so, yes, our dash is almost the color of pumpkin. but instead of dressing him up as a horse (which needs little dressing up for other than a doll lashed to his back), we're featuring the *scary* dash this evening. even though r. j. got scared by the movie '1408' and WILL have bad dreams tonight (thanks, nicole!), at least there was some scary creativeness to boot. nicole painstakingly carved out this scary pumpkin in surgical pa-like precision (which stands for Physician Assistant, which her current studies take up all but 10% of her waking hours). dash happened to cast a scary shadow from our porch light. we got 5 trick or treaters, which is an all time high for us, considering our location. the remainder of the candy will go to a good cause....

tara & justin wanted to push the creative envelope in the order of kern-photo tradition for their wedding day photos. and we had heaps of fun doing so. justin and several of his groomsmen just got back *safely* from iraq which made the occasion even more momentous. they are both are incredibly spiritual, which is so inspiring to find in a couple. prayer was a huge party of the ceremony held at the rockland community church. guests shared in the fun at the reception 2,000 feet down the hill at the mt. vernon event center in golden, co. since the couple met at after a boulder boulder 10K race at jamba juice, guests were treated to a jamba all-you-can drink smoothy-fest! enough jibber jabber, here's the kern-photos:


tara was so calm getting ready.


what a beautiful bride!


fallen leaves replaced flower petals in honor of the season. what a cool idea!


the first kiss.



guys deserve to be guys during the 'groomals.'


middle school guys don't dream of weddings like the girls do, but we sure like our cars! justin will get 'major props' for display of this poster-size photo in his army barracks. very guy-ish!


the cake decor stems back for generations. now that is tradition!


ever see a 3-year-old break dance?

you may have heard of nashville's grand ole opry, the Saturday country radio show broadcast since 1925. next door is the vegas-style hotel, the gaylord opryland resort, which new friends lindsay & taylor opened r. j.'s eyes to. it was a sight to be seen, filled with foliage, foliage, and more foliage with unique colonial decor and huge glass skylights. there was a five member band dressed up in funky neon foliage and cast in the limelight, a unique sight to behold. spot them if you can:


the place felt like willy wonka's factory, with glass ceilings, palatable flowers, funky floating balloons, and a not-so chocolate river.


then we stumbled upon the 8pm water light show, on par with the legendary show at las vegas's bellagio.


and these reminded us a fireworks!

reporting live from nashville, tn: for those well acquainted with our beloved viszla dash, you may know he refuses to wear anything but colorful, handmade dog collars made by lindsay designs. well, r. j. met up with lindsay and her boyfriend, taylor, at the parthenon, a stunning full-scale replica of the classical architectural marvel. we were up for the challenge to emphasize perspective and angles, use no studio strobes, and shoot in a downpour of rain at night, uphill both ways, yada yada yada. we kept things creative, edgy, and different and had a pure blast doing so. CLICK HERE FOR SLIDESHOW. and here's a smattering of our favorites:



check out the little streaks of rain backlit by the huge monster flood lights:


let's not forget calypso:

a tender, romantic moment:


look, ma, no photoshop! (green color created in camera by halogen lights)


we ended on a high note going for high-impact:


shadow shots are easy when you have good shadow models.



our final shot:

we walked into church at 8am this morning and the weather was a bit foggy... we walked out about an hour later with several inches of snow on the ground and couldn't believe that winter is approaching (even though it was 83 degrees in denver yesterday!). of course the boys couldn't resist a bit of playing in the snow, so after a long run on nearby green mountain, r. j. grabbed his camera for a impromptu photo session with dash. yes, he is a goober overjoyed with excitement.

a dashing pose with one ear up for decoration.



still walking on two legs.


snow tastes especially good for the yellow snow maker.


ears sometimes have a mind of their own.


dash hides, then realizes the game is no fun when he can be spotted.


both these images are straight out of the camera with denver's finest vizsla in action. even though we got only about 3 inches, the perspective of the shot offers a bit of an illusion.

we love it when we get handwritten notes, homemade baked goodies, and little holiday surprises. well, mom kern (dash's grandma on r. j.'s side) surprised us with a little something something... a super halloween combo care package (not available in stores). thanks, mom! when we opened it, there was yummy cookies and little muffins, each individual wrapped, labeled, and identified as whose is whose. r. j. has been known to 'snitch' the goodies, so this strategy has become a staple prevention mechanism in the kern family tradition.


mom also gifted us some spiffy orange halloween lights and a frankenstein inflatable door hanger doll, which dash 'tried' to be friends with, but that got nipped in the bud.


so, of course, he got all pissy and threw a temper-tantrum.

of course those puppy eyes make us give in....


so we give him a little cheese, which makes everything better. however, he still has to 'work' for the treat and wait for the official release command, "OK!"

the levalley's invited us over to their beautiful home in fort collins for a 'p-session,' which is a blend of traditional portraiture (for those christmas cards) and our candid 'fresh. modern. fun.' kern-photo style. CLICK HERE FOR SLIDESHOW. here's the whole gang outside (we ordered up a totally real color-cordinated sky):



it got a little chilly outside, so we warmed up on the couch:


then the motley crue came out.


there's garrett:


and marissa with her pearly whites....


and with the not-so innocent look of a troublemaker!


cole in style.


and rachel.


and brad (we'll save this one for the cover of 'time' magazine).


