Category: Photo Shoots

The crabapple trees were blooming at Rolland Moore Park in Fort Collins, Colorado, which is where these spring family photos were taken. As soon as I entered the park, there was a blooming tree I thought might work for this family to be under, which is where we started. Under this one tree, we captured many great shots.

The crabapple trees only bloom for a short period – about a month. Most families are only available over the weekends, which was when this family was available. That only gives you 3-4 opportunities to take advantage of the gorgeous pink blooming crabapple trees in Fort Collins.

We captured many great spring family photos at Rolland Moore Park. Some sitting or standing under a crabapple tree, some gathered on a bench. The above photo of them on the bench wasn’t facing the right direction, but I didn’t let that deter me. I think it also works for the family to face the other way.

Rolland Moore Park in Fort Collins, Colorado, also has a great bridge with a blooming crabapple tree to the west of it. I managed to get some shots of the family walking across the bridge, and standing on it while looking down at me. (I’ve always to get that shot.)

As with all my family photoshoots in Fort Collins, I asked this family if they had any interests or props they wanted to bring. They were a baseball family, so they brought a baseball and mitts, and I captured several shots of the boys throwing the baseball back and forth. I also got some photos of just mom and dad under a tree.

The boys expressed interest in the playground, so I thought I’d go with it. We got some photos of them on the slide. They had the idea of a silhouette of them against the setting sun. I was happy to oblige. Just to cover our bases, I also got a shot of them where the background was blown-out and the boys were properly lit.

Need a Family Photographer in Fort Collins?

If you’re interested in spring family photos at Rolland Moore Park, or elsewhere around Fort Collins, Colorado, book a session with me. I’m available most days and weekends, sometimes on short notice. For this family, I delivered over a dozen high quality images. They were able to download from their own private, password-protected page on my website.

Yesterday, I was able to get lots of great photos and video footage from my drone of Bob Behrends Roofing crew reroofing several apartment buildings in Berthoud, Colorado. Bob Behrends is a SEO client of mine at High Craft Web. In addition to taking drone roofing videos and photos for them, I also handle their search engine optimization, website maintenance, and writing articles for their website, as well as press and news releases.

They’re reroofing several apartment buildings in Berthoud, Colorado. I was thankful I was able to get photos and videos from my drone that captured the large number of apartment buildings they’re reroofing. It was also great to the mountains in the background.

The drone I’m currently using is DJI’s Mavic 3 Classic. This is a great drone that captures 20MP raw photos and mp4 video. I appreciate the 45 minutes per battery of flight time. The wind in Berthoud, CO, was mild and the drone did a great job staying steady.

Getting the drone out is always a good time practicing using it. Personally, I prefer to not get too crazy with the movements. Drone footage that’s going by too fast or spinning, I find disorienting. It was great practicing video movements such as Dolly (forward and backward), Truck (side to side), and Pan (rotating left or right), while sometimes tilting the camera up or down towards the end of the video. For example, from above a roof with the camera down start recording, then move forward and as I approach the end of the roof, tilt the camera up to let the viewer see the immense scope of the project and the mountains in the background.

If I can help with your aerial drone photo or video project in or around Fort Collins, Colorado, let me know. Perhaps you’d like to include aerial photos of the property you’re selling, or you’d like drone photos of a construction job you’re working on. Contact me to discuss.

Even though it was chilly, everyone had a good time during this winter sledding family photoshoot at Edora Park at Epic in Fort Collins, CO. We got some great sledding photos and some family group photos. 🥰 The son seemed to have blast on the snow jumps.

Challenges

Family photography on a sunny winter day in Fort Collins can be challenging. Sun reflecting off the snow is really bright and causes us to squint. In portraits, you often want to see the eyes of the subject(s). Often people will wear sunglasses if they’re outside in the snow so the bright is less intense. Thankfully, dad was willing to forgo the sunglasses for some shots.

What’s more, my regular glasses are transition lenses – on a sunny day, they turn dark so I’m not blinded. When I go inside, they return clear. Since it was a sunny day at Edora Park in Fort Collins photographing this amaing family sledding, etc., my glasses were dark. As a result, I often couldn’t see the viewfinder on my camera. 😆

Photography sledding at Edora Park in Fort Collins, Colorado, also posed some challenges. The sledding hill is right next to the parking lot. We did move away from everyone else and further into the trees. Sometimes I was able to get photos of the family without any cars or light poles in the photos. Sometimes not. Thankfully, it’s quite easy today to remove objects such as those in Adobe Lightroom or Photoshop.

