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Baby Brooklynn

Wow, my first family maternity shoot. Sooooo much fun! Which I attribute entirely to the fabulous Dr. Vin and his family.  Oh I say Dr. Vin because he’s my chiropractor and he’s awesome. Anywhoo, Dr. Vin, his wife Jenna, their daughter Karly, and soon to be born daughter Brooklynn were super troupers. They picked Helen Hunt Falls as a their location for the shoot, because, well, it’s gorgeous. The one thing we didn’t really think about was that it’s only the number three scenic tourist spot in Colorado Springs. Ok, I made that up but it is a really popular spot and Saturday was no exception.  The area was pretty packed and if you’ve ever been to Helen Hunt Falls you know that space is a little limited.  So kudos to them for being themselves, the fun loving family that they are, in front of dozens of on lookers.  I can’t wait to meet little Brooklynn in October!

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To show you some example of the tourists, here’s an outtake of Jenna.  I wanted to try to capture a private, contemplative moment of her.  So I’m asking Jenna to close her eyes and share an intimate moment with me and the camera.  I’m oblivious to everything behind me except Dr. Vin yelling “show more profile” :-)    Next thing I know this couple pops into the background to soak in the falls for a bit.  Jenna was great and very patient, we eventually got the shot.  But I think maybe in this moment, Jenna is trying to say to me “really, a private moment…um, there’s about 7 people behind you watching.”  Oh, then after we finished the series, I was changing my position when I noticed that there were two guys to the left of me who had been standing there in the water for a while watching and waiting for us to finish so they could continue walking upstream to the falls.

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I love this series of Dr. Vin and Karly.  Technically the shoot had wrapped but, you know, it’s hard for me to stop shooting.  Really, these are the moments I like to capture…unscripted, genuine. It simply started with Dr. Vin helping Karly with her flip flops.  I was so focused on the two of them, it wasn’t until I’d fired off a few frames that I noticed we had an audience.

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Kelly, Sam, and Grey

Had a fun family shoot with Kelly, Sam and their little man Grey. Kelly was inspired by some of my black and white live music photography so we decided to give that style a go with their shoot. I think the scull and crossbones onesie was an excellent outfit choice to accompany the style!

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Adam Lambert at the Paramount Theater in Denver

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I came out of the closet about being an Adam Lambert fan back when he was performing on American Idol.  And yes, I admit that as well, I do watch  Idol…it’s pop culture, how can I not.  When I heard Adam’s Glam Nation Tour was making a stop in Denver I all but sold my soul shoot the show for the Denver Post.  The only bummer was, I didn’t get to stay for the entire show, just the first three songs.  But that’s ok, I’ll get the scoop on the rest of the show from my soon to be 70 year old mother.  That’s right, she’s a massive fan and plans on hitting Adam’s set in Albuquerque at the Sunshine Theater next month.  I’m seriously considering making the drive to join her.  If you find it odd that a 70 year old woman is a massive fan, you’d be surprised (as surprised as I was) about his demographic.  I was expecting to see mostly LGBT and teenage girl fans, but I was a little off.  There were a fair number of the a fore mentioned, but also a pretty big group of women in 35 – 50 range, along with their husbands.  For the record, I myself am a lesbian turning 40 in a couple months.  I think it’s fantastic that he brings such a wide range of people together.

Be sure to check out the official Denver Post Reverb review written by Emily Zemler.  You’ll see a few more pics.

A few technical notes

This was a soundboard shoot, which isn’t ideal but you take what you can get.  Unfortunately, I didn’t know it was going to be a soundboard shoot so I didn’t have my monopod with me.  Shooting telephoto at low shutter speeds is never ideal but it’s possible.  Luckily, in preparing for the show I had watched a few You Tube videos so I knew what to expect in terms of his movement and choreography.  I did learn a valuable lesson though, always keep my monopod in the car, just in case.

I shot primarily with my 70-200/2.8L with a 2x extender.  The first two songs I was shooting that lens on a Rebel xTi so I could get that added .6 magnification.  ISO 1600, F5.6 (lowest I could go because of the extender), 1/80th.  For the the third song, Ring of Fire, the lighting on Adam dimmed quite a bit so I switched to my 5D body to get an extra stop by bumping my ISO to 3200.

