Denver Mini-shoots

My wonderful brother, Geoff, and his lovely wife, Colette

Denver was a BLAST! The lighting was wonderful and aside from it being briefly chilly, the weather was wonderful! (Although 3 minutes after the last shoot, the wind whipped up so strong it shook my car! Perfect timing!)

I had 5 clients sign up and it was wonderful to see each of them again… I’ve had the pleasure of photographing each of them before.

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First up was Evelyn and her crew. I just adore this family! They are a blast to hang out with and the boys are definitely boys, but still so good and fun.

 

Evelyn and her good looking guys

Kai poking at the leaves

Colin monkeying around

Can you say "cheese-tastic"?

 

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Next up was Julie… I’ve been doing shoots with Julie since before I was professional! It’s always a blast to see just how much her adorable boys have grown. They are such sweet, fun little kiddos!

Julie and her good looking crew

Matt was hilarious! Every time he saw the camera, he'd smile for me!

Zach is definitely the trouble maker! He loves taking risks and giving me some good shots!

Julie is so photogenic - it's obvious that's where Matt gets it!

 

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Just a few years ago, I shot Cory and Adriane’s wedding and had a wonderful time. Seeing them with little Kaden was an absolute joy! He’s so precious….

Dorable Kaden being loved by mom and dad

He was quite fascinated by the leaves!!

I just love his big brown eyes and pudgy little fingers!!

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After my lunch break, it was back to the park to meet up with Dixie and her family along with her mother and niece and nephew. It was so much fun seeing everyone again – I just love their energy and their smiles just light everything up!

Aren't all those blue eyes to die for?

Little Ben was just a crack-up! With those blue eyes and blonde hair- what a cutie!

Henry's laugh just killed me! Loved the sound...

Trying to get 4 young grandkids to cooperate and do the same thing was impossible! But still adorable...

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Finally, it was Geoff and Colette. This was my first chance to do a professional shoot with one of my family members and it was an absolute blast. Geoff and Colette totally kill me. Even though she was feeling under the weather and had a bum knee, she was still willing to climb into a tree and do all kinds of quirky poses. They were so incredibly photogenic! Thanks so much for asking me to do this, guys.

Geoff and Colette

Shhhhhh.....

Gotcha!

This pretty much sums up my joy at photographing them!

 

My thanks for all of you for coming out! I had a wonderful time and it was awesome seeing all of you!

Cindy and Turbo

Not really sure if I should call this an engagement shoot, an almost married shoot or just a shoot with two wonderful, in love people. I’ve known Cindy for quite a while, but had only met Turbo briefly – and not enough to know much. But what a wonderful couple! Cindy is truly one of the nicest people I know and Turbo was a perfect match – just as kind, fun and wonderful.

Thank you for asking me to do this shoot for you….

I loved how relaxed and comfortable they were to work with – and it really comes through in this shot.

Turbo had a gorgeous Indian motorcycle that they wanted to be the main portion of the shoot. It was a hoot trying to shoot them moving!

Cindy’s chaps were so freakin’ cool!

Cindy’s ring is just gorgeous!

Congratulations and all my best on the road ahead!

Thanks again, Turbo and Cindy….

Fall Mini-shoots – Round 1!

My first outdoor Mini-shoots were a HUGE success – at least for me! I had a BLAST doing them and look forward to the next three I have coming up. The families were wonderful and the location was perfect…. And I managed to have just the perfect amount of time between each shoot to get a quick break and get ready for the next group.

The first family was Jennie, Matthew and their adorable kids. While we had a few rough spots, the end result was still some wonderful shots of their family.

I just love that adorable "I want mommy" look!

They were having so much fun goofing around! I love the emotion on Matthew's face.

Aren't those stunning eyes?

They are such a happy, sweet family!

Mimi picked a small daisy for Grace and she was SO proud of it!

Lisa, Scott and their gorgeous girls were next. I forget how much fun it is to shoot kids in early grade school – they still love the camera and just LOVE to have fun. Sienna and Sophia were a delight to work with!

"Can we take a picture by this aspen?!"

Daddy and (some) of his girls

"How about on this rock? Hey! You can see the mountain!"

I have to admit that this is one of my favorite photos ever!

Aren't they just wonderful together?

Thanks to everyone for such a fabulous time! I can’t wait until my next set of shoots coming up this weekend!!

The Linehan Boys

Growing up with four younger brothers, I remember horsing around in the yard, playing football, frisbee and whiffle ball. I remember just having a blast. With two girls that are still too young to do some of the real rough-housing and since they are, after all, girls, I was thrilled to be asked to shoot these 3 brothers. Jack, Henry and Tom were so awesome – they forgot I was there when they were playing (which makes shooting infinitely easier) and yet took the very small directions I gave them with ease. They also put up with my lame jokes and were GREAT sports!

