Aaron’s Picks:

I can’t believe we’ve reached the end but here it goes. All of our couples are amazingly special to us and choosing these ten was extremely difficult because of that. Thanks everyone for a great 2009 and here’s to an even better 2010!

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Heather’s Picks:

This is what it all comes down to ladies and gentlemen. We do what we do because we love the couples we work with. They’re all different and all awesome. Choosing just 10 images to sum up an entire year of work is painfully difficult.

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Aaron’s Picks:

I made the mistake of reading what Heather wrote about wedding parties before doing it myself. So now you get this. Wedding Parties are like a box of chocolates, you never know what you’re gonna get. Okay, I apologize for that. I really have a blast with the groups because by the wedding day, our couples know we’re crazy, know that we’re likely to put you someplace strange, ect. By the end you’ll either love us or hate us, but at least you’ll be in a couple cool images. Like these. Enjoy.

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Heather’s Picks:

There’s no good way to sum up wedding parties. They’re always a mixed bag and you never know what you’re going to get until the day of the wedding. We’re lucky because most of our laid back clients have equally laid back friends. And that means we can ask them to do sometimes strange things to get some great images.

I do have to say that I love, love my top pick. If we were narrowing the entire year to 10 images total, this would be high on my list.

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Aaron’s Picks:

We had, by far, some of the best parties ever this year! That made choosing much harder than in past years. Enjoy.

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Heather’s Picks:

This year’s reception picks were all about fun, activity and atmosphere. We witnessed some great parties and here’s a peak.

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Aaron’s Picks:

After about three attempts to write what I think about shooting detail images I’ve realized that I’m incapable of writing today. So this is what you get: Shooting details is kind of like shooting fine art. Creative takes of inanimate objects that spell the mood for a scene. That kinda reads like bacon wrapped vomit. I hope Heather did a better job. Enjoy.

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Heather’s Picks:

The detail category is unusually difficult to narrow down. It’s hard to separate what I LOVE as a detail and what I LOVE as a picture of a detail.

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Aaron’s Picks:

It’s a little funny that our biggest staple as wedding photographers is the most difficult for me personally. If you’ve ever been shot by me you know that structure isn’t exactly the driving force so working with the most structured part of a wedding day can be a creative challenge. It was one of my biggest things that I worked on this year and love the results. Enjoy.

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Heather’s Picks:

I love the ceremony images from this year. I’m glad we raised the allowable number to 10 for the year because I couldn’t cut any of these images. They’re so true to each couple – explosive laughter from Katie, relief in the hug between Jenny and Kristian, anticipation as Andy awaits Laura. These images sum up each event in one shot.

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Aaron’s Picks:

I’ll be honest, this is really Heather’s category. Guys just don’t take that much prep time so I’m usually off doing other things that get me in trouble. It’s also fun b/c this  is where our picks really start to differ. I guess marriage is no account for taste. J/K

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Heather’s Picks:

The getting ready part of any wedding day can range from extremely serene to extremely hectic. No matter what, I love capturing it.

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Aaron’s Picks:

I love weddings but engagements are by far my favorite group. Nothing beats photoshoots without limits and most weddings just don’t fit in that category. It’s also one of the hardest to narrow down. I could have easily done a top 100, but here’s 10.

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Heather’s Picks:

I somehow managed to pluck 10 images out of nearly 800 sitting in our “Engagement favorites 2009” folder (true story). That deserves a reward!

Some highlights:

While the “gun” shot didn’t make it very high in the final ranking, I absolutely love to watch people’s reaction to this image! It totally captures the fact that we’ll do anything that’s personal for an e-session.

The cigar pic – UGH! I really regret that I couldn’t be there to shoot Alyson and Eric’s e-session. So jealous of this image!

I’m calling the Colorado picks a tie because they’re equally awesome. Travel e-sessions may be our true calling.

And topping the list: the only e-session we’ve ever shot at our house with two of the most fun-loving people on the planet. The backyard water games may not have been Rob and Stef’s idea, but they embraced it … and rocked it. Enough said.  

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Now to the good stuff! We’re bringing you around 10 of our favorite images in 8 categories: best of the rest, e-sessions, getting ready, ceremony, details, reception, wedding party and the couple.

So stay tuned!

Oh and feel free to leave comments agreeing with any of my picks. If you happen to agree with Aaron, feel free to keep that to yourself…

Aaron’s Picks:

I love “the rest” because it encapsulates well… everything besides our wedding couples. Getting outside weddings is a joy as I really love anything involving portraiture. Much like Heather I’ll have an order to the rest of this series but not today, how do you compare oranges to pears? Enjoy my favs, which much to Heather’s dismay, are waaaaaay better than hers. You know it and I know it… enough said.

