IT'S ME :)

Yesterday, I picked up the NEW issue of the Knot...and as I was thumbing through the goodies...I found ME AND MY HUSBAND in an add!!!! Ha Ha! It was soo funny! The amazing and talented Brittany Hanson of BLR Life Photography shot our wedding last April 2006 in Maui. She rocks!! Anyway, Collages.Net had used her (and our) images in a national add! Here's the images to show! and a couple ones of me and my husband! Brittany is so talented!


all shot by the fabulous Brittany Hanson of BLR Life



Me and Britt...who is also one of my best friends!!!


Have a great day!

Melissa

Just being real!

Last week I met up with Seth and Kristin for their engagement pictures up at Chautauqua Park in beautiful Boulder! We had a ball..and even included their 3 great...um...I mean GREAT dogs! They are getting married in July and they were so much fun to work with! Seth is a really funny guy and a prankster and he is always making Kristin laugh! What a fun couple! The funny part is that they both 'claim' to not take good photos...but they were so natural with eachother and because it was all about fun and 'not so stiff' poses...they were great! Here's a little email from Kristin she sent me yesterday :) she is so cute!

"Oh my goodness! You are amazing! We both usually take such terrible pictures!
Thank you so much. .......
Thanks again!
kristin"

...and their 3 fluffy dog's!

I told you Seth was a prankster....




I think that I can say that ALWAYS BEING REAL, having fun, and celebrating your love and friendship for eachother brings out the best in eachother! It's my job to capture -'that decisive moment' and I hopefully create a place for you to truly trust your photographer!

Thanks Seth and Kristin for trusting me, and letting me show you how amazing and beautiful you are ;)

Have a great day!

I heart being a second shooter!!

This weekend I had the absolute honor of shooting a wedding with seasoned photographer and good friend Katie Van Buren. She owns her florishing business..Van Buren Photography and we both have something in common :) We both received some of our education at the Art Institute of Colorado in Denver! She invited me to come along and shoot along side with her at one of her fabulous weddings! And fabulous it was!! It was at St. John's cathedral in Denver and the beautiful J.W. Marriott in Cherry Creek! Here are a couple of my favorite shots of the day of Jessica and Andy--who were just the sweetest couple on the planet!
Katie, thank you SOOOOOO much for the opportunity to come and play this weekend!!! It really was an honor to shoot with you!

Thanks girl!!


ohh..and I LOOOOVVVVEEE her Kate Spade shoes!! Those bows are awesome!!

check out this church!!

Here's Katie in action :)



I also heart the cake!! Isn't it so beautiful...and the flowers smelled soooooo amazing! :)

Filters, Photoshop, Actions

I have to say that I am VERY careful if I use filters on any of my images....I perfer the real deal....meaning the juiceness of the actual moment without the added effect of filters. Although, I just found a couple interesting things online and thought I would experiment and give it a shot! So here's my tribute to the origina TIN TYPE photography. I just thought it was cool so I used it on one of my favorite couples and close friends wedding image I photographed a couple of weeks ago:)

Tin Type images were made in the mid 1800's and were very popular and fairly easy to make
"Being quite rugged, tintypes could be sent by post, and many astute tintypists did quite a trade in America during the Civil War, visiting the encampments. Later, some even had their shop on river-boats."

Eventually they were superseded by other forms of print photography including the Polaroid and 35mm camera. And now , of course...the Digital era has fully arrived and we can make 'mock tin types' on the computer...isn't it crazy!

what's your blog worth? Technorati Profile

Totally random....I guess my blog is worth some coin...$2,258.16 to be exact....I told you RANDOM huh!

My blog is worth $2,258.16.
How much is your blog worth?

Thanks to {B}ecker...who also has a blog worth some serious dough (way more than mine :)....Like he said, I guess it has something to do with traffic, search engine rankings and such....I guess some of my fellow photogies keep up with me :) like I do with so many others!! I feel so inspired seeing what my friends are up to, their favorite images from amazing weddings and a glimpse into their wonderful life all across the country.. it's like the ultimate pen-pal meets interactive imagery...or something like that.

Anyway...add me to your favorites on your Technorati and I'll do the same with your bloggy blog blog.

here here for blogging :)

Happy Mother's Day!!

"NEVER DOUBT THAT A SMALL GROUP OF THOUGHTFUL, COMMITTED CITIZENS CAN CHANGE THE WORLD, INDEED, ITS THE ONLY THING THAT EVER HAS." ~MARGARET MEAD

Happy Mother's Day to all the Mommies of the world!!! What a great day to acknowledge all the beautiful woman in our lives!!

Below is parts of an email I recieved from a local group of Evergreen women who are standing for Peace in this world! These woman stand for Peace on Earth and I was moved to see them wanting to make a difference!

"...In response to the invitation below, some women in Evergreen have decided to stand in Elk Meadow facing Highway 74. Others may decide to stand some other place, or to simply stand where they happen to be at 1 pm on May 13. Will you stand for peace with us?....
....Please stand with us for five minutes of silence at 1 p.m. your local time on May 13, 2007, in your local park, school yard, gathering place, or any place you deem appropriate, to signify your agreement with the statement below. We ask you to invite the men who you care about to join you. We ask that you bring bells to ring at 1 p.m. to signify the beginning of the five minutes of silence and to ring again to signify the end of the period of silence. During the silence, please think about what you individually and we collectively can do to attain this world....." {email}

SO, of course, I was moved and wanted to document their beauty and their power as a collective team of individuals to stand for something so GREAT and so often so many of us take for granted...PEACE!