Perdi, thank you so much for asking me to do this… Jack, have a wonderful time at college. And Tom and Henry, good luck in starting school next week!

Fighting for control

Headed for the goal!

Time to harass each other

Dog pile on Jack

Who is winning?

A round of golf

Not enough photos for you? Click here for a slideshow!

Thanks again!

Please check me out on Facebook!

I have been so incredibly busy with family and photos this summer that I’ve barely had a chance to add any new blog posts. But I have been trying to update Facebook from time to time. If you head there, you can become a fan and receive updates when I’ve updated my photos and more!

And if you stop by my Facebook page, please give me a shout – I’d love to hear from you!

www.facebook.com/tippiepics

My photoshoot with Bryan and his '88 Landcruiser, Bertha, was a fabulous experience! You can see more on Facebook.

My First Mini Sessions were AWESOME!

Last weekend I did my first Mini Sessions at Yoga for the Peaceful as a benefit. (50% of all proceeds will go to them.) With the nasty weather, I was so glad that we did it inside. The lighting there is just heavenly and I am so thrilled with how the photos turned out.

Here are just a few of the images that popped out at me while skimming through them this week.

First up was the Hegeman family. Sammie, my daughter, goes to school with Zoë, their daughter, and they adore each other! This family was so much fun to photograph – they are so laid back, funny and just all around wonderful people.

Colleen is a dear friend of mine and her daughter, Zoë, is one of Sammie's best friends. Butch and AJ are just as awesome and they were wonderful to shoot!

This photo cracks me up. They look sort of moody and serious - definitely NOT who they really are!

AJ LOVED being tossed back and forth. Can you tell?

Zoë kept showing me where AJ was headed next! She's so hilarious.

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Next up was Shelley and her kids Avery and Owen. Unfortunately, her husband, Eric, ended up busy and was unable to join them for the shoot. But we had a great time anyway! Shelley is a delightful, caring person who has done immense amounts for Yoga for the Peaceful. My daughters adore Avery and Owen is a complete crack-up! Shelley’s kids are truly wonderful.

Shelley, Avery and Owen smiling for the camera.... They are such a close family!

Owen was hilarious! He would alternate between hiding his gap-toothed grin, showing it off and giving a "normal" smile. But this one makes me smile the most!

Avery is so photogenic! It was practically impossible to take a bad photo of her. I just love how her hat sets off her eyes in this shot.

I just LOVE jumping photos - I think you can see who someone is in that moment that they are in the air... And I love the smiles when they get back to earth.

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In the afternoon, I got to photograph Maeve again. Shockingly, I didn’t blog about my first time meeting her for Christmas photos with her little brother Hayden. I couldn’t believe how much she’d grown up since I’d last seen her! She was just a few weeks old for her first photoshoot. Hayden has also grown immensely, as well! These two are just the spitting images of each other at the same age – and both are just precious! I forget just how much I love shooting babies until I do a baby session!

Poor Maeve was teething and for some reason, I missed most of the smiles she gave me. She looks so serious in this shot....

Look at those eyes!

It took a little prompting, but once I got Hayden smiling, it was almost impossible to have him stop! It was also precious watching how Maeve just LOVES her big brother!

Ahhh, precious little baby fingers and toes. Impossible to resist!

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Martha wanted a different kind of shoot, something I’d never done before – images for brochures she would be making for her personal training company in Boulder. I was a little worried about it at first, but Martha was wonderful to work with! We’d only talked a few times, but I had a delightful time shooting her and working with her. And it’s something I’d love to do again!

Martha's strength, balance and poise were wonderful to watch.

I just loved the definition in her shoulders and thought this pose showed it perfectly.

We also did a few artsy shots of her doing yoga which were a blast to shoot!

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Thank you, all, for helping support Yoga for the Peaceful and for making this shoot so successful. Each of you were fantastic to shoot – I had fun at each one.

I am also hoping to do another “Mini Session” outside this summer and would love to know if you’re interested! You can either post here or head over to my brand new TippiePics Facebook page and I’ll be happy to contact you when I’ve got a date set!

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On a side note, for those of you still waiting for the last installment of the inauguration photos, I hope to have those done soon. My daughter, Ellie, broke her femur right as I was finishing them up and I haven’t gotten back to them. Thanks for your patience!

Inauguration Part 4 – Colorado Inaugural Ball

My dress in the window

Ginger and I got back to Maggy’s house and got all dolled up. Ginger looked GORGEOUS! I absolutely loved her dress… Wow!

Anyway, we started walking towards the hotel running a little late. I was slightly worried about the will-call tickets – just hoping that they hadn’t abandoned handing them out and gone to the party. We looked for cabs, but none were found. Then I saw a bicycle cab and flagged her down! I’d ridden one here in Crested Butte, but it was more for fun. This was definitely a ton of fun, but it was for real – and got us there much faster!