Heather’s Picks:

Best of the rest is such a mixed bag: seniors, boudoir, models, lifestyle and <you> session shots. It’s not like we’re comparing apples to apples here. So my picks tended to be fall into what captures that type of session the best. So you’ll see that I think boudoir can be super sexy without showing a lot skin. You’ll see the some family moments are simple and priceless. And you’ll see that seniors are a strange combo of coolness and vulnerability. Also, unlike other categories, I’m not ranking these.

Aaron’s picks: 

I really love this category. This is why we do what we do. The time we get to spend with a couple making art is priceless – there is always an emphasis on emotion and creativity. These are in no particular order because it was hard enough narrowing it down to just six.

Beth absolutely glowed the entire day so it was hard to get a bad picture. I love the emotion here. It’s simple but it captures what we try for.

 In general I love when the light plays, especially downtown. When that happens awesomeness ensues.

I’m constantly amazed about how many comments we get on this image. Let’s just get this out of the way – No, I would not ask most people to do this and there is very little posing. If you normally make funny faces then I will take your picture doing it. Simple as that.

I really love this image – actually the whole set from this shoot, but we can only post one right? It just feels like no one else is there … and sexy…

 Not much to say here. I just love it – everything about it.

I’ve loved this shot from the beginning. Just honest and fun.

Heather’s picks:

Oh “couple” category – you are so hard! We have a connection with all of our couples and I fall in love with images from every wedding. It was tough to choose, but I narrowed it down to 6. Like Aaron, I’d say a lot of these are interchangable.

This one however is not. This is the BEST couple shot of the year. I love it for the simplicity and the honesty. This one shot sums up Beth and Chris on their wedding day. They were beautiful to photograph.

Moving from beautiful to smokin’ hot! I can’t get enough of Blaine and Anna! I could have picked a dozen shots from their set. I love this one because it captures Blaine’s laid-back attitude and Anna’s smoldering personality (and looks).

This image is a show stopper. Literally! People at bridal shows will stop and point out this image. It’s so incredibly different and fun, but that sums up Michael and Ashley. They are genuine, goofy and all-around great. Ditto for the image.

I think Kelly and Jason have garnered the most spots in my best of the best.  Aaron of course argued with this choice, but I love it. Kelly is stunning and Jason is his usual fun, laid back self – sure he’ll “drive” a boat, no problem. Love the light. Love the editing.

This image really sums up our true art philosophy. This really captures Kyle and Laura. I think it’s beautiful.

Following the theme – I think this image is a perfect capture of Sarah and Keith’s quiet devotion to each other, with a nice artistic spin from Aaron.  

Next up – Best of the Best – that’s right we’re narrowing the whole year down to a few images. Wish us luck!

You may have missed – E-sessions, Getting Ready, Ceremony, Details, Reception, Solo Portraits, and Wedding Party.

Aaron’s picks:

Talk about summing up everything we want from a wedding in one picture! There is honestly not much I would change about this. I really think it speaks for itself so I’m not going to over do it. Enjoy!

Trying to describe why I liket his image mostly comes down to one thing: Impact. Unusual, fun, it really just grabs you. We always love images that are taken in a really popular location but feel completely different. Do you know where this is?

This is a little more traditional than I would usually choose for BOTB, but it strikes me. I love the separation between the bride and the party. Not only does it feel like she’s popping out of the image, the wedding party is in their own little world. I guess that actually makes it pretty untraditional, huh?

I absolutely love the color and intensity in this image. The light really pulls your eyes through the image and the texture gives it some great depth. I just like it ok!

Heather’s picks:

I love this image! It’s captivating and it took real vision to create it. There’s not much more to say – it’s fantastic!

I love this image for a number of reasons. It’s one I had been thinking of and this porch was the perfect opportunity. We said “do the Top Model thing” and the results were excellent. I also think this image really captures the personality of each woman in it – a rare feat in a wedding party picture. Plus this image gets mentioned frequently in our consultations. There’s something in it that our brides identify with – maybe it’s a woman thing.

I really can’t say why I like this shot. I just think it embodies “cool” and is so different from any other wedding party pic I’ve seen.

This is a shot with great story. As Aaron started to lead the guys to this field, a concerned neighbor told us that there was a really nice park down the street if we wanted to shoot there. Aaron thanked him and kept walking. This image made believers out of all the guys – and for good reason. It’s a great ”bad ass” shot. I also love the powerlines and the sky. Gorgeous!

SNEAK PEEK! We haven’t even blogged Stephanie and Mark’s wedding but that didn’t keep them from making the list. This image is amazing. I absolutely love the glow from the lights and how Stephanie and Mark are cuddling. I’d have to give them the award for cutest couple of the year and their pictures really reflect that. More on that later …

Next up – The Couple!

You may have missed – E-sessions, Getting Ready, Ceremony, Details, Reception, and Solo Portraits