Early Mornings with Lark

I'm going to go out on limb here and say this is one of my favorite photoshoots to date. What an incredible morning. Lark is CU Denver's premiere acapella ensemble made up completely by female-identified/non-binary folks singing sweet and hard-hitting songs. 

We got up before the sun, and started out on top of a parking garage with the most stunning view of Denver. I've had a prism for awhile that I use primarily while shooting concerts, but getting to use it for portraits was such a game-changing experience. After spending some time capturing portraits & group shots with an incomparable breakfast, we made our way to Denver Diner to get breakfast and take photos with the neon signs + milkshakes. 

I'm very grateful to have gotten the opportunity to photograph this ensemble multiple times, and I'm so excited to share the results!

End of Summer Celebrations

My wonderful partner has worked for School of Rock for the better part of eight years, and has spent the last year working as the GM at a school near our home. He decided this summer to take on the massive project of putting together a music festival to wrap up the season and showcase all the shows his students had been working on, along with the adult, house, and staff bands. 

He asked me to photograph the second half of the festival, and it was so fun to see his hard work in motion. Here's to hoping it becomes something annual!

Everyone is Getting Married

But actually. And it's kind of wonderful. All the love, celebration, and chances to capture moments like this. Corban and Malena are two of my best friends, and my wonderful bandmates, and it was so much fun to get to drive around some of their favorite Denver locations in the beautiful springtime weather to capture some bit of their love for each other.

Some goofy ones, some full of laughter, and some introspective in a way. I'm glad these two found each other. 

Kimchi and Senior Recitals

One thing I miss about doing photography in school is how much time you get to spend planning just one or two shots. A lot of the work I've been doing is taking as many photos as possible for portraits or production/concert photography, and then sorting through them in hopes that there's one that's simultaneously in focus and where everyone's eyes are open. So when Teresa & Amanda reached out to me with very specific, dramatic ideas for their senior recital promotional photos, I was beyond excited for the shoot.

They wanted to dress up in fancy clothing, hair, and makeup while doing everyday things - eating kimchi while watching TV, lifting weights, sitting by the pool, and more. We decided to just walk about my apartment complex to find locations where we could make that happen, which ended up being a really ideal setting for the shoot. I borrowed Teresa's husband's flash, diffuser, and color swatches so that we could could emphasize blue + pink drama lighting, and it worked really well with the ideas.

Their recital is happening on May 10th at the Washington Park Boat House, and I think it's going to be incredible. Let me know if you need any more information! Here are a couple of my favorite photos from the shoot:

The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

I love theater, although I'm not nearly as involved now as I was in high school. I was lucky to float around most facets of technical theater before finally settling on lighting, which I (fearlessly?) lead throughout the rest of my high school career. And if I'm being honest, I ended up as a leader by complete accident. But I'm so glad everything happened the way it did, because those experiences are some my fondest memories from that time in my life.

I was also very involved in photography during high school. I essentially lived in the darkroom, and I took every level of photography and then IB Art, and it was a true sanctuary for me in the tumultuous time that was being a teenager. Through teachers talking and being involved in both areas, I started doing portraits and production photography for the theater program that had been such a wonderful thing for me in high school. I'm so grateful for the opportunity, and I love getting to come back every season to watch what they've been working on in such an intimate space. I also think it's so neat that I went to working with lights in a theatrical sense to working with something absorbing light in a similar sense. 

It's gotten to the point where I don't know anyone in the program except for a couple friends' siblings, and that blows my mind. I went to see them perform Sweeney Todd last week, and it was honestly so incredible. I was completely swept away, and I'm excited to share a couple of my favorite photos from the night.

Until next week!