Riding on the bicycle cab - pretty fun!

We got to the hotel and sure enough, they hadn’t even let people into the Ball yet! It was 6:15 and we had no problems getting our tickets – I’d worried about it for no reason.

These boots have been a LOT of places with me! I love my Uggs! But I did put on some pretty little patent leather flats for the Ball...

After taking off our boots and putting on nice shoes, we checked them and our coats and wandered inside with a drink. The food was truly fabulous! Something I definitely didn’t expect. Everyone was in a wonderful mood and within about 30 minutes of the Ball starting, the dance floor was full. I was shocked! I’d read an article in the Washington Post (I believe – I can’t find the article again! Whoops!) said that Inaugural Balls were boring, bland things with horrible food. Now maybe my standards are lower, but frankly, I was really impressed with it! The music rocked and aside from the overpriced drinks, everything was wonderful.

This couple looked so cute out on the dance floor by themselves - they were obviously in love. This was the emptiest the dance floor was the whole night!

Ginger looked STUNNING in her dress. I'm sort of mad that I didn't bring my flash with me... Next time?

Me in my dress. I have to admit, I actually got about 10 compliments on it! I was thrilled... And a little embarrassed.

My only real complaint for the evening, though, was that I had a horrible sinus headache that came on about half way through. Needless to say, I was pretty concerned about this  – I could deal with it that night, but NOT the next day! I did NOT want to have that much pain for the inauguration – that’s for sure!!!

I can't get over how full the dance floor was and how many people danced the night away!

And the lobby was packed, too! This was a huge Ball - much larger than I expected it to be!

I think by about 9:00 pm or so, we were both ready to head back. We were both pretty tired and wanted to get everything together before we made our escape. We got all our stuff sorted out, Ginger blew up the queen sized mattress and we both crashed at about 11 pm.

Me and Ginger crashed on the blow up bed for the night. *Yawn*

Inauguration Part 3 – Wandering through DC

My very first view EVER of the capital! Impressive, eh?

Before this trip, I had literally never been to DC before. I’ve traveled a lot, but never had the opportunity. I have to say that it was a little different from what I expected! LOL! I think I just expected everything to be easy to see all from one location. You know, “Hey! It’s the Washington Monument! And the Lincoln Memorial! And the Capital! And whoa! The White House! Oh, look… Ford’s Theater!” As if they would all be so instantly recognizable and close that it would be easy to see everything in about 2 minutes.

Not so much. I was floored at how huge the Mall was – 2 miles from end to end! I never even saw the Lincoln Memorial. And the Capital was soooo teeny when I was at the Washington Monument. And I could only get a small glimpse of the White House. Wild!

But I’m getting ahead of myself….

Ginger and I drove into town searching for Maggy’s apt. With the maze of one way streets and crazier than normal traffic (although seriously NOT what I was expecting – I thought it would be MUCH worse), it took a little while. But not super long.

We dropped off all of our stuff and went to get the tickets to the Ball. Unfortunately, no one was there and since we were both about to starve, we grabbed lunch at the hotel so we could be there when she got back. But even though I went down 4 times, the Colorado Ball lady didn’t show up. Bah.

Where is the Colorado Inaugural Ball lady? She's supposed to be here so we can get our tickets!

St John's Church - this is the church that the presidents usually attend - you can see the Washington Monument peeking out, too.

So Ginger and I went to the White House and the Mall to scope things out. Although it was ostensibly to see where to stand and give me a quick peek, I was just amazing by all the fences, structures and monuments I’d never seen before to really absorb what my plans should be the next day. It was fun being on the parade route almost exactly 24 hours before the new president. And to see the Washington Monument – wow! I hadn’t realized I’d be so impressed with it! I had far too many photos. LOL!

This is the structure opposite the President's parade viewing box - I think the White House is behind there somewhere!

Ginger looking at the crowds on the parade route. Check out that viewing box!

Me and Ginger - getting that shot on the parade route just like everyone else!

But the thing that cracked me up the most was the plethora of people selling their wares. Obama wares. Buttons, hats, shirts, scarves, bags, earrings. Yes, earrings.

I think I heard this guy say he was paying for his trip here from South Carolina by selling buttons. He was so funny and kind!

It wasn’t until much later, though, that I realized a pervading theme. When I was on my way to DC, I thought I’d have two distinct projects – me and my perceptions of the whole thing (for those of you not aware, I did a self portrait a day for a year project last year) and me recording the reactions of others. Once the inauguration was over, I realized that this wasn’t the theme. It was “peace”. But it wasn’t until I got home that I really saw how much said “peace”. I actually edited several photos that had the word “peace” in them without even realizing it until I sat in front of my computer. Having this feeling of peace come over me while I was at the inauguration and then having it driven home so hard once I got home really gave me the chills.