Equipment Used

This great family told me they were going to be sledding at Edora Park, in Fort Collins, so I knew I needed a lens that was versatile. Prime or fixed lenses are great when my subject(s) are stationary. However, if my subject(s) are moving, I need a zoom lens. So, for this winter family sledding photoshoot at Edora Park, I took my 70-200mm and 24-70mm f/2.8 lenses.

I also wore my winter photography gloves, where the index and thumb tips are removable. This allows me to still work the dials on my camera, yet still keep most of my hands warm. I also had heat packs in my coat pockets so I could occasionally warm my hands. 🙂

Great Family Winter and Sledding Photos at Edora Park in Fort Collins, CO

We got some great shots of them sledding, sitting down, standing in the shade, etc. Poses included some natural shots, and some natural with a little instruction. Afterwards, once I edited the photos, I sent a private link to a password-protected page to the family where they could view and download their photos. 😁

Challenges: mixed light sources, small spaces, large and small number of people

Indoor portrait photography can be a challenge. Sometimes there’s mixed light sources, especially during the day, like this family Christmas photo shoot in Fort Collins was. We shot in the late afternoon and had natural light coming-in from a west window. There was also light from the fireplace, kitchen, etc. and from the Christmas tree (not a significant source or light). Still, I didn’t want to drown the Christmas lights out with an overpowering artificial light.

Small or tight indoor spaces can also be a challenge, with respect to photography equipment such as strobes, but also lens focal length. Going-in to shoot this amazing, I wasn’t sure how big the room was I was going to be shooting in, nor did I know what the light situation was. Thankfully, I brought a few strobe and lens options, such as a a wide lens to get the whole family, a more normal focal length portrait lens for individuals, and a catchall zoom lens (not my preferred lens for indoor photo shoots).

For this family Christmas photoshoot in Fort Collins I brought a few strobes. The one I ended-up using was a 200w/s strobe and a 42″ diffuser and lightstand. It provided more than enough light for the small space we were shooting in. However, I didn’t use artificial light all the time. Sometimes I used natural light coming from the west window, which provided a different look.

If you’re thinking of a family Christmas photos in Fort Collins, let me know. Let’s capture something magical, something you’ll remember for years to come. I can help you brainstorm a fun idea and together we can create something beautiful.

Be sure to checkout my pricing for the current year, as it might have changed from the past year. And, be sure to book weeks in advance, as holiday photoshoots do fill-up quickly.

We’ve been having fun shooting Halloween photos at Dixon Reservoir in Fort Collins, CO, recently (October 2024). Two people answered my call for willing subjects to participate in a fun Halloween-themed photo shoot. Dixon Reservoir is across County Road 42C from the Maxwell Natural Area parking lot. There’s a small forest there with an opening that’s perfect for fun photo shoots. I regularly ride by this forest while on my mountain bike and always thought it’d be a great spot in Fort Collins for Halloween photos.

One Halloween photo shoot was with Klaudia and Tyler. They brought their own pumpkins to wear. They found pumpkins large enough to fit over the head. Great idea! They carved great faces in them. Klaudia’s pumpkin face is a classic scary face, while Tyler’s is a more fun face winking! Nice combination of scary and fun.

They had fun wearing them and posing with them. Wearing them and walking with them on was a challenge, as it was difficult to see where they were going. 😆 We got some great shots of Klaudia running away from scary Tyler, some individual poses, some shots of them together with their pumpkins in their laps or holding them. A lot of fun.

Other Halloween photos at Dixon Reservoir in Fort Collins, CO, was with Jessica. For this dark and creepy shoot, I wanted to make her float or levitate. I had seen this photo done on-line, but wanted to try it for myself. To pull it off, I brought a stool and kneeling pad from home. The pad went on top of the stool so the stool was more comfortable for her to lay backwards on. I brought my 200 watt Godox strobe and heavy duty light standing. It was a cloudy overcast afternoon, so I didn’t need anything stronger than 200 watts.

I took one photo of her laying backwards on the stool lit-up, and another photo of the area without her, the stool, or the light. My plan was to merge these photos in Photoshop and remove the stool. However, today’s Adobe Photoshop and Lightroom Classic, which is what I used to edit my photos, does such as great job removing objects, I didn’t need the second photos. I added fake ground fog in Photoshop back in my office.

If you’re interested in high-quality Halloween photos at Dixon Reservoir or anywhere else in Fort Collins, CO, let’s talk! It’s often nice to have a second person there to bounce ideas off of, watch for hand placement and backgrounds, watch for wardrobe malfunctions 😆, not to mention have high-end photography equipment to capture great photos, and have pro software for editing those photos, making changes, etc.

