Cayton Photo Journal

Why Your Wedding Photographs Will Be Remarkable

2012-02-21T17:00:49+00:00

I was attending the Broadmoor Bridal Show on Sunday and I was talking with a woman who recently got engaged. It was near the end of the show - in fact, I was trying to pack up - when she approached me and began asking me questions about wedding pictures. She had a friend with her who was helping her plan her destination wedding at the Broadmoor and she had already made a lot of decisions. But she was still trying to find a photographer for her wedding before she flew home to southern California. A slide show of my wedding pictures from the past year was playing on the computer and she kept pointing to the pictures as they flashed by, nudging her friend. She asked what it was that made our wedding pictures look so different. I jumped into an explanation about how "we capture the moment" and realized immediately how canned and cliche that explanation really is. It didn't do justice to the pictures on the screen. The images were mostly of people and they were feeling something. They were caught in a moment that happened to be out of this world! These are remarkable photographs, but NOT very explainable ones. So, here's my best go at trying to explain it. What we do that makes our wedding photographs so remarkable is to photograph an Authentic Emotional Experience. By authentic, I mean truthful. You can't pose it, you can't orchestrate it and you can't recreate it. When it happens, it happens and just as quickly it's gone. We are the ones who happen to take a picture of it. Sounds simple. But it isn't. It's hard to do. Some photographers are great at fashion or details or dramatic poses of the bride and groom or all three. And we do that too... Ok, here's my second attempt at explanation. What we really do differently is to photograph YOUR emotional experience in a truthful and honest way. It's something this personwas trying to tell her friend as they watched the slide show. It's not every day that people wear their emotions on their sleeve. I mean really, who does that during a weekday at the office? But on your wedding day you DO do that and so does everyone else; your fiance, your best friend, your Mom AND your Dad, and your guests. Emotions are always on the surface and at any moment they show themselves. So that's what we do. We wait in the present moment, we watch and we photograph. It's these authentic emotional experiences that really matter. The truthful nature of your pictures causes you, your family, your friends and, yes, even strangers who don't know you to remark: "Wow! What a fabulous wedding picture!" We do a lot of things really well, but at the end of the day the thing we want to do the most is to make a wedding picture that is... REMARKABLE! If we do that, then we got it right. That's as good as I can explain it and, hopefully, next time I don't come up with something as cliche as "We capture the moment." — Sean

Styled Shoot at The Carter-Payne - Colorado Springs’ Newest Wedding Location

2012-02-17T21:34:41+00:00

The Carter-Payne Event Center is Colorado Springs' newest wedding location in one of Colorado Springs' oldest churches. It is absolutely gorgeous inside and out. I've been eyeing this church for many years and for a while it dutifully served as office space in the center of downtownColorado Springs. Now, Sandy Vanderstoep, owner of Garden of the Gods Gourmet, an incredible gourmet market and the best catering company in town, renovated the church and returned it to its proper place as an incredible 2,000 sq. ft. space for weddings and events. When I found outwhat she had cooking (no pun intended) I immediately called her to see it. And when I got a peek inside, well, the gothic windows and wonderful hammerbeam ceiling had me at Hello:) I immediately made arrangements with Sandy to do a styled shoot and I invited some of the best wedding photographers in Colorado including the wonderful and amazingly talented John Hudetz, Hardy Klahold and Kent Meireis to help me. I also recruited the very beautiful and elegantClaire and her handsome friend Nathan to be our models. We had so much fun! The light inside The Carter-Payne is amazing and as we worked through the afternoon, the sun got lower and the light got sweeter! We couldn't have pulled this off without the help of many other wedding professionals. Springs Bridal provided a simple but very wonderful elegant gown. Springs Bridal is a consignment bridal boutique in Colorado Springs and it has hands-downthe most incredible deals on a wedding dress you can find anywhere. The selection is wonderful. Felicia Popescu, the best stylist I know of, graciously offered her help and transformed Claire from beautiful to amazingly beautiful! Design Works, a floral studio, providedthe wonderful red roses for Claire's bouquet and Nathan's boutineer. Other wedding businesses that graciously donated their work and time include La Dolce, Dawn's Creations and Sugar Plum Cakes Shoppe. Finally, a huge thank you to our two assistants Lena and Juliet. Bothare photography majors at Pikes Peak Community College, and they volunteered to help us manage all of the details behind the scenes. If you have time, do stop by and see this wonderful wedding location in Colorado Springs in person! — Sean

Yummy black and white pictures of Abby, Harper and Jacob

2012-02-17T18:47:31+00:00

I'm constantly reminded how fast my kids are growing up. Sometimes I feel like the proverbial shoemaker; photographing everyone except my own kids. It's really important to me to create a record of their childhood. But as they get older, I have to come up with new and innovative incentives (read: bribes) to get them to sit still.This past weekend I had some lighting equipment I wanted to test and it provided as good an excuse as any to take pictures outside at sunset. It was a little cold, but the jelly beans I had tucked away just for this purpose proved enticing enough for them to come outside, barefeet and all:) Black and white photographs are highly underrated, btw. These are just plain yummy! — Sean

Maggie and Matt’s Pauline Chapel Wedding

2012-02-15T16:58:47+00:00

Maggie and Matt were married Saturday, November 26, 2011 at the historic Pauline Chapel. They celebrated with an evening reception at the Broadmoor's Cheyenne Lodge. The lodge sits in a secluded spot surrounded by Ponderosa pine trees in the hills above the resort. Maggie and Matt's wedding was a family affair and their wedding day was the culmination of a week's worth of Thanksgiving events both families enjoyed. Much of Maggie's family traveled from Chicago and many had never visited Colorado before. Their wedding week was perfect for getting to know Colorado. The Broadmoor kicked off their Christmas celebrations on that weekend as well. Angie with Sapphire Celebrations helped with planning their wedding day. Design Works provided the floral arrangements and stunning red bouquet for Maggie that perfectly complimented her dress and the fur coat that belonged to Matt's mother. For the sake of light, Maggie and Matt decided to see each other before their ceremony and we took full advantage exploring the grounds of the Broadmoor. Winter light, for those in the know, can be the most beautiful of all because the sun sits low in the horizon throughout the day. After their ceremony, Maggie and Matt traveled to the lodge for a wonderful evening reception that featured a solo performance by Matt's Uncle, an incredible musician, Irish music courtesy of Maggie's father and two brothers as well as the incredible band VooDoo Syndicate. Thank you Maggie and Matt for inviting me to photograph your wedding day! — Sean

Happy Valentines Day from JS Design Custom!

2012-02-14T21:31:56+00:00

We just received this gorgeous Valentines Day card from Julie at JS Design Custom. It's so cute and such a lovely idea. We do a lot of weddings with Julie and when we receive our couples invites in the mail we're blown away, especially when one our engagement images is included:) Her work is beautiful, chic and contemporary and it's completely custom. Happy Valentines Day from JS Design Custom! — Sean