When I first met Peter and Kimberly back in the spring, I knew their wedding was going to be unique, but I didn’t know how much so, until I arrived on their wedding day.   This amazing couple has more personality and love than 10 people combined and that love part holds especially true when you see them together.   I admit I occasionally get teary eyed at ceremonies, but this one was especially touching.  There wasn’t a dry eye in the intimate, circular ceremony, as Peter professed his love for Kimberly during their vows.

While talking to Kimberly during the reception, I told her how much fun her wedding had been.  She shared that, “She just wanted people to have a good time!”  Well these photographs prove true of that, and that isn’t enough, an old high school friend came up to her at the same time saying she hadn’t had that much fun in 7 years!!  Kudos Kimberly for putting together such a stylish and an amazingly beautiful wedding and reception!  Kimberly and Peter also rented out our very own custom photobooth, which people were lined up for all night.  Contact us for more information on booking our photobooth for your next event or wedding!  Now onto the days festivities.  Check back soon for the slideshow from their wedding!

Kimberly getting her makeup done at the Stanley Spa…

Here is her dad, mother and grandmother.  Her mom has spent the year undergoing chemo and I know Kimberly was very excited to have her there.  If Kimberly hadn’t told me, I would have never known, as she had so much fervor and excitement for her daughters wedding day.

The happy couple…

One of the many things I loved about Kimberly is that she is also a photographer and very creative, so when she saw the beautiful light beginning to fade into the sunset she ran outside.   Granted it was -10 degrees, but that didn’t stop her from wanting beautifully lit images of her with her new groom!  Also, she was very excited about the heard of elk chillen on the front lawn, so this may have swayed her outside too

I loved her topsy turbsy cake by Colorado Rose Cake Company and her stunning flowers by Design Wedding Florals.

Another unique element to their wedding, along with a quote from Princess Bride during their ceremony, was that every time someone wanted them to kiss they had to hola hoop instead of clinking their glasses…genius!

Some ladies having fun in the photo booth!

This is Peter’s sister with her fiance..they’ll be getting married this May in Hershey PA at the chocolate factory!

I must admit, I’ve never seen a girl fight break out over the bouquet until now….wow, thankfully there were no broken bones!

The fun ensued, as the groomsmen and DJ Larry (Top Hat Entertainment) in their YMCA attire, lead the party in a special dance routine.  Yes, one of the groomsmen was a girl…isn’t that cool?  I would highly recommend Larry for your upcoming wedding, as he kept the party fresh and fun all night!

it didn’t stop there, as more singing broke out, as Peter was serenaded.

Kimberly and Peter thank you so much for allowing us to be a part of your awesome wedding!  We are so honored!  Have a wonderful honeymoon in Playa Del Carmen and we’ll see you when you get back!

With the Christmas season upon us, I’ve been a very bad blogger, with that said I have a few recommendations for books to read, movies to watch and places to buy your last minute presents!

Last Friday night, my husband and I headed out to the Westin’s O Steakhouse for dinner.  If you live in the Denve area you have to check this out!  Their steaks are amazing!  Plus, if you sign up at restaurant.com you can get a $25 gift card for only $10, so it’s a real savings.  Then we headed over to one of our favorite movie theaters, the AMC Westminster Prominad to see Four Christmases.  Now, I’m a huge Vince Vahn fan, but I had no idea how funny this movie actually was going to be.   I haven’t laughed that hard at a movie in years, tears were streaming down my face, as I proceeded to hit Wade’s leg in pure joy over watching a baby spit up on Reese Witherspoon.  If you haven’t watched it yet, you need to get out there and see it.  It will quickly become one of our favorite Holiday movies to watch next to Christmas Vacation and Elf.

If you need a good book to read and like psychology, I would highly recommend Blink by Malcolm Gladwell.  He’s also the author of the Tipping Point and his newest book, Outliers, which is on my Christmas list.  Here is a little snippet about the book

“Drawing on cutting-edge neuroscience and psychology to reveal the difference between good decision making and bad has less to do with how much information we process than with our ability to focus on a few, particular details,  Gladwell shows how we all can become better decsion makers- in our homes, in our offices, and in our everyday life.”

If you’re looking for unique gifts for the Holiday Season, I would highly recommend the following links to some of my friends that are artists.

http://leazoltowski.com/main.htm

Lea has some amazing functional pottery that isn’t featured on her site, but you can contact her for information on where to purchase it.   She is incredibly talented and her sister and my brother have been dating for eight months now, so here is hoping she becomes part of the family!

 http://www.studio2350.com/

One of the advantages of being an artist is getting to trade work with other artists.  This year, I’ve expanded my collection to include pieces from Aimee’s functional collection, which I’m very thrilled about.  You can also purchase her work at the http://cannonmine.com/default.aspx in Layfayette.

Another wonderful option is to give to the work of some of my favorite non-profits, here are a few

http://web.me.com/csoars/Site/Welcome.html

http://www.kiva.org/

http://www.water.cc/living-water/get-involved/ways-to-give/

http://iempathize.org/

Starting next year, Center Avenue Imaging will be giving 10% of their print proceeds to one of the above organizations!  We are excited to be partnering with life changers around the world.   How will you make this Holiday memorable?