Meet Madeline and Livia

Aren’t they just adorable!  Livia, almost four, is quite the model.  And Madeline, oh sooo sweet and curious…also definitely a lover of dogs.  This was another super fun shoot with kiddos.  I’m really loving photographing all these budding personalities.  Thanks so much for the privilege of capturing a moment in their lives.









Lolly and Brad

Lolly and Brad, such a fun and laid back couple!  I couldn’t wait to post a few sneak peaks from our quick pre/post ceremony portrait shooting jaunt through the Botanic Gardens.  The trouble was, I had such a hard time picking only a few…Lolly and Brad look so fabulous together that editing this shoot is TOUGH!  Thanks you so much Lolly and Brad for allowing Andrea and I to capture your day.   You two are an inspiration!

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The Golod Family

Had a blast photographing my good friend Andrea and her family up in Superior. I think my favorite part was screaming “poopy-pants” at the top of my lungs in order to get Jakey ‘Smiles’ Golod to crack one of his signature smiles. It work on Andrea and Dennis too. However, I’m not too sure the church group that was having a picnic in the park, enjoyed it quite as much.

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Time Out for Kennedy

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Even in a time out Kennedy is just too adorable.  I am so weak, couldn’t resist those eyes.

Marianne at 14 Months – Sneak Peak

I had the joy of photographing Miss. Marianne at Cheeseman Park last Sunday. This should have been Marianne’s 1-Year portrait. But due to insane schedules, crazy Colorado weather, and a trip to Tahiti the shoot was pushed a couple months. So, technically it’s Marianne at 14 months. This is a little sneak peak. I just love these fist two photos because for me they absolutely describe the hour we spent together. Marianne, adorably coy and demure…not to mention extremely mobile. Me, chasing her all over the place.  She definitely gave me a workout. Duck walking at the speed of a toddler is not as easy as it sounds.

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Livin’ The Dream In Tahiti with My Mom and My iPhone

I recently got back from a 10 day vacation with my mom in French Polynesia.  It had been a lifelong dream of hers to travel there ever since she saw the 1951 film, Bird of Paradise, as a teenager.  Since my dad had no desire to spend 10 days in the humidity, I luckily pulled the short straw and got to go with her.   Even though I took all my gear, pretty much the only camera I used was my iPhone. I think I was inspired by, Allison V. Smith who’s been showcasing some beautiful iPhone snaps on her blog and flickr…love her work.

Of course, I had this vision that while we were there, I would shoot all sorts of stock photos, maybe hire some models, scour every inch of the islands (Tahiti and Moorea) for the best shots, possibly to shoot a story..I wanted to make the most of my time there.  And I did make the most of my time, but not in the way I had initially thought.  Ultimately all I did was hang with my mom.  Partly because I was too worried to leave her alone, partly because, well, we were on vacation, but mostly because I genuinely enjoyed spending all that one on one time with her.  I will cherish that time with her more than I ever would the “perfect” shot.  Sitting on the beach watching the sunset with her, while she gets a little tipsy from one piña colada, listening to her tell me stories about her life..that’s the stuff that matters.

I’ve mentioned it before, my mom is not a fan of me pointing a camera in her general direction BUT, I can’t help it, I love photographing her.  I imagine there is some psychological component as to why, but I’m not ready to explore that just yet.  For now, I’ll chalk it up to the fact that I love her dearly.

So here is a little montage of some of the shots I took of her with my handy 1st gen iPhone.  Most of these were shot using the Hipstamatic App and a few were shot with the ShakeItPhoto App.

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Stay tuned for another iPhone Tahiti post.

Passion Pit at the Odgen

What an AWESOME show to watch but it was definitely a challenge to shoot. Probably one of the most difficult shows I’ve photographed.







You can see the full set of images at Reverb.

OR, I’m trying something new on my website, a “Stories” section.  It’s a work in progress but, you can also see them here, www.denisechambers.com/stories/passionpit

A Few Technical Notes

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