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Hello! I'm a Colorado Springs wedding photographer and portrait photographer. I travel all over the country to document the
important moments in people's lives. My blog showcases some of my favorite photos of my clients and adventures. I update this
blog several times a week, so please visit frequently to see my latest images.
August 30, 2007
Attention Colorado Springs!
I want to get in touch with families who are separated by the war. This fall I would like to do a photo project of people in the Colorado Springs area whose spouses, children, or parents are deployed in Iraq or Afghanistan. Do you know anyone who is spending a long time apart from their loved one because of the war? Please have them contact me to talk about a free photo shoot. All participants will receive free photos they can send to their deployed family members.
If you or someone you know would like to be a part of this free photo project, please contact me at charlotte@charlottegeary.com or respond to this post. Thanks!
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August 29, 2007
Greg, Julia, and Heidi
Bear Creek Lake Park
Lakewood, Colorado
August 23, 2007
Heidi and Greg are just days away from their wedding! They will be getting married this Sunday in Keystone, and I’m really looking forward to it. We got together last week for an engagement session with their adorable daughter, Julia. Julia is a total diva! I can’t wait to see her in her role as flower girl this weekend.
Congratulations, Greg and Heidi! I’ll see you soon!
More engagement portraits of their family
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Tags: children, couples, denver, engagement, families, portraits
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Johan and Grace
Bear Creek Lake Park
Lakewood, Colorado
August 23, 2007
These guys are fun! I had a great time with Grace and Johan last week at their engagement session, and it looks like they had fun, too! We wandered around Bear Creek Lake Park and then Red Rocks. I can’t wait to photograph their wedding in a couple weeks!
More of their engagement portraits
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Tags: couples, denver, engagement, portraits, red rocks
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August 28, 2007
Me and Dave
Photo by Dave
August 18, 2007
Check out this hilarious self-portrait that Dave took of the two of us while I was busy photographing his beautiful bride, Tracey. I had no idea he was taking this picture at the time… how funny! You may remember that Dave carried his camera with him on their wedding day, which I thought was such a fun idea. I was thrilled when Dave emailed me some of his photos and gave me permission to post them here. Thanks, Dave!
More photos from Dave’s camera
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August 27, 2007
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August 26, 2007
Tracey and Dave
Wild Basin Lodge
Colorado
August 18, 2007
Congratulations to Tracey and Dave! They got married last weekend at the Wild Basin Lodge, a beautiful venue right outside Rocky Mountain National Park. The entire day was filled with personal touches, from their spectacular decorations, to their surprise-filled ceremony, to their rockin’ reception. How fun!
More photos from their wedding
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Tags: weddings, wild basin lodge
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Molly, Timmy, Kenna, Paul, and Robby
Arlington, Virginia
August 14, 2007
Who wants to see more photos of my brother’s kids? (I do! I do!) Here are some pictures I took of the family on our last night in Virginia earlier this month.
More photos of bro, sis-in-law, niece, and nephews
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Tags: my family, personal photos
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August 25, 2007
My niece, Kenna, and my brother, Paul
Kenna’s fourth birthday party
Arlington, Virginia
August 8, 2007
Mike and I were so happy to be able to go to Kenna’s birthday party this year! She turned four this month, and celebrated with family in grand, fairy princess style. Her parents gave her a princess dress-up set, which I’ve learned is total heaven for four-year-old girls. In this photo, she had just gotten all dressed up, and Paul was holding her up to see herself in the mirror. Look how happy (and adorable) she is! I want to scoop her up and smooch the little princess.
More photos from Kenna’s birthday party
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Tags: my family, personal photos
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August 24, 2007
Ugh, this has been a rough week. I seem to have brought home a particularly nasty case of poison ivy as a souvenir from my trip to Virginia. I won’t go into the gory details, except to say that I’ve been in itchy hell all week, and I’m very proud of myself for not cutting off my legs yet. I’m on meds from my dermatologist, and its starting to go down, slowly but surely. I’ve spent a lot of time sleeping this week, thanks to the wonders of antihistamines.
I just wanted to say that if I owe you an email or phone call, I’m really sorry. I will be getting back to you in the next couple days. Thanks for understanding!
In the meanwhile, I thought I’d cheer myself up with a cute picture of Mike hanging out with Roger and Janie. 
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August 22, 2007
I’ve been tagged! My friend Karie McLain is a photographer here in Colorado Springs, and she tagged me with a request to list eight random facts about myself. So bring on the randomness!
