. sara & matt 2 : mt. princeton hot springs wedding photography .

Part two of Matt & Sara's excellent wedding  on a beautiful, snowy day at Mt. Princeton Hot Springs!  I loved the cap guns as they were pronounced husband & wife (they also made for a very interesting reception :)

You know me - the guns were my favorite part!

I love how crazy fun it got on the dance floor...

This is what it looks like when your wedding guests dance to Tupac:

This is what it looks like when your parents watch your wedding guests dance to Tupac:

Sara & Matt had a projector set up to play snowboarding videos during the reception - great idea!

Thanks so much, you guys!  What a fun, beautiful day.  You're wonderful and I completely enjoyed shooting your wedding :)

. valentine's day boudoir specials .

(Thanks to the lovely Jenny for letting me use some images from her recent boudoir session!  Schedule your session soon - I can't wait to work with you)

. happy new year .

Happy New Year!  I am amazed at all that 2009 has brought me, and I wish all my lovely clients and blog stalkers the best 2010 possible.  February of 2010 will mark the beginning of my third year as studio owner and full-time photographer - crazy!  I feel like I've learned so much, and pretty much every shoot I do, I fall more in love with my job.  That sounds kind of lame, but it's definitely true.  I am so grateful for the many amazing people I've met over these last two years.  My friends and family have been so supportive and encouraging.  I have loved working with old friends, meeting great new people, and my favorite - turning new clients into close friends :)  For example, the outstanding Leslie and Brian gave me this awesome gift after our Dia de los Muertos trash the dress session.  I have it sitting directly across from my computer, on the table next to the door, so when I'm feeling overwhelmed I can look up at it and smile and remember what awesome clients I have.  It makes me happy.  Check it out.  Just look at it.

2009 has been crazy!  I paid off the studio two years early, my business has grown, and I've learned so much about photography, business, and my own work ethic :)  I'm not really the "resolutions" type, but since this is a good time of the year to reassess, I've decided to make a few business changes.

1. I will limit myself to 10 hours of work a day.  Weeelll.... that's my goal :)  Moderation is hard when you love your job and you're your own boss, because when something needs to be done, it's hard not to just go do it.  However, especially the last six months or so, I feel like I'm saying "no" to my friends and family all the time so that I can get work stuff done.  I've neglected important relationships, and caught myself editing or designing albums at 11pm more than once, rather than doing whatever it is that normal people do at 11pm.  I'm usually a notorious gym rat, and I haven't been to the gym in months.  I love books, and the last time my dad asked, "What are you reading these days?", I laughed, and responded, "Um... my email?"  Uncool.  In 2010, I will strive for better balance between my work and my personal life.  Because, no matter how much you love your job, it's okay to have a personal life.

2. I will respond to phone calls, emails, Facebook messages, etc. more quickly.  This really goes along with #1.  I've been so so busy (which is awesome!) that I haven't always been easy to get a hold of.  Most of the time, if you call me during the day and I don't pick up, it's because I'm with a client, either on a shoot or a consult.  This means that, at the end of the day, I have a lot of communication to catch up on.  Phone calls are definitely welcome, but I prefer email because I can keep track of it better.  Also, I love Facebook!  Be my friend, become a fan of Cedar House Photography, and let's get to know each other!  Feel free to use Facebook to get in touch with me for any reason.  If you have any questions that are specific to your account or your order, please don't text me or ask those questions through wall posts or the the chat feature on Facebook, only because I'm easily forgetful and I like to have things in writing so I can refer to them later :)  Otherwise, feel free to text or chat with me about anything!

3. I will be implementing a re-design policy for cards and albums.  Actually, I've always had one, but this year, I'll be enforcing it :)  For each album or set of cards, I'll give you an initial design.  You can give me your input and I'll do one re-design, if necessary.  After that, there will be a small fee for each set of changes.  Thanks for your understanding.

I'm looking forward to a lot of good things in 2010, including

- a short trip to Nashville this month for Imaging USA

- a large, and growing, list of seriously fun weddings all over Colorado - if you're looking to get married in 2010, contact me soon!  Dates are being gobbled up... like Pac-Man... or something.

- a road trip to Santa Fe, NM, where I grew up

- a trip out to the East coast for my beautiful sister's graduation from college (and hopefully a few shoots)

- a whole new crop of lovely seniors - you guys make me so happy and I can't wait for senior season again!

- working with new studio management software and a cool new album company

- taking French at the local community college.  Because I'm a nerd.  Because I can.  And mostly because they don't offer any more Spanish, Mandarin, or Arabic.  I guess I'm kind of settling.

Anyway.  Thanks for being my clients and my friends.  I appreciate your comments, your encouragement, your business, and your friendship.  Happy 2010!

. st. croix .

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...

. fort christiansvaern .

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 :)