Independence Pass Elopement

Colorado Wedding Photographer - Best of 2019

I know, I know. It’s March (almost April) and we are in the midst of an coronavirus pandemic, and now is when you choose to post about 2019?! Let’s be real here though. 2019 is looking like an ocean view suite in Maui compared to the under the highway hourly motel that 2020 is shaping up to be. I typically like to look forward, and in reality, there is no point in holding on to the past. But now more than ever I am finding reasons to celebrate and be grateful for what was, in hopes that we can one day soon be there again. I feel so much for my 2020 brides because this is uncharted waters for all of us. We can pretend to be fortune tellers all we want, but the truth is we don’t know how this year is going to turn out, but I for one want to do my absolute best to not put joy and celebrating on hold. As one on my lovely brides put it, we can’t postpose everything about life. It keeps going and threatens to leave us in the dust if we don’t keep up. We’ll slow down, quarantine, hopefully flatten the spread, and pray for the best, but eventually (and I of course don’t mean within the next couple of months - isolating is a must right now!) we will need to soldier on, perhaps with new extra sanitized and social distanced ways of living, but we’ll have to move on nonetheless. And with all the dire news lately I am feeling more than ready for reasons to celebrate again.

2019 was quite a year of growth for me, in the best of ways. When I first started my business 10 years ago, I didn’t know a single thing about being a business owner. All I knew is that I wanted to take pretty pictures for people because that’s what made me truly happy. If the last decade has shown me anything, its that The best part about this entire journey of mine has not only been to see my business grow and flourish, but also to learn about that side of me - the side that has been able to figure out the ins and outs of being a one woman show. It’s been scary at times, trying to rely on myself completely to put food on the table. But I’ve also found that I am stronger than I thought, and that ability to surprise myself has been priceless.

Thank you for taking the time to scroll through my 2019 weddings. I want to mention here that I shot this entire wedding season pregnant, with my last wedding of the year being 3 weeks before giving birth to my daughter Margot. Not to toot my own horn or anything ;)

Independence Pass Elopement - Colorado Adventure Elopement Photographer - Alyssa and Harry

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When Alyssa and Harry reached out to me, they were just starting their lives together in Colorado. Newly engaged, they were super eager to do the damn thing and elope - they had been in a long distance relationship for 2 years, and were just super excited about finally living in the same city together. Both are avid adventurers, and live for backpacking, camping, hiking and everything in between, so it made sense to plan an awesome mountain elopement in Aspen, CO.

Being a wedding photographer in Colorado is an amazing job because it means that I get to also photograph destination weddings and elopements. I spend a lot of my time researching hikes and areas for mountain engagement sessions and elopements all over the state (which by the way, I’ve been here 10 years and every time I think I have seen everything Colorado has to offer, something new appears!), and figuring out what will work best for couples. Alyssa and Harry knew they wanted to hike somewhere amazing, as long as the weather worked out!

The original plan was to hike out on the top of Independence Pass and elope at sunrise, but there was a crazy winter storm in the forecast and for my clients, safety is my top priority. Instead, we hiked around and did a few photos up on the pass, and then hiked further down on Independence Pass, in an area that was a little less exposed and more secluded. Luckily we beat the storm!

We ended the day with Alyssa and Harry sharing cupcakes and walking through some aspens, which were hanging on to the last little bit of fall. I am seriously so glad I got to witness this part of their lives, and that they were so open to quick last minute changes! Enjoy!