It was nearing the end of summer with the oldest child of the Inslee family headed off to college in Arizona and the youngest starting 1st grade it was the perfect time to create a family portrait. These are the pivotal times in a family’s history that should be documented. We had a great time photographing them and getting to know the whole family better.
I was honored when Erin Browning from The Oxford Hotel, one of the best and most notable wedding planners in Denver called to create a portrait of she and her husband and their cherished family dogs Jesse and King. Jesse is a border Collie with strong will over King who is a sweet Boxer that is totally Blind. Yes, King has no eyes at all. He still runs around and plays just like any other dog and on a quick inspection you wouldn’t have a clue that he is completely blind. He will occasionally run head on into things but he seems to shake it off and keep on going. Dogs can be one of the hardest subjects to photograph. Getting them to look in a certain direction is something they really don’t like to do much. With King I thought to myself, how do you get a blind dog to look at you? My normal tricks of throwing things and jumping around like a deranged lunatic were unnoticed by King. Finally I thought does it really matter if he is looking. Many of my best portraits of people have them looking in another direction. Then I tried to capture King and Jesse as they normally are. Once Erin and Jake saw the images, they gravitated toward the images that were more natural and free. This is true with the exception of one image. They wanted me to create a fun image of their family that was inspired by a Snoop Dogg album cover image from “No Limit Top Dogg” but with their own twist. This was to look like a studio image with distinctive lighting and much emphasis on the family and each dog wearing a tee shirt and gangsta chain collar featuring a pad lock clasp. To make this even more interesting we were going to create this image in the tundra around a high alpine lake at nearly 13,000 ft in the Colorado mountains. Yes, this seemed ambitious and to top it off we had gusty wind and cold temps in the high 30’s. I love a challenge, and fortunately so do Erin and Jake, so we charged ahead and I am so glad we did. This image will be a 20×40 inch print in a black frame that will hang over their fireplace as a conversation piece.
So how do a guy who owns Golden River Sports, a kayak and fly fishing store in Golden, Colorado and a girl who is a professional kayak guide and instructor with Reniassance Adventure Guides throw an engagement party? They spend two days on the Colorado River running Westwater Canyon with all their best friends!
It was the perfect way to celebrate Bart and Patty’s engagement. This trip consisted of seven rafts, nine kayaks and twenty five people. We spent two days on the river and a night at the Little Dolores Creek confluence camping out next to the river. When I say “camp” you might think freeze dried dinners and water from canteens, but not this crowd. The pork tenderloin was hot, the beer was cold from the keg and the campfire was raging. This was living. An amazing dinner that would make many 4 star restaurants proud to have on the menu. As the sun went down the camp fire stoked up and the party carried on into the night.
This was really fun for Kathy and I to photograph as it was more than an engagement shoot but a journey with a fun adventurous story. It was full of visual content. I loved the colors of the kayaks and rafts on the river and the people with a zeal for life. We took Bart and Patty aside once at camp and used the best natural light of the evening to create portraits that really showed their love for each other and being on the river together. Passions really show through when you get someone into their true place of tranquility. This was really amazing to see them relax from the chaos of loading the boats at the put in to the first little riffles on the river to the larger rapids. The further down the river we went the more they relaxed and got into just being in this beautiful remote environment.
Please watch this video to get a feel for Bart and Patty’s super fun engagement party!
Bart and Patty’s Westwater Engagement weekend from peter Holcombe on Vimeo.
This is Caleb’s portrait session which is one session in a series of shoots documenting his whole family. I have been capturing the entire family over the last year, photographing them all separately in there own special way. This is going to end up as a Storybook telling the story of this family in 2009. We are also creating a series of custom Wall Art pieces to decorate their home.
Caleb wanted his shoot to be all about his passion for golf. He has quite a swing and I really wished I had a helmet for some of the images of him teeing off. I just hid behind my camera.
Caleb with his lucky driver.
I got this right before I jumped into the safety of a sand trap.
Explosion of clubs, Luckily he saved the beaver!
This was fun. Taking a unique approach to think outside the box for a Senior portrait. This is what happens when Vian’s Mom tells me “Just go crazy and crate something funky, We don’t want him standing by a tree.” Crazy I went with special thanks to Vian’s brother for the hand drawn city scene and cameo appearance from Taylor, Vian’s girlfriend and Holcombe Photography blog superstar!
Love the light and the texture on the metal.
Classic but not interesting enough, This is where many senior Mom's would be very comfortable and happy. But we got to push on for more!!!
Cool position and dramatic light! Now we are moving forward...
Vian loves Aliens!
This is the one! A hand drawn city scape background by Vians brother with matching shirt. This is the one that we were after all along!
Special appearance by Taylor, Vian's girlfriend.
Peter Holcombe is a Denver - Boulder, Colorado wedding, portrait and commercial photographer. Specializing in portrait photography in dramatic locations. Available globally!
Peter (and Kathy) - We are truly honored and humbled. Thank you so much for how awesome you are.