chris and Angela carry their unity candles.

Chris and Angela enjoy their first dance as Husband and Wife.

Chris hugs his Best Man Napolean after his Best Man speech.

Angela hugs her Maid of Honor after her speech.

Chris's mom cracks a joke during her speach that has everyone rolling.

Chris's cake fighting skills were no match for Angela's prowess. He attempts to overwhelm his opponent, but alas, is denied.

But she showed him mercy.

Angela and her Father enjoy their dance.

....and the rest of us enjoyed the Hawaiin dancers.

Chris is attacked again....this time by a Hawaiin warrior challenging him for his bride.

If you can't beat em....join 'em.

Chris and Angela are the center of attention on the dance floor.

One of Chris's groomsmen is...I dunno...but Angela appears to want none of it.

Angela is embraced by her girlfriends on the dance floor.

Hawaiin dancers perform for Chris and Angela.

This is Galin...he is an old friend of many years who now lives far away. He's been in front of my lens many times. Galin...if you happen to read this. I miss you...sucka fooh.

Yeah...I dunno...funny, though.

*sniff*...I dun wanna dance.

You can't touch this.

Chris and Angela make their departure from the reception.

Congratulations Chris and Angela!

Megan and Luke - Morrison, CO

2009-06-29T20:38:34Z

Megan and Luke Castanien

Date: June 13, 2009

Ceremony: Trading Post Backyard at Red Rocks, Morrison, CO

Reception: The Pines at Genesee, Golden, CO

Cake: Das Meyer

Flowers: Jennifer Pollock with Blooming Scents

DJ: Greater Range DJ

The flowers around the ceremony site were in full bloom. Megan and Luke sneak a peak at each other during the ceremony.

Since so many family members were in town, Megan shared her wedding day with her sister-in-law by throwing her a surprise baby shower early in the morning.

Megan's sister-in-law get's a bit choked up after reading one of the many cards presented to her.

This was taken in the limo on the way to the ceremony.

The view from the ceremony site at the trading post in Morrison.

Megan got a little emotional during her vows.

...and when Luke slipped on her wedding band, as well.

A group protrait of all of the wedding guests, family, friends, and bridal party.

An aspiring photographer stealing my job. :) His composition was flawless, and his rapport with his clients was legendary.

We took over downtown Morrison and stopped traffic for this shot.

Megan and Luke's cake was extraordinarily beautiful. The detail was amazing. We had never worked with Das Meyer before, but they are clearly skilled artisans.

Megan's brother gives a speech.

Megan sneaks a kiss before they cut the cake.

...and another afterwards.

Luke and his mom Pam. Pam was very involved in the wedding planning. She had a hurt leg the day of the wedding, and someone asked her if it was going to affect her dancing with her son. She responded with "nothing could keep me from dancing with my son tonight."

Megan and her father's dance started out as you would expect.

...but quickly turned into a boogey session.

Congratulations Megan and Luke! We were happy to be there for you!

Morrison Wedding Photography by Brad Walters Photography

Album Design - Evina and Brent

2009-06-17T22:20:39Z

While we wait for the wedding season to get into full gear, Sarah has been busy designing albums from last season. This is the latest album designed, and she's so excited to show you. Sarah works closely with each of our clients to design the album that is right for each individual couple. This is Evina and Brent's album whom you may remember got married in September of last year in Philadelphia, PA. You can view the original blog post here.

Couture Gowns by Alisa Benay

2009-06-08T20:34:58Z

A few weeks ago, I had the privilege to work with couture wedding gown designer, Alisa Benay. She draws inspiration for her gowns from the Edwardian and Victorian eras and makes them in a style all her own. With the use of corsets and bustles, she truly knows how to make the female figure appear to its best advantage. I am pleased to show you the first of many gowns--The Josephine--that I will be photographing in another couple of weeks. Also modeled is a cameo necklace that she designed specifically to go with her gowns.

Nominated for Best Photographer Colorado Springs

2009-06-08T19:36:23Z

Hello Everyone!

We have been nominated for the Colorado Springs A-list Photographer award from FOX 21!

Please take a moment and vote for us (if you think we should win that is), we would really appreciate it. Thanks so much!!!

(the contest ends on June 12th so please hurry!)

Here's the link to the voting page - FOX21's A-list for Best Photographer

Brad & Sarah

A Picnic in the Mountains!

2009-03-27T02:59:56Z

We all went to the mountains on Sunday and had a picnic! I took this shot of Isaac and mommy next to this still frozen, snow covered lake. I used the ProFusion for fill flash, and couldn't believe how well it worked when I got back to my computer. It was so bright out there that I really couldn't see my LCD that well, and I wasn't planning on making this family photo a "promo" for the flash diffuser so I didn't take a "without the ProFusion" shot like in the last post. You can see how well it filled in the shadows however.

Isn't Isaac the cutest little mommy lover ever?

St. Patrick's Day Parade!

2009-03-20T18:05:57Z

Sarah, Isaac and myself headed off to the St Patty's day Parade in Colorado Springs last Saturday and had a blast. We went up to the Pikes Perk coffee shop second floor so Isaac could have a bird's eye view of the parade. It was a perfect place to get some great shots of Isaac enjoying the parade while he dined on some nummy goldfish. What was really exciting for me, is that I used my new flash diffuser to balance the outside background (bright light) with the interior low light, and it worked amazingly. I included one shot of a natural light image (an image taken without the aid of an artificial light source, such as a flash and a flash diffuser) so that you can see just what a difference it made. I really think I have designed something very useful and am excited to launch this baby!

Isaac poses on Mommy's back for his daddy and that ding, dang camera again.

Isaac meets a little Irish friend with a shirt that said "I drink me milk by the pint" Very cute.

