Copper Family Portraits

I met the Shelley family while working at Copper this winter, and had so much fun shooting them in and around Center Village. It was a perfect winter day at the mountain - though there was a slight chill in the air, the snow was falling and they were happy to take a break from skiing all day.

It's easy to get some great shots and have a blast when the family I shot was so sweet. They had that familiar, midwest, inviting attitude. And even though Luke was really cold, I still got some great smiles and images from him too!

We ran out on the frozen pond, instigated some snowball fights and dodged the snowflakes as it dumped more and more. The shoot was spontaneous (really, I helped them at work and we decided to do the shoot two days later!) and loads of fun.

Lunch Break

I had a longer lunch break yesterday at Copper, and decided to get the camera out and take a walk. This is where I work (in the back of the Copper Sports Center):

Center Village at Copper is my home 5 out of 7 days a week (and when I decide to ride, that makes 6 days!). This year's been a great year - we've already doubled the amount of snow that fell during the entire season last year. I could do without as many brutally-cold days, though.

To the right of the Eagle lift lies the gigantic super pipe, a great place to people-watch (though you won't see me going through the pipe anytime soon). West lake freezes over in the winter, and Chubs (read: best sandwich joint ever!) rents out ice skates to guests looking for a new skating experience.

It's days like these that I feel pretty darn lucky to live and work where I do.

What a year!

Looking back on 2010 is bittersweet. I spent half of it in my last semester at Webster University, and the other half in a new home - in a new state. I left something so familiar to find something, well, very different. But I can't deny that I've had a great year: I've been in numerous photo shows; I got to do some logo work; I made it into a juried show at Arts Alive! in Breckenridge; I edited copy for the upcoming Spring issue of Rocky Mountain Bride magazine; I did some poster design work for FOB Summit County; and on top of it all I found a great job at Copper Mountain Resort and got to spend the holidays with friends as close as family.

Sounds pretty good to me. Can't wait to see what this year has to offer!

Snow Day!

The excitement of a new snow storm shifted as quickly as the weather blew in. Right as the day was winding down at Copper Mountain, the snowflakes kept falling, getting larger and heavier by the minute. Before we knew it, I70 was closed. And I70 is the ONLY way back east, the ONLY road leading to Frisco, Dillon and my home in Silverthorne. (Yikes!)

Needless to say, I spent the night at work. (Good thing I work at a resort!) I can't express how thankful I was to be surrounded by such great people - friends and coworkers alike. As it turned out, our apartment was shelter to our friend, Nicole, who couldn't make it back to Breckenridge. Nobody was going anywhere Tuesday night.

I did make it home the next day, after spending half an hour cleaning and shoveling the car out. There's nothing better than a complete stranger lending you his shovel in a time of need!! 

Once I got home, I could finally enjoy the fluffy white outside our apartment:

Latent Image Group: Chicago Views, coming October 29

For those able to make it, Webster University's May Gallery will be featuring a group show of a photo club Chicago trip on the smaller wall. Latent Image (the university's photo club) sponsored a trip to the big city in the Spring of 2010. The opening night is October 29, between 5pm and 7pm. Wish I could be there, but here's a sneak peak anyway:

Not so black and white

I finally made it out to capture some Aspen trees, on what may likely be the last weekend their leaves are intact:

As I followed the trail back to the car, something more intriguing caught my eye. Sections of the trial were closed off due to clear-cutting. Stumps stuck up all over what once was a lush expanse of trees. On the other side of the trail, piles of lodgepole lay across the now barren land. A sad sight, to say the least, no doubt attributed to the pine beetle. No solution to their infestation is better than another, but one manner of attack has been eliminating the dry, dead trees altogether. On one of the most beautiful Fall mountain days, the Aspens were definitely a strange contrast against the stumps of dead Pines.

I watched the sun rise...

...on my day off.

Instead of sleeping in on a recent day off (which, believe me, I wanted to), I decided to wake up before the sun, get dressed in the dark and make my way once again towards Frisco Marina. It's the first time this season that I put on boots and a winter hat. Too bad I forgot a photographer's best friend in the cold - a pair of gloves. Oops.

The lake has dropped considerably in the last month - at least four feet - which means I can get closer to the sailboats anchored in the bay. Between the low sun and the cold weather, I finally got the conditions that I wanted as well. The fog even rolled in as the sun peaked over the first mountain top.

After the sun had completely risen, I started to make my way back to the car. I found a pleasant distraction, and despite my dry, red, cold hands, I stayed a few more minutes to capture the morning dew that had formed on yellow fall leaves: