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We started off the day at a beautiful mansion in Carbondale, CO, where both Griffin & Autumn got ready with their families and closest friends. Shortly after, we made our way up to the White River National Forest for their first reveal next to Maroon Creek. Without cell reception, all four of us were pretending to know what the weather was going to do. We kept seeing slivers of blue sky, but they quickly disappeared. Ultimately, they decided to go for it. Rain and all.

The processional began and the drizzle was manageable. After a short message from Jill Pidcock, knowing what was looming, Griffin & Autumn began their vows, and the sky broke loose. Gear can be replaced. Moments cannot… so you keep shooting. Working in an absolute downpour pushed us harder than we’ve been pushed before, but fortunately, from all the practice we’ve put in, it paid off. When the sun popped out in front of the Bells, it was as if everyone else took a deep sigh of relief… but Stacy and I were frantically trying to figure out how to use the light. I signaled to Stacy, who just so happened to have a strobe on her belt, to sneak behind the ceremony and back-light the downpour so we could make one of our favorite frames to date.

Driving back down to Carbondale for their reception at the Old Thompson Barn, you would have never known what we just experienced. Blue skies and birds chirping. After wrapping up the group photos in front of Mount Sopris, we headed in for dinner, speeches and dancing. We would be lying if we told you we’ve photographed more raw emotion. From the recorded speech of Griffin’s best man who wasn’t able to attend to the slideshow and countless other moments of embrace… we could not have asked for more.

With that being said, enjoy these photos from their Maroon Bells Wedding in Aspen, CO. It’s a wedding day story we’ll never forget.

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With that being said, the Maroon Bells are a favorite location of ours. You would be hard pressed to find a more beautiful backdrop in the state that is so easily accessible. Also worth mentioning is that the access road is closed every year during the winter months. It is not plowed, so unless you are up for a several mile hike, on snowshoes, you might have to rethink your winter engagement session.

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After trekking over Independence Pass, we met up with Blake & Amanda before heading into the park. While our skies might have been overcast, it didn’t effect these two a bit. There was no shortage of emotion and moments for these two as we walked around Maroon Lake, shooting some beautiful fall engagement photos. Even with a slightly delayed start, we managed to make it to the backside of the lake, passed the beaver hut, for a portrait right in front of Maroon Peak.

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Our session started off with a few sprinkles and we even found ourselves huddled under some aspen trees while the storm blew over. When things cleared up, these two had a blast running around the lake, high heels and all. It never hurts to get a little wet during your engagement session, and these two embraced that. Trudging through wet grass in a dress isn’t what most engagement couples do, but when in Colorado…

Thanks you two for braving the weather, hiking around Maroon Lake to make some photos. Enjoy the pictures and have a happy marriage.

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We caught some amazing weather, snow on the Maroon Bells and even had a wildlife encounter we’ll never forget. After everyone had left the park, we setup to nail one last night shot, and from the bushes, two Moose emerged. For those of you who aren’t photographers, without light, its nearly impossible to focus or hold still enough for a non-blurry photo. Using a modern camera and a 85mm f/1.2, I was able to snap a photo at ISO 12800 and 1/80th of a second. We weren’t about to pop a flash in front of these monsters.

Having known these two for quite some time now, its been amazing documenting their journey from their engagement, to their wedding, to moving onto a small farm so they could shelter dogs. We had an absolute blast photographing their vow renewal. Everything about this couple is genuine. They are nothing short of amazing people, as well as good friends of ours now.

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