Signs like this don't usually jump out at me, but this one did. Someone joked as he walked past asking if the sign stayed still for me to get the shot I wanted!

"Imagine Peace" This is the photo that literally gave me chills - I hadn't even noticed the sign.

"Brethren"

On this day, though, I hadn’t really thought about that whole thing. On this day, I noticed just how kind and considerate everyone was. Crowds were everywhere, but on this day, no one shoved. No one yelled. Everyone was patient. Pretty extraordinary.

The crowds following behind us being funneled like rats in a maze. But nice, peaceful rats!

We walked to the White House with it’s bleachers and rocket launching box waiting for the president to view the parade. We saw the thousands of porta potties surrounding the Mall and the Washington Monument. We looked at the enormous jumbotrons set up along the way. And we flagged down a cab to make the trek back to the apartment to get ready for the Colorado Inaugural Ball….

Potty, anyone?

The Jumbotrons were VERY impressive in size!

Back to the apartment to make ourselves gorgeous!

More photos can be found here.

To be continued….

Inauguration Part 2 – Annapolis and the Party

Night shot of the Annapolis capital

Once in Annapolis, Ginger quickly showed me around town – I was really bummed that it had to be such a short tour! I think it was about then that I decided that Wednesday had to be my touring Annapolis day….

I’m floored by what an important city Annapolis is historically. Did you know that Washington resigned his commission in the Annapolis Capital building? This led to the US being civilian ruled rather than militarily ruled! Huge, huge thing. I even stood on that spot… but that comes after the inauguration.

Anyway, we did the quick drive through and headed back to Ginger’s fabulous house. Her husband designed and built it more than 20 years ago and I just love the warm feel of it.

Everyone was already there for the football game (which I didn’t even watch for a second!), but took the time to come over and say hi. They were all incredibly nice, funny and just a wonderful group of people! We stayed up a little too late telling ghost stories, planning for the inauguration and joking around about silly stuff. An awesome evening!

Rooting for their football team!

Enjoying the lively conversation

Sharing ghost stories with Ginger and Dee

The next morning, I got up and wandered around Ginger’s expansive back yard, just off the Severn River, for a little while shooting photos and enjoying the cool air before we headed to DC.

What a gorgeous location for a glass of wine on a warm summer evening!

Ginger's gorgeous house from the back yard

More photos can be found here.

Inauguration Part 1 – The Trip

Driving to Gunnison in the predawn chill

My trip to DC was relatively uneventful. I got up quite early – around 5am – finished up a tiny bit of packing, made some coffee, got some money and headed down. I was happy that I got there with just a little bit of time to collect myself, blog a tiny bit and take a few photos.

Blogging as I waited to go through security

It was a chilly 12 degrees when I got to Gunni so they needed to defrost the plane a bit. I had only seen it once before and thought it was really cool to see. But with the sun rising just behind the jets of fluid, it was gorgeous to watch!

A little sunrise de-icing

Watching the sunrise on my way to Denver

Once in Denver, I had enough time between the scheduled flight to DC and my arriving flight to grab some breakfast – and some more coffee – while I waited. Just as we were about to board, though, they announced that our flight was having mechanical difficulties. Call me a weirdo, but I like to have those things fixed before I get in the air!

Twenty minutes later the word came down that they were getting us a new plane and the flight was delayed by about 90 minutes. Not a huge deal in the grand scheme of things….

It wasn’t until later that I realized that I didn’t even hear one grumble. Everyone was incredibly good natured about it. With about 50% of the plane – or more – obviously going there for the inauguration, that now doesn’t surprise me!

Not my plane. Not my departure time!

Sasha, another woman on the way to the inauguration, and I shared the plugs in an attempt to power up before our 3.5 hour flight

Lined up along the moving walkways waiting for our plane to arrive from Chicago

Now, I’m not one to sleep on a plane – especially with 2 cups of coffee in me – but I crashed about 10 minutes after takeoff. I blogged a tiny bit and then I was OUT! So unusual I can’t even tell you! But also very welcome since I hadn’t slept much the night before – excitement definitely kept me up.

Writing a blog or two on the plane before takeoff

Upon arrival, Ginger whisked me off for a quick car tour of Annapolis before heading to her house for a small football party!

Absolutely stunning sunset in DC

Heading to Annapolis

To be continued….

(I apologize for taking so long. Sammie has been running a fever for days! She’s finally back at school, but she and Ellie sound like they might not be feeling well so I’ll get the next few parts done as quickly as I can! Thanks for your patience!)

Additional photos can be found here.