Here is a lady twirling a thing. I should have been a newspaper photographer with the gobs of caption writing skills I have.

Isaac watches the parade from the second floor of Pikes Perk coffee shop.

This image made me think of my friend Steve! I dunno why :)

Little mushy face McGoo!

"You wanna goldfish daddy? I have lots!"

Isaac and mommy watch the parade. Compare this shot with the one below. The light in this shot was accomplished by using the ProFusion. This is the "natural light" shot I promised to show. This shot was not given the added benefit of having the foreground lighted with a flash and flash diffuser. In situations like these, the photographer must choose to either expose for the foreground, or expose for the back ground. Using a flash and flash diffuser gives the photographer the option to expose for the background, and light the foreground (like the shot above). Is it studio quality light? No....but your not IN a studio are you? My car drives by....no, not really. These are my cars....ok no not really either. I don't even really like this one...but it's mine too.......sniff.

Best of 2008!

2009-02-23T18:26:21Z

As we gear up for the 2009 wedding season with consults, and website updates, and photographic equipment repair (or the purchase of new stuff...yay!), we took the time to create a 2008 "best of" collection. Enjoy!

Two WPJA wins!

2008-12-10T21:55:20Z

So the results came in yesterday, and I placed 9th in the Reception category and 15th in Scene Setter category. Here are the images. You can view the rest of the award winning images at www.WPJA.com

Isaac is Dancing his way to Christmas!

2008-12-10T09:29:21Z

Here's a video of Isaac dancing his way to Christmas! Happy Holidays, everyone!

Bahamas Wedding with Elizabeth and Darren

2008-05-25T01:27:22Z

Steve and I just got back from the Bahamas where we shot one of the most amazing weddings I’ve ever done…seen...or even heard of. We all stayed at the Atlantis resort in Nassau. Elizabeth and Darren were married on a private island called Rose Island, and the reception was on a private yacht. Elizabeth, her father, and I arrived on the island on a chartered seaplane (the pilot was there too I guess), and we sailed the Bahamian seas during the reception. After the reception, we went back to the resort and had a portrait session at the resort. It was truly an amazingly beautiful, intimate wedding with just family and close friends. Why the chips in this shot? Darren had walked down to the roulette tables on the morning of his wedding and put $50 on red 19 (the 19th was his wedding day) and won a ton of cash. Very cool story.

You can view more photos from this wedding by clicking here

Sam and Brian's Wedding

2008-05-25T00:39:40Z

This is Samantha and Brian’s wedding in Florida, and this is a very special wedding to me. Samantha’s family and I have known each other for many years, and there is a very interesting story behind it. Years ago, I was approached by a bridal shop to do a shoot, and a commercial for the bridal shop. The TV commercial was about a photography shoot…get it? Ok, moving on. Sam was one of the models in the shoot, that was the first day we met. Not long after that, her older sister Melissa got engaged to Tom, so Samantha told her sister to call me about her wedding. Fast forward to Melissa’s wedding…it was awesome. Fast forward again a few years later and Sarah and I have moved to Colorado and we get a call from Sam asking if I would come back to the lowlands to shoot her wedding. Of course that was an easy decision. It feels great to be trusted by a family to shoot two of their daughter’s weddings. Thank you Presley Family.

You can view the rest of my favorites by clicking here

Pensacola Florida Wedding Photography by Brad Walters Photography

James and Silvina Engagement Photos

2008-05-20T23:32:53Z

I met James and Silvina on May 11, and we had a wonderful time for their engagement shoot at Cheyenne Canyon and the Broadmoor Hotel. Here are some of my favorites. Enjoy!

You can view the rest of my favorites by clicking here

Colorado Springs Wedding Photography by Brad Walters Photography

GIVE PEAS A CHANCE

2008-03-28T03:00:58Z

Sarah just caught this shot of Mr. Man eating peas for the first. It's a good thing mommy knows how to shoot, cause this kid isn't cute at all...huh?

I WAS JUST VOTED ONE THE TOP 100 WEDDING PHOTOJOURNALISTS BY THE WPJA!!

2008-03-13T23:02:38Z

Pretty excited 'bout that.

Catching up on Blog Posts....sigh

2008-02-17T04:36:39Z

Here's a handful from Lydia and Joseph's Wedding in Florida.

You can view more photos from this wedding by clicking here

Florida wedding photography by Brad Walters Photography

Swedish Tank Drifting

2008-01-09T03:44:09Z

Ok, this has nothing to do with photography, but this is freakin cool. As some of you may know, I am a former U.S. Army Tanker for 4 years after high school and before college. I needed to see the world, and blow some of it up. I did plenty of both. We used to do this in Korea, drifting in a 60 ton slab of rolled steel with explosives on board......good clean fun. DEATH BEFORE DISMOUNT!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

2007-12-25T05:02:22Z

Merry Christmas everyone! Sarah and I got our gift a bit early this year (Nov 2nd).

WPJA SECOND PLACE!!!

2007-12-23T19:22:00Z

WAAHHOOOO! The WPJA 4th quarter results came in and I won a SECOND! This is awesome news because it earns me the coveted gold medallion next to my name on the WPJA page. WPJA photographers only get the gold medallion after winning a 1st, 2nd or 3rd. It also unlocks a Pix Page of ALL of my winning images over the years if you click on the gold medallion. I have been chasing this medallion FOREVER! Thanks Beth and Stephen for planning an awesome wedding that fostered this winning image. Check out the screen shot from the WPJA page.

Sometimes Isaac just needs his mommy

2007-12-09T17:04:23Z

This is how Isaac and mommy sleep most nights. He seems so content on his mommy's chest.

...and of course every new baby needs a guard kitty to protect them while they sleep.