1. If I could do any profession other than photography, I’d be a superstar on Broadway.
2. One of these days I’m going to go to New Zealand and study the impact of eco-tourism on dolphins. Either that, or I’ll go to Bali and live in a tree house for two weeks to study the self-medicating behaviors of orangutans. Or maybe both.
3. I don’t understand people who don’t like vegetables. They are seriously missing out. My favorites are red peppers and tomatoes, and this summer I’m on an arugula kick.
4. I named my cats after chimpanzee researchers. Janie and Roger are named after Jane Goodall and Roger Fouts. I know that’s a weird thing to do to a cat, but Goodall and Fouts are two of my heroes. They taught me that compassion should be treasured above all traits, including intelligence. In the late 90s, I studied sign language for six months so I could volunteer with Fouts’ chimps and speak to them in a shared language. The experience changed me.
5. When I was in fourth grade, I was on a TV game show called “It’s Elementary.” I was chosen to be one of their math contestants, which is funny considering I never liked math. Somewhere my family has a VHS tape of that show, and I look really short.
6. One of my fondest memories is sitting alone in Marin County, overlooking the Golden Gate Bridge. I sat there for hours, watching the fog roll in and out. It was sublime.
7. I could win a ton of money on “Don’t Forget the Lyrics” or “The Singing Bee.” If I could clear out all the song lyrics from my brain, I could do something useful with that leftover brain power, like cure cancer. When I was in high school, I would memorize facts for tests by putting them to music. I can still recite the last stanza of “Thanatopsis,” because I sing it in my head to the tune of “I’d Like to Teach the World to Sing.”
8. Before I met Mike, I really didn’t think I could be happier with a man in my life. I was wrong.
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August 21, 2007
Lauren
Kluge Estate
Charlottesville, Virginia
August 11, 2007
I’ve known Lauren since she was 13 years old, and now she’s all grown up and gorgeous! Lauren started her senior year of high school last week, and I was thrilled when she asked for me to do her senior portraits. Congratulations, Lauren! Senior year is so much fun, and I hope you love it.
More of Lauren’s senior portraits
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Tags: individuals, portraits, senior portraits, virginia
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August 20, 2007
Tom, Me, and Jessica
Behind the scenes at Jessica’s fearless bridal session
Photo by Jessica’s mother
California, Maryland
August 10, 2007
What an awesome picture! I’d like to send out a big thank you to Jessica’s mother for taking some great candids of our bridal session. I didn’t want to carry more than one camera into the water, so I asked her if she could hold my second camera for me. Since I know that she’s a gifted photographer, I asked if she would be willing to take some pictures of the three of us in action. The pictures are fantastic!
As you can see, I got almost as wet as Jessica did! The best camera angles were right at the water level, so I jumped on in. Somehow I never dropped the camera.  Tom went in the water, too! That’s Tom Sanderson, my new friend who offered to drive all the way from Williamsburg at the last minute to help with this photo shot. Thanks so much Tom!
More behind-the-scenes photos
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Tags: behind the scenes, personal photos, portraits
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August 17, 2007
Jessica
St. Mary’s County, Maryland
August 10, 2007
You might remember Jessica from her wedding photos last May, or my recent WPJA award winners. Jessica’s well-known on this blog! I was thrilled when she asked me for a post-wedding bridal session. She wanted a portrait session that would feature her gown, without any worries of getting it dirty or damaged. Some people call these sessions “Trash the Dress” shoots, but I prefer to think of them as “Fearless Bridals.” The goal wasn’t to destroy her gown, but rather to celebrate it without fear.
Jessica describes her intentions far better than I could. She asked me if she could write a post for my blog about her decision to do this photo shoot. It’s exciting for me to share Jessica’s thoughts in her own words:
………………………………………….
Why? That’s your first question, isn’t it?
Weddings are emotional. A wedding gown is one of the most emotionally charged pieces of clothing a woman can own. This creates a need to keep it, to packrat it away for years and years. I love my gown. I love the way it hangs on my frame and I love the way my husband looked at me in it on our wedding day. But I also had little idea what to do with the gown after the wedding. My mother cleaned and stored hers. A friend sold hers; another friend donated hers to Brides Against Breast Cancer; yet another friend saved hers for her daughter to wear or perhaps her christening gown. So many options, but none held my interest. With a need to find a unique way of remembering my dress, I came across the idea of “trashing” it.
