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October 12, 2015 by Anya Elise

Two years || A wedding and a marriage

Two years ago we stood in a big white church, the ceiling looming high above us, our friends and family layered in rows of pews to the back doors. We promised our I-dos; it was the best day ever.

I have been remiss over the past 730 days in not sharing more of the fantastic photos that our generous and thoughtful crew of photographers shot that day. So at long last, in celebration of this two-year mark, I’ve finally put together an edit of some of my favorites.

We were extremely fortunate that so many people selflessly dedicated their time and energy to making our wedding day so wonderful, and I would like to thank them first and foremost.

❶ To our families. Our parents, siblings, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins…you all provided immense support and cheer during the entire preparation process and through to the conclusion of our reception. And frankly, over the course of our entire relationship. We love you and cherish you.

❷ To our wedding party. You all were heaven sent, I’m sure of it. From standing up beside us at the altar, to providing extra hands, moral support, and literal bodyguarding as we walked from the church to reception venue along one of the more colorful stretches of road in downtown Denver, we truly couldn’t have done it without you.

❸ To our photographers, our wonderful photographers and videographers. We came to you with this idea of splitting up the whole day into chunks, asking each of you to take a slice of the day to document however you saw fit, and you ran with it. You gave us this immense gift and we could not be more grateful.

❹ To our wedding planners. I found your fine company care of an assignment and was so grateful that even though I had almost nothing planned and only five more months to go before our wedding date you took up the banner and operated within our strict budget and insane schedules. You made the whole process so much easier than we thought possible and for that we thank you.

❺ And finally, to all of our guests. You came from near and far, traveling the country to come celebrate with us. You were witnesses to our vows and participants in the best dance party ever. Thank you, thank you.

We start at the beginning. This is going to be a bit of a marathon, my friends, so buckle up. Get some coffee. Grab some protein-rich sustenance. Ready? Here we go.

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October 10, 2015 by Anya Elise

Maroon Bells || 10 on 10

Autumn is the greatest.

The end.

Hope to see you again soon.

Buh-bye.

⸰ ⸰ ⸰

Well, it was worth a shot, but of course there is more to be said! The day my remarks are that brief is probably a day without coffee. Which would be bad.

What is not bad is another edition of our monthly 10-on-10 collaborative project! Here are my fabulous colleagues:

Anne Almasy

Amy Straka Photography

Button Media

Casey Brodley

Courtney Z Photography

Lelia Marie Photography

Say hello and happy trails to the crew, and then we shall continue with my tale. Go ahead, I’ll wait….

A few weeks back we traveled through the mountains to Aspen. Our quest involved finding fall colors to photograph a fine, engaged couple standing in front of, among, and totally surrounded by the glory. It took a little more doing than you would expect when going to a place named for the exact trees which we sought (as you heard about a few days ago).

We spent our second day of the weekend rising before the sun to catch the sunrise. As one must do. We ventured to the Maroon Bells, an iconic mountain vista here in Colorado. Prior to this particular weekend adventure I had somehow never actually visited this famous and gorgeous place. I have been remiss as a Colorado native, they may revoke my birth certificate.

The pre-sun morning was 100 percent freezing. We’re talking icicles here, folks. And it being a famed destination, we were not the only photographers and visitors to make the trip.

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October 8, 2015 by Anya Elise

Kevin and Ellery || Engagement Photography

You would think that fall colors — the changing of the guard from green leaves to yellow— would be something one could come by in a town called Aspen, in the mountains of fair Colorado. After all, the town shares the name of our favored and most famous* autumn-hued tree. Sadly, it seems there’s some sort of rule that dictates you will not be able to find such colors when you’re hoping to use them as a backdrop for an engagement photo session. At least not very easily.

Luckily, the couple in question are among the loveliest you could ask for and worked with us to find the perfect setting, rally against the fading light (and quickly dropping temperatures of a mountain valley in late September), and come up with some photos that I love. Particularly this one.

I love the in between moments of photo shoots. Brides and grooms spend a lot of time posing for pictures from the time they get engaged through their wedding day. We work hard to make those poses comfortable, natural and beautiful. But there’s always something to be said for the moments that are off script. There’s a realness to them that can’t be directed.

We shared several more photos from Kevin and Ellery’s session over at A&D Photography. But as I was looking through my take again and thinking about engagement photography and weddings and the role we the photographers play I thought I would go ahead and share this one with you. So that’s that for now.

(*I have no statistics to back up this declaration. It just seems like it’s probably a true fact. How’s that for the scientific method?)

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September 21, 2015 by Anya Elise

Colorado Centennial Farms

Colorado is my first love. This state is not just the setting for my life story (thus far), it is a central character. It is the backdrop and a main tenet. I feel like I know Colorado like I would know a beloved relative, someone who shares my heritage and my blood. But I cannot even begin to claim to know this land like those who have spent their lives actively working it.

Two weeks ago I ventured into the eastern part of Colorado for a story with the Denver Post local section. My destination: A century-plus year old farm in Strasburg. An arm of the state had recognized this property as one of its Colorado Centennial Farms, not a small feat when the parameters of such an accomplishment are considered.

↣ The farm must be owned by the same family continuously for at least 100 years.

↣ The farm must still be a full-fledged working farm.

↣ The farm must be at least 160 acres in size.

There are nearly 500 farms that have been granted this title since the program began in 1986. Only six in Adams County, which is where I headed in mid-September to meet Ray “Stubby” Schmidt.

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September 16, 2015 by Anya Elise

Salvador Dali Museum

A positive deluge greeted me as I ventured out of our hotel in St. Petersburg, Florida. My sandaled feet were soaked within about 12 seconds. The not-large-enough umbrella clutched above my head kept little below my torso dry. I wavered beside the hotel entrance for a minute, wondering if perhaps staying in the hotel with a “Back to the Future” marathon playing on television would be such a bad way to spend the morning. Then I steeled my resolve and set forth.

Fortunately for me, my destination, the Dali Museum, was only about 15 minutes away by foot. Truth be told, I’ve never quite understood the artistic triumphs that are the collected works of Salvador Dali. The surrealist movement is simply beyond my own tastes. But I wanted to try it on for size for a day. See if we couldn’t come to terms with each other.

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