It has been so brutally unforgivingly cold lately here in Colorado, and I’m definitely starting to feel the winter blues and cabin fever set in.  Good thing I have some awesome photos of an awesome trip to look back on!  Almost as good as being there… almost :)  I’ll say it again – I LOVED shooting in St. Croix!  Fun, colorful architecture, amazing sunny light, and, of course, my incredible clients :)  Here are a few personal photos from the trip to help transport you to a warmer place for a moment (at least mentally).

(Actually, I cheated… this was over Puerto Rico or one of the other islands on the way in to St. Croix.  But I still love this shot)

We were traveling at such a weird time.  Everything seemed deserted.  I don’t know if I’ve ever seen the subways at DIA that empty!  My favorite part of the long day of travel was getting to ride the cool 10-seater little plane from St. Thomas over to St. Croix.  The plane was so small that they stashed our luggage in the wings, and weighed our carry-ons to make sure they were evenly distributed throughout the plane.  The shot above is taken from the back seat :)

The next shot is the view from our friends Haven and Matt’s house.  Jealous!  When they moved in, they also found a whole cabinet full of cool retro liquor, which I was naturally fascinated by.

I guess it was “worm season”… the frangipani worms eat all the leaves and branches off of a certain tree, at the same time every year.  The trees are essentially stripped bare.  It was crazy how fast that happened – the worms would descend upon a tree by the hundreds.  If you put your ear up close, you can hear them crunching away.  The locals apparently hate them, but I thought they looked cool :)

Once again, a HUGE thank you to Haven and Matt for letting us stay with them!  I’m dying to go back right about now…

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jan odell December 20th, 2009

i’m in love. the wierd bug, the beautiful seedling sprouting from the balcony, again the colors, the bamboo forrest. you know just what to shoot and when…..more, more and more!

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When I was in St. Croix, I loved having the opportunity to visit Fort Christiansvaern in Christiansted.  There is so much cool history that’s evident throughout this compound (Courtyard! Archways!  Color!  Right on the water!  Alexander Hamilton grew up here! Dungeons!  Cool windows!  Oceanfront cannons!)  I wandered around, my mouth pretty much drooling at the thought of shooting a session here.  I have maybe a thousand ideas for this place, and it costs all of, I don’t know.. three dollars to get in to.  So, here’s what you want to do.  You want to get married or do a Trash the Dress session.  You want some amazing amazing pictures.  At the same time, you want a vacation that’s fun and off the beaten path, but you don’t want to have to deal with the hassle of passports and visas.  You want to hire me to come back to St. Croix and shoot your wedding / Trash the Dress at Fort Christiansvaern. Trust me on this.  This is in your best interests.  Haha.  See?

The view from Fort Christainsvaern:

Yep… you know you wanna :)

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Anonymous December 31st, 1969

Leslie Dollinger December 8th, 2009

Wow, this is amazing.

Leslie 'Hillman' Dollinger December 8th, 2009

Wow, this is amazing.

Leslie Hillman Dollinger December 8th, 2009

Wow, this is amazing.

jan odell December 20th, 2009

molly: the colors were amazing. i love your people, but your shots of stuff, things and places are equally incredible. i esp love the aqua one with the metal grate. omg! i’ve looked at these about 4 times thru. you could make me a book of these for xmas! so very gorgeous. they sing!

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Jah is a friend of Leslie’s, and when he saw her Dia de los Muertos trash the dress session on Facebook, he contacted me about doing a fun, non-traditional Christmas card shoot.  I knew this was going to be a fun one just a few minutes into our phone conversation.

“So, I want to do an ugly Christmas sweater theme,” he said, laughing.  “And, there are these poodles, like, giant poodles, but they belong to my landlord…”

I just started cracking up.  We talked for the better part of an hour, and finally he said, “Basically, I just want something that would make someone say, ‘What?  That’s a grown man doing that!’”

So, with that premise… meet Jahrae.  He works in admissions at Regis in Denver, he’s a total sweetheart, and he was unfortunately not able to get his hands on those poodles.  I love meeting clients who I just laugh with throughout the entire shoot.  We met up in the chapel at Regis (which is gorgeous), and he brought two of his security guard friends who, were somehow able to keep completely straight faces as they introduced themselves to me as “Teddy” and “Swahili,” while Jah’s cracking up in the background and busting out the altar wine and cigars.  Then, we meandered around campus, doing some shots in the cool clock tower in the library, the Santos room where the relics are kept, and some more GQ-style stuff.  Then we played with Christmas lights in an old classroom with retro tiles.  Gahh, I love shooting in Denver!  Dude, J… we’re going to hang out more in the future, and it’ll be fun.  Chris and Neil.. you’re pretty cool too :)  Poodles next year!

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Anonymous December 31st, 1969

Lindsay Lackey December 4th, 2009

I love the Christmas lights shots! Great idea!

Leslie Dollinger December 4th, 2009

Yay! Love it!

Leslie 'Hillman' Dollinger December 4th, 2009

Yay! Love it!

Leslie Hillman Dollinger December 4th, 2009

Yay! Love it!

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As promised – the beautiful Melissa with her beloved horse, Tempe.  The first shots are in her riding field (hey St. Croix people- she teaches lessons!),  and the cool gourd-looking fruits are mahogany… We had absolutely perfect light and perfect weather!

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Melissa November 25th, 2009

Molly, Zach- these are amazing! Thank you for making my dream come true.

wendy November 26th, 2009

Hi,

What a great pictures… love them very much.
Pictures with horses is always cool…
Does Melissa still has her trashed wedding dress?
I might be interested in buying the dress in trashed condition.
Can you pass her my e-mail address?

Thank you

Wendy

Melissa January 25th, 2010

Ah Wendy the dress is gone, I’d have cheerfully sent it to you if I’d seen this sooner. Words are without use in expressing what fun Tempe and I has with Molly and her faitful meterman Zach… by all means, DO A TRASH THE DRESS !!!

wendy January 26th, 2010

That’s a pitty.
in case you have futur trash the dress sessions, please pas me a message, as I’m seriously interested in buying trashed wedding dresses … I try to restore them as they were and donate them to people which can’t affort to pay for a nice wedding dress.

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I have been looking forward to this shoot ever since Melissa and I started emailing back and forth.  She and Ivan got married just over a year ago, and when she heard I was coming down to St. Croix, we scheduled a Trash the Dress shoot immediately.  Having lived there for many years, she knows the island so well, and she was kind enough to drive us all over to scout out locations, get ideas, and introduce us to St. Croix.  What a fabulous tour guide, and what a beautiful, beautiful bride!

One of the many things I loved about St. Croix is all the old sugar mill ruins from the sugar plantation days.  The one that we used in this shoot is just down the road from her house!  Incredible.  I was surprised to find that they used bricks made of coral, along with regular stone blocks, to build the mills.  How cool.  And the very last shots with the pool… um, yeah.  That’s the view from Melissa’s house.  Not only does she have an incredible ocean view, but you can see the sugar mill and pretty much the whole island, too.  What?  Jealous?  Nooo, not at all…

Because there’s such an abundance of stunning locations, this post is only part one.  Oh my holy color… seriously, from the sky to the water to the green lushness everywhere to the pinkish sand at sunset.. I’m so in love with shooting in the Caribbean.  Part two, with her horse Tempe, is coming soon soon soon!  And a huge thanks to Zach for being the best flash /gear holder ever!

THANK YOU THANK YOU Melissa!  Much love and the rest are coming soon!