For months I wrestled with what “trashing” meant. Did it mean fire and scissors? Did it mean mud and water? Was it simply brides photographed in unique places? In short, it is all of these things. Like a wedding and its associated gown, trashing is unique unto the bride. As I broached the subject with my husband, my parents, and my friends, the reactions were violently different from person to person. I was definitely surprised and a little taken aback at the level of emotional investment other people had in MY gown. But I’m stubborn and I emailed Charlotte to see if she’d be willing to assist me. I was nervous asking because this shoot would require a very open mind and to my delight, Charlotte agreed with enthusiasm. Despite having asked for help trashing my dress, the “traditional monster” preyed on my mind a bit. What if the dress didn’t come clean?
As you can see, we shot in a church, in the woods, at a bar, in a cornfield, on a tractor, in a barn, and at the beach. I was anxious, but with each site I let go of something else I’d been holding too tight: what people would think. Instead, I felt sexy and invincible. I didn’t care that people were videotaping the insane bride in the cornfield. I didn’t care that people were driving by either staring or honking. I didn’t care that my toes were muddy and my neck was streaked with sweat. This photo shoot had morphed from a creative idea to NEEDED. Treating the strongest wedding symbol with such disregard was liberating and therapeutic. All of the things that didn’t go exactly as we had planned, I didn’t care anymore. The weather, the flowers, the guest list, the limo…don’t care. This shoot allowed me to move past the wedding and fully into my marriage. As I shoved the most expensive and symbolic item of my wardrobe into a giant green trashbag to haul home, I couldn’t wipe the grin off my face. As I listened to the water swish inside the bag, I thought, “Every bride needs to do this.” Now that it’s done, it’s time to find the best dry cleaner I can…preferably one with an open mind.
Would I do it again? In a heartbeat.
– Jessica
………………………………………….
Thank you so much, Jessica, for your eloquent contribution to my blog, and for asking me to share this experience with you. I think I had as much fun as you did, and I hope the photos are everything you hoped for and more.
Thank you also to my fantastic assistant for the day, Tom Sanderson, who came all the way from Williamsburg to help us with this shoot. I’d also like to thank Jessica’s mother for taking so many wonderful candids! I’ll post those on another day, so stay tuned.
More photos from Jessica’s Fearless Bridal (Trash the Dress) session
Categories: All posts, portraits
Tags: individuals, maryland, portraits, post-wedding sessions, weddings
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August 16, 2007
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August 8, 2007
Ally, Mike, and Me
Twin Lakes, Colorado
July 30, 2007
Our second anniversary!
I propped the camera on a rock for this self-portrait, and the timer went off just as Ally shook herself off on us.
Last week was our second anniversary, and Mike and I decided to spend it in beautiful Aspen. We took Ally with us, and even took her up the gondola to the top of Aspen Mountain! Aspen is one of my favorite towns, and it was a perfect way for us to celebrate two very happy years together. Wow, the time has gone by quickly! Mike and I have so much fun together. I can’t wait to see what adventures we’ll have together over the years!
If you want to see photos of our wonderful wedding two years ago, you can find many pictures (and video!) HERE.
More photos from our trip
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Tags: personal photos, travel
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August 3, 2007
Amy and Matt
Timber Ridge
Keystone, Colorado
July 28, 2007
I love Colorado weddings! Amy and Matt got married on top of a mountain at Keystone resort, and we all traveled there by ski gondola. I had so much fun getting there that I was almost giddy by the time I got to the venue.
Matt has been skiing in Keystone for years, and this resort is really important to him. Their wedding was perfect for them, with great weather, and outdoor ceremony, and a view of the mountains. I love it when couples plan weddings that really say a lot about their personalities. This one was fun!
Congratulations, Amy and Matt. We had a blast, and hope that you did, too!
More photos from their wedding
Categories: All posts, weddings
Tags: keystone resorts, weddings
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August 1, 2007
Kayla
Lakewood, Colorado
July 25, 2007
Kayla and I had a perfect evening for her senior portraits! A storm was developing, giving us such beautiful light and dramatic clouds that I was almost giddy. Kayla was a fabulous model, and I think she looks gorgeous in these photos. I hope she’ll love them as much as I do.
Technical info for those inclined:
I used natural light for all of these photos. I paid attention to the quality of the light in each location, and I had her turn her face up toward the naturally diffused sunlight. In a few of the photos, Kayla’s mother held a reflector for some fill light on her face.
Kayla, congratulations on the start of your senior year! Thanks for being such a lovely model.
More of Kayla’s senior portraits
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Tags: denver, individuals, portraits, senior portraits
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