Happy Mother's day to all the Mom's in the world!

Inspiration move me brightly

I still cry at weddings. I still get butterflies when a father see's his daughter in her wedding dress for the first time, and this weekend was no exception!
Two dear friends of mine became one amazing united couple this Saturday. I don't even have words to describe the emotional bond between Jesi and Kevin! Their love is so powerful it creates blissful smiles on everyone around them. We had rainy weather again this weekend, but something was watching out for us, because we were able to do all of their amazing photos before the downpore came while light in the sky was magical!--It's actually 'good luck' if it rains on your wedding day and as soon as we steped in side the beautiful pavilion for the recepiton, the skys opened up and created a beautiul raindrop lullaby on the full glass roof of the Mediterranean style pavilion.







Congratulations Jesi and Kevin! I am so happy for you!!

ummmmm......

Ok...It's May 4th....and IT'S SNOWING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!............
....and all I have to say is.....;(

"How do I love thee...."

"...let me count the ways..."I feel like reciting this whenever I am around Trisha and Zach! Their love is sooooo sweet! They are Highschool sweethearts!!!!...they met in the 8th grade! I have the pleasure of photographing their wedding this June! They are getting married at one of my personal favorite get-a-ways...Mt. Princeton Hot Springs! It is so beautiful there I cannot wait to capture their wedding day...I know it will be so amazing and sweet and perfect....oh..I could go on! We just shot their engagement session and it couldn't have been more amazing! The tulips are in full bloom (like their love for eachother)..so I thought it was so perfect to show off their loving effect on eachother in the midist of these vibrant, powerful and colorful flowers! They also were kind enough to answer a few questions about eachother and their wedding! They are so cute!

1. Wedding date:

June 2, 2007!!

2. How did you meet? (you and Zach)

Trisha: We met in high school! Zach claims he started liking me in 8th grade, but I really didn’t like him then…he was mean to me in PE class!! We didn’t really start talking to each other until our sophomore year, though.

3. Was it love at first sight...tell me about it!

Zach: Well, it was more like getting to know each other.

Trisha: He was my first and only boyfriend, so I was really nervous! It took me a while to be comfortable, but from there the rest is history!

4. Favorite thing about eachother...Zach has to answer this one too!

Trisha: I love Zach’s outgoing personality…everyone knows who he is and loves him! It is such a blessing to me to be loved by a man who can always make me smile!

Zach: How ticklish she is!

5. How long have you known each other?

We have known each other for 8 years…and dated for 6!

6. How did he/she pop the question?

Trisha: I was at summer school at Texas A&M University last summer, so one day I thought I was just going to the pool at our Rec Center to hang out with my friend Lauren. Little did I know that Zach had coordinated with Lauren…and flown to Texas! I was laying there soaking up the sun with my eyes closed, when I looked up and Zach was right in front of me! I was so shocked that all I could say was “Oh my goodness!” Zach got right down on one knee, said some amazingly sweet things, and asked me to marry him!!

7. Who did you tell first? Why?

Zach: Trisha’s Mom…but she already knew it was going to happen. Everyone knew except her!



8. Favorite date

One day two summers ago we went to our favorite Mongolian grill and then headed to the park across from Zach’s apartment. We relaxed on blankets in the park and ate Banana Cream Pie from Whole Foods. We ended the night with Frisbee and a slow walk home….it was fun and romantic!

9. How long has your engagement been?

Almost 1 year exactly….we are so ready for the big day to get here!!


10. Who's designing your gown?

Maggie Sottero

11. What are your wedding colors?

Raspberry and Kiwi (doesn’t that sound so much better than pink and green?)

12. (he he) Tell me about the "engagement session"
The engagement session was so much fun! It was neat to cuddle, caress, and kiss…and in public! Melissa was really relaxed and her calm mood really helped us to feel comfortable. We most definitely laughed a lot…especially when Melissa would yell “kiss her” at Zach! But we didn’t mind kissing at all!!

13. Honeymoon? Where? How excited are you?

COSTA RICA!! We are going to Rancho Pacifico to stay in a villa. It is up in the jungle and overlooks the beach. We are looking forward to the peacefulness and rest!


14. Something on your "to do" list (not wedding related)

Zach: graduate from CSU
Trisha: find a job and move to Fort Collins

15. Who is throwing your Bachlor/bachlorette party?

Trisha: my sister and maid of honor Emily
Zach: his good friend from work Nate and high school best friend Keith


16. fill in the blank: "Beautiful is________"

Trisha: Well since I have wedding on my brain, beautiful is knowing that God created a man just for me to meet my needs; beautiful is realizing what an amazing thing marriage is! Beautiful is the tulips that we just took pictures with in Boulder!

17. What CD/album are you listening to?

Zach: The Roots Game Theory
Trisha: The 5 Browns

18. What has been your best/fav experience so far in planning your wedding?

Trisha: My favorite part has been getting the response cards back in the mail. I get so excited knowing that all of my favorite people are coming…and it is such a great reminder of how blessed and loved Zach and I are!

Zach: Trisha’s excitement

19. Any advice to the couples to be?

We would say to enjoy this time…it is such a precious and intimate time of growth in our relationship. Even though we want to be married more than anything, we wouldn’t trade our engagement for the world. We have learned a lot and what we have learned makes us even more excited for our marriage!


Congratulations Trisha and Zach!!!