This is the 5th year I’ve shot Spring Creek Dental’s corporate portraits at Rolland Moore Park in Fort Collins, Colorado. I always look forward to shooting these amazing people at this great location. Every time we do a photo shoot at this park, it’s always a little different, even though it’s basically the same location. I try to mix things up every year. And, to make the event just a little more fun, I bring some tunes.

One Spot. Many Shots.

After photographing many people, it still amazes me how one can produce many different shots from just one spot. From one specific spot, I can produce dozens of different photos just by utilizing different poses and moving around.

For example, sometimes I’ll bring a ladder to stand on. From this angle, I can get one style of shot and completely elminate the background. Or, if I’m shooting at the same level as my client, I can get the colorful Autumn leaves in the background. Or, if I stand in one spot and have my subject turn to a little to their right or left, this also produces many options.

Sometimes I will also bring a chair for my client to sit on. They can sit on it backwards, sideways, or facing forwards. There are many poses on the chair to be taken. From one exact spot at any location, one can produce many different photos.

Rolland Moore Park

Rolland Moore Park offers many attractive backdrops for corporate portraits. There’s open grass, a number of bridges to choose from, benches, dense trees, open sun, shade, sunrise or sunset. The portrait opportunities are endless, here. We shot these corporate portraits in the Autumn of 2022. The colors were great.

Corporate Poses

A classic corporate portrait I like is with their arms crossed. I also try to get shots where my client’s body is open to me. I feel this pose says they’re open to their customer. I prefer to avoid poses where my client is looking down at the camera. To me, this says they are above you and you are beneath them.

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If you’re looking for a great dentist or dental hygienist, look no further than Spring Creek Dental. They’ve been taking care of me for years. They are a great, compassionate group of people, and I feel very fortunate to know them and work with them.

2022 was another great year for capturing mountain bike event photography for the Rowdy Gowdy Women’s Camp in Wyoming! It’s always an honor and a pleasure to photograph this wonder group of women in beautiful Wyoming.

Rowdy Gowdy Women’s Camp

As a mountain biker, I appreciate the way this skills camp is structured. In the mornings, skills are taught and practiced around the camp, then, in the afternoon, the trainers lead rides in Curt Gowdy State Park where the students practice what they just learned. The mornings begin with easy lessons, such as popping little wheelies to get your front tire over small objects like rocks or tree roots. As the morning progresses, they learn more difficult skills, such as climbing multiple steps and jumping off taller objects. Of course, how to change a tire and lube your chain is also part of the curriculum.

Afternoon rides are often split-up into 2 or more rides. For example, one ride might be easier, another harder or longer, another group might stay at the camp to practice more skills. During the afternoon rides, at least one trainer will lead while another will bring-up the rear, to make sure no one gets left behind.

Curt Gowdy

Curt Gowdy State Park in Southern Wyoming is an amazing mountain bike playground that anyone of any skill level will enjoy. It sits between Laramie and Cheyenne, Wyoming, off of Happy Jack Road (210). These trails were built by mountain bikers, for mountain bikers. This means, the women and men that built the trails, ride what they build. In addition, there are often alternative routes. For example, the Stone Temple Circuit is relatively easy. If you’d like to challenge or test your skills a little, there’s the occasional option just off the trail to do just that. If you’d like to test your skills even more, there are often alternate routes that are longer and more difficult.

There is something for every skill level in this park. According to MTBProject.com, there’s 82 miles of trails, including 9 easy trails, 20 intermediate trails, and 11 difficult trails.

Photography

Taking photos for the 2022 Rowdy Gowdy women’s mountain biking event kept me busy. It was a fun, full weekend, and we got lots of great photos. I’ve learned from experience, to keep my distance from the riders. They need to focus on what they’re doing and not me. I do not want them to worry about whether they’re going to run over me or not. During the skills sessions in the mornings, I use my 28-300 zoom lens. This allows me to zoom in to get those close shots, or zoom out if I want a more spacious shot that includes some of the wonderful Wyoming mountainous background.

While on the trails, I carried a 20MP compact mirrorless camera with a 24-75mm equivalent lens. It has a tilt screen for when I need to get close to the ground, or shoot overhead. I carry this on my bike for quick and easy access. This set-up is great because it’s compact and lightweight. Something I greatly appreciate while riding.

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I cannot talk highly enough about the Rowdy Gowdy Women’s Camp and the trainers. They are all absolutely wonderful, patient, kind, and talented people. Whether you’re a beginner, intermediate, or advanced mountain biker, or just want to practice or meet other like-minded mountain bikers and have a great time, I highly recommend this camp. Check their website often and sign-up early, as this camp is popular and fills-up quick.