I just arrived home yesterday morning to the snowy, cold conditions of Colorado, a far cry from the 87 degree weather I enjoyed on Saturday, as I was swimming in the Caribbean.   We just spent a week in the sunny, breezy Punta Cana, Dominican Republic.  We had an amazing time chilling by the sea, swimming, taking long walks on the beach, soaking in the sunshine, driving a speed boat out to the coral reef where we snorkeled and best of all just relaxing.  Wade was such a trooper, as he doesn’t like his photo taken, but we hired one of the local photographers  Kelvin, to do a mini portrait session while were there.   After the session, when we were covered in sand and sea water, we met the most awesome wedding photographer couple, John and Kim Sanderson of Sanderson Images.  They were there to shoot a destination wedding the following day and had we not just finished our session, I would have offered to swap portrait session services, as I love their work!  Here were some of the highligts from our trip.

the view from our balcony…

in front of the church on the hotel grounds….

what a beautiful view…

my new favorite portrait of us…

Wade’s new favorite photo..

I felt like I was in a harlequin romance novel here…

several weddings took place here during the week of our stay..

I found that a good karate chop is the best way to catch a fish…they had no chance

Wade and I snorkeling before I realized I was allowed to take off my life jacket.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving!  We enjoyed eating lobster and shrimp instead of the regular Turkey dinner….not a bad way to spend the Holiday!

It was 8:15 am on Wednesday morning when I stepped into the ultrasound room with Wade.  It was the first appointment that I could get, and although I’m not a morning person, I couldn’t wait to find out the gender of our first child.  To my delight, the ultrasound image revealed a little baby girl!  We couldn’t be more thrilled, as I was secretly hoping for a little girl :)  She was very photogenic for her debut and posed it all types of positions for us, in addition to yawning, waving, and stretching.  I think we may have woken her up!  Check out her beautiful portrait below.

she kind of looks like an alien baby in this image, but I think she was waiving to us!

We’ll be out of the country starting tomorrow through November 30th on our baby-moon.  I’ll be returning phone calls and emails upon our return.  Have a Happy Thanksgiving!

If you’re like me, you like to send out a Christmas card each year.  This year we are offering Holiday Cards from any of the events we’ve photographed in the past year.    Below are card examples of some of my favorite portrait session’s of the year!

This is our 5×7 flat card…

This is our4 x 5.5 flat card…

Aren’t they beautiful families?

We also have several other card options.  Just email me for additional samples and pricing information!

Happy Holidays!

Shannon Kaple

Center Avenue Imaging

I came across this image on Facebook today taken by a colleague of mine, Kenny Kim.  It was taken shortly after Obama was announced as President-Elect at a barber shop where he frequently gets his hair cut   It is so very compelling that I had to share it.   Way to go Kenny and a special congrats to the new President.

Kevin and Kristen got married on an absolutely beautiful fall day, October 18th in Denver, Colorado.  It was sunny and the leaves were at their peek, all the while Kristen looked absolutely stunning in her designer Vineyard gown from Priscilla of Boston and her cathedral veil.   Their ceremony was held at the Emmaus Lutheran Church in the Highlands with their reception at the opulent, art nouve, historic Brown Palace.   These two met at Kevin’s bar, Spill Lounge, in LoDo, so it was only appropriate to have their wedding in the city where they both work, live and first fell in love.

There were so many great images from their wedding that it was hard to narrow it down, so be prepared for a long blog post.  Check out their slideshow here!

getting ready…Charlie did such a great job on her makeup!

Here is Kristen with her maid of honor and older sister, Michelle before they got into the limo.   Michelle  would well up in tears anytime she looked at her sister, it was so sweet.

Here is a tender moment after Kristen’s brother walked their mother down the aisle.

Afterward we  headed over to the park for some fun images.

These girls have such great style!  I love all the different types of stilletoes.

Isn’t Kristen striking!  She has the most beautiful green eyes.

Kristen has a great eye for details and the reception looked amazing!

Wade took the incredible image above during the first dance…I love how it was back lit.

Kristen dancing with her father…

Then the real party began..

Kristen and Kevin we had a wonderful time at your wedding!  I hope you’re having a great time on your honeymoon in Fuji!

For any photographers out there, I used the Boutwell “Totally Rad TRE 2″ action set on several of these images.  I love their new set of actions!

This image is from a portrait session I did last week….trick or treat!

Next week I’ll be in Pittsburgh running a fall “mini” family portrait sessions.  In addition to seeing some old friends, taking in the beautiful east coast autumn leaves and visiting with family.   We also hope to see a Steeler game while we’re back, but we understand that the Giant’s vs Steeler game is going to be a popular one.

We just shot an amazing wedding yesterday at the Brown Palace and I can’t wait to blog it!  Check back later this week for images from Kristen and Kevin’s 5 star wedding!  We also had several fantastic family sessions last week that I hope to blog too!

In other news, we’re expecting a baby in April!!  We are both thrilled to be parents and going to a friend’s baby shower this morning made me even more excited about being a mother.  I will be taking off 3 months after the baby is born and begin taking wedding commissions again in July.   This was from a few weeks ago, my 13 week bump!

Happy Sunday!

No doubt autumn is my favorite season of the year, so when I found out my husband’s family was planning to come out and visit for a week at the end of September I was thrilled.   It has now been a few weeks ago, but some of the highlights of the trip were our trip to Estes Park, Colorado National Park in Grand Junction and Glenwood Springs.  We had a great time hanging out and playing games.  Wade’s new favorite is Settlers of Catan, although I have yet to win, so Farkel is still my fave.   Here is one of my favorite images from the trip.

In other personal news, we’ll be taking a vacation to Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic over Thanksgiving and staying at a brand new resort that is just opening up this month!  I can’t wait to go snorkeling in the crystal blue waters and sink my feet into the white sand of the Caribbean Sea!!  If you’ve been to Punta Cana and have any suggestions on things to do, please leave me a comment.

Now I think I’ll go enjoy a cup of hot apple cider, yum!