Christina Gressianu
Sarah & Tom, Eloped!
Fort Collins, Colorado is the Beer Drinkers’ Napa Valley… and Sarah and Tom came here from St. Louis, MO to elope in their Napa. They eloped at the courthouse one sunny morning, exactly two years after they’d met, “to make anniversaries easy” Sarah quipped. Sarah is equal parts playful and cautious, loving stability and giggling …
What to Ask a Wedding Photographer… For Reals
Just about every bridal website and magazine I pick up has a list of what to look for in your prospective wedding vendors. Usually, the “Questions to Ask a Wedding Photographer” makes me laugh or cry, depending on the level of absurdity or uselessness. I mean, sure you can ask me about my equipment if …
Summer Break Fun and Senior Portraits
Summer break is calling, and there are so many cool things going on! With the weather finally warming up and everything in bloom, I’m getting tons of ideas for photo shoots and new creative places for outdoor head shots.One thing I want to remind everyone is that now is a great time to begin thinking …
Hawaiian Paradise, a Wedding and a Dream Come True
*NOTE: There are lots and lots of photos in this post… I think the wait will be worth it. Thanks!* When I tossed “photograph a wedding in Hawaii” on my to do list for “some day”, I had no idea how quickly and beautifully it would show up. Within a year I was talking with …
Weddings: Nicole & Marco
I get totally high on weddings. All the love, the happy family and friends, the music, food, fun… And Nicole and Marco’s had all that, and then some. They are the kind of couple that find comfort in each other’s presence. Leave them alone for a couple seconds and they crack each other up. They …
Lifestyle Session: Lindsey, Damien, and Caylee
Some families are just plain good-looking. Like they could be on the cover of a magazine or in an ad for sunshine and fun. The Parrishes are one of those families. And Caylee, the cutest 2-year-old I’ve ever met, is a little ball of curiosity and independence. Lindsey and I got to talk on the …
Seniors 2011: Aubrey Davis
Aubrey Davis is one of those girls who can do anything and does it all. She played football on the high school team. She arranged the flowers for her sister’s wedding. She jumped barefoot in an Old Town alley. She asked me if I could retouch her tennis-playing tan lines. And she’s just plain gorgeous. …
Family Lifestyle Sessions – The Blackdens
Outdoor family photo sessions are similar to weddings for me, in that I never tire of them. Photographing people who love each other is where it’s at for me, and so I can get pretty high on lifestyle session in the park. I get to be a little goofy, a little sneaky, and a little …
My Big Want
As my readers might have noticed, I’m not very good at blogging regularly… sometimes it’s once or twice a week, or I can go a month without saying a word. I know, it’s bad for marketing… and yet, since that’s not why I blog, marketing is not the proper motivation. I blog because I want …
The Many Flavors of Boudoir Photography
There are many great things about boudoir sessions – the outfits, music, accessories and beauty of course. It’s a little like playing dress up, but with altogether different results! When Lauren and I talked about her boudoir session, she was bubbling with ideas… I got emails about fun clothes she’d found and photos she liked. …
Spring is for Portraits!
After being couped up for the past few months, the warming weather has me looking forward to outdoor portrait sessions! I look forward to the gray of winter exploding into the vibrant colors of nature in bloom. I have visions of kids running around, laughing in a big, green, grassy space. Parents strolling along, giggling …
Photo Processing? But I thought it was digital…
“The (photographic) negative is the equivalent of the composer’s score… and the print is the equivalent of the conductor’s performance.” — Ansel Adams Many of my wedding photography clients ask if they will get their images on disk. My answer usually goes something like, “uh, yes… you’ll get unretouched files, but they’ll be color and exposure-corrected.” …
How much is the right headshot worth?
When you need a service—a new dentist, hair stylist, veterinarian— how do you find a good one? The Right One? For me, I ask my friends first. An endorsement from a friend of mine is the best. But, what if you don’t have anyone to ask, like when I first moved to Fort Collins from …
You, right now, are beautiful, and I can prove it.
Ask any man what he finds sexy in a woman, and the answer is Confidence. (We’ve all read this in Cosmo, Glamour, etc. and no guy I’ve asked has disagreed… so this is legit info) And so it follows that the best Valentine’s day gift is YOU at your most Confident. Boudoir photography has that …
People-Watching with Permission
A while back I posted a blog on how I got started in photography. The thing is, though, that I love photography even more today than I did when I started. I love it every single time I pick the camera up and point it at someone. I love it when I download and edit …
Certified Green, and what that means exactly.
A few months ago I came across The Green Wedding Providers and thought, “hey, if anyone deserves a green certification, it’s me.” And this not something I talk about a whole lot, it’s just how I live, and so it may not be apparent to everyone how passionate I am about environmental issues. When I …
Hope Lives! Annual Gala – A Heartwarming Evening
Saturday night at the Fort Collins Hilton, 400 or so people came to watch a fashion show that was less about the clothing and totally about the models. All of the models were beautiful, strong, amazing breast cancer survivors. The 400 people came out this evening to support them, and the wonderful organization that is …
Fall is Perfect for Family Portraits
Many years before I photographed my first wedding, I shot families and children in a style I simply called un-stuffy, un-studio. In 2002, my good friends had a baby and asked me if I could go to the park with them and take some pictures of their little girl. Little did I know that this …
Ashley & Haven, a fall wedding at Lionscrest Manor
Last Thursday I got a phone call from Ross Bothwell of Elegant Images and Photographs, looking for a very last-minute second photographer, for a wedding the next day. I didn’t have plans, and I love weddings, so sure! Ashley and Haven’s lovely wedding was at the Lionscrest Manor in Lyons, Colorado. When I walked into …
Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and Loving the Skin You’re In
I think “Love the Skin you’re in” is a tagline for something… clearly not a good one since I don’t remember the product. But it’s a great idea, since loving the skin you’re in is something that many women struggle with whether a size 2 or 22. We all wish we had something bigger, something …
Stephanie and Skip’s Fall Wedding at Ellis Ranch
I met Stephanie last spring, when she was a student in my Photoshop class. As the semester went on, and life became more and more complicated, I saw her less inside of class and more outside of it. Stephanie is one of those people that manages to smile and stay cheerful regardless what life throws …
A Monday of Random Things
A bunch of things are going on now and when I was trying to figure out what to blog about first, I kept not blogging. So, I’m just throwing it all into one post because that’s how today is going to roll. First, I’m doing a fundraiser for a wonderful organization in Northern Colorado called …
Bridal Session – Marisa Horta
When Marisa called me asking about a bridal session, I was excited at the simple fun of pointing my camera at a girl in a white dress. When we talked about locations, she wasn’t after the typical Colorado outdoorsy thing, but more urban and grungy. Even better! When she arrived looking radiant and beautiful, I …
