YORK STREET BOTANIC GARDENS WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHER

I’ve been photographing weddings at Denver Botanic Gardens since 2005 — here’s a few of my favorite moments.

YORK STREET BOTANIC GARDENS WEDDING

Weddings at Denver Botanic Gardens, York Street, are packed with color and texture. It's impossible to photograph a couple and a wedding party in the entire park, and I recommend you visit the gardens a year before your anniversary to judge which specific gardens or scenes you favor. I work fast and dodge well around the sometimes overwhelming visitor foot traffic. TIP - weekday foot traffic is often much lower, and there's less chance of photo bombers.

DENVER BOTANIC GARDENS WEDDING | JULIE & CHRIS

The Dr. and Mr. (he’s in his last semester of med school) planned a romantic garden May ceremony with a rooftop reception at Highlands. The super funky house near the Gardens was an unexpected visual treat — this homeowner decorates like my wife! Their dog looked like Rin Tin Tin and was so well-behaved except for a funny bark during a serious and emotional moment during the ceremony (cue laughter from the crowd). This is my favorite flavor of wedding — lots going on with a guest list full of extroverts!

HOW I WORK

I recommend starting wedding photography 2 hours before the ceremony. After a few non-scripted last-minute prep and personal details photos, we can be efficient and capture the wedding party and small family groups before the ceremony, allowing you more time to mingle with guests during the cocktail hour. 

Over the years, I’ve learned to be a dynamic photographer and to respond quietly to unfolding action. Two lighting-fast cameras and a photojournalist’s sense allow me to answer three questions with a camera ... 1) What’s the big picture? 2) What are the details? 3) What’s the emotion? All day, that little voice in the head cycles through those questions, and I’m on the hunt for storytelling answers. You see this throughout all the galleries on my website. Big, wide-angle scenes, mixed with tight single-thought images, with a layer of emotion revealing moments.

Above all, our minds subconsciously value the quality of light in a photo, and I’ve grown an instant ability to size up lighting in a scene for best results. Can I move subjects just a few steps to get a more flattering look on their faces? Should I quickly turn on mobile lighting to even out (or add subtle highlights) a scene at the venue with flat or unflattering light? You can’t fix bad light in a computer—it has to be right when you click the shutter, and an experienced pro is surfing a wedding day looking for waves of good light (or we make them with fast-moving equipment).

Group photos and portraits don’t happen automatically, and I offer strong guidance to get balanced photos with good posture & harmony with the scene. These clicks wind up as 5x7’s on a mantel for decades, and I want them to be timelessbut light and serene. 

If my brand of wedding photography aligns with your vision, click below to view pricing and service details. If I’m within budget, let’s chat. I’d love to hear about your wedding-day plans (so far) and how I can help.