then we cut the kids loose for some shenanigans and a little game of hide & seek. garrett seeks a good spot under the pool table.


garrett is found!


a favorite ball.


young gun cole with his GQ look.


and a priceless moment with garrett.

the butler family won a family portrait session at a recent charity event to benefit the tinyminders school in boulder. with fundraising success, the little school was able to get central air to keep the kids cool. we shot against beautiful chautauqua park in peak color. steve is a 3rd grade teacher and kenna is a chemist.... so of course their boys are little photogenic brainiacs. here's the party of four:



trouble in about 15 years. girls, be on the lookout!


rollercoaster emotions:


kids help remind us of the simple amazement of found objects in nature.


here's the parental reaction for the next shot....


which we'll break out again at his bachelor party in about 25 years!


don't worry, be happy:

we met piano man brian kane at a recent wedding and were impressed with what we heard. so we stirred up some coffee talk at a local starbucks and the creative brainstorms flowed. brian is one of the chief bootknockers at the denver chapter of the american disc jockey association and he's got the whole wedding dj 2.0 thing down pat. he's not your cheesy dj, but writes and plays his own tunes during wedding receptions.... a classy act hard to follow. we've got some creative, symbiotic ideas in the works, so stay tuned for something special.

photographing professional models can be a wonderful opportunity for learning and experimenting with lighting, color, form, and composition, with the ease of working with folks that make their living in front of cameras. as part of the OSP shoot organized by THE andrew & jessica schaefer, cat & chris allowed us to spend some creative time with them. thanks again, guys! many of our brides request that bleeding-edge 'vogue' look, so we've got to keep our skills sharp so we can deliver on demand. here's a few of the favs:



the wonderful creative tools of photoshop can allow our creative visions to go from this:


to this with the right tools:

true to his hungarian vizsla instinct, dash thrives when in the constant pursuit of something to tickle his fancy. while on the way back from another morning hike in vail, dash discovered the magical wishing well of hope. we think he wished for at least one of three things: 1) a hungarian girlfriend 2) a raw pheasant, primed and plucked 3) a nap in a sunny quiet spot.


another dash discovery.... his bonehead nickname, 'dash board,' on some premium vail signage.



our leave-no-trace philosophy: 'take only photographs, leave only footprints, and shadows.'

dash in his 'hoppy state of being.'

busted, again.


"chairlift in the sky"... the name of the most famous r. j. song you've never heard of.

CLICK HERE FOR SLIDESHOW.

we recently felt the urge to 'get out of dodge' and headed to the one and only vail, colorado to savor the final days of colorado yellow foliage. it's our version of a budget 'road trip' with more focus on r&r and less on destintation. it turns out, because of our killer hot summer, the foliage display came a bit late and we hit it right. we stretched our legs and explore the terrain we know 'as the best skiing money can buy.' there's a new game in town, called 'find dash.' see if you can spot him:

r. j. actually tried to not make this look like a cheesy studio portrait, but failed miserably :).


dash's first steps.

happy hour for dash.



a shot I've always wanted, and now i can say we got! vail in fall...


guilty as charged:

i ended up in the doghouse with my wife nicole for staying past my due on this shoot.... so, sweetie, I am really sorry. this was my first 'trash the dress' session and i was over-the-top excited. i felt like a kid in the candy store on this wonderful shoot organized by the talented andrew & jessica schaefer. with all the positive vibe of such a wonderful group of OSP photographers, great models, flowers, and lighting, time flew. the models, moises and crystal, were so patient and displayed unique personality, making everyone's job so easy to get great shots. here are a few of my favorites.


the lensbaby 2.0 came through in this shot:





crystal in vogue:


moises kicked up a little water with his toes to add great effect.

we were first introduced to becki & will via becki's father, ken, at our catholic parish, christ on the mountain in lakewood, co. ken recruited r.j. to become a new member in the knights of the columbus and the rest is history... we earned our way into their hearts to witness and photograph becki & will sharing in the wonderful sacrament of holy matrimony. we love the catholic mass... and especially love catholic weddings since it plays such an important role in our catholic marriage and lives. here they are...

some newlywed gossip during communion.


the first kiss.


then the gang headed to red rocks amphitheater.... very COLORado!



becky ordered up not three, or five, but SEVEN different flavors of cake, which earned major points in our book. we were allowed to try each one and decided we liked them all.


the first dance.


becki and her dad, ken.



not a bird, not a plane, but a great toss!


a 'bling' sandwich.

pete & diane celebrated their 19th wedding anniversary this week, we did a impromptu snapshot session to commemorate! they are some of the most patient, kind, and considerate people we know. needless to say, they had no problem 'smilin' for the camera.' and here they are:

i've know lauren since she was in middle school, so when she asked me to shoot her senior portrait session (which we call our unique 's-session'), i was totally up for it. we had a pure blast and had some great lighting and modeling assistance provided by her sweet parents, pete (uber cool 99.5 the mountain personality) and diane (saavy business guru at the vista group and kick butt taekwondo mom). lauren's eyes are one of her greatest features, so we made sure to shoot them perfectly right along with showing off her snowboard interests. CLICK HERE FOR THE SLIDESHOW.

part of the meet's event provided a mini-tour of old salvage yard... great for vivid colors and cool textures.


i loved the grass growin' out of this old piece of metal...