A Session to Remember — Denver
When you meet Denver, you know right away that great things are coming her way. She is kind, charismatic, and carries herself with a beautiful confidence that could only come from a life marked by both tragedy and resilience. As the oldest of four sisters, she knows how to lead — and how to let others lead her. Her goals are steady, her drive is quiet and strong, and I have no doubt she will achieve everything she's set out to do.
The Location
For this session, we drove out to the country to the most charming venue. The whole property has been thoughtfully designed with weddings in mind, but honestly, it's a photographer's dream too — there's something beautiful around every single corner. They even had a bathroom with a changing room, which any photographer will tell you is an absolute gift on shoot day!
How I Scout a Location
When I'm location scouting, a few things are always at the top of my list. The most important? Where is the sun going to be?
I actually use an app where I can plug in an address and see exactly where the sun will set in relation to the location. I love a beautifully filtered sunset like the ones you'll see in the images below. What I try to avoid is a setup where the only option is having my subject face the sun directly — it's workable, but tricky.
You can see this in the photo of Denver leaning on the fence. By that point in the evening the sun was lower and softer, which made it manageable. Earlier in the session it would have been much harder. When the sun hits skin too directly and too brightly, we call it blown out — and once that happens, there's very little I can do to bring it back naturally. Photoshop has tricks like painting or AI tools, but the truth is it usually just results in a wasted image.
I can find beauty in a lot of places and I've learned how to work with challenging light — but I won't pretend there's anything quite like shooting at a location this well thought out. When everything is designed with the photographer in mind, I get to focus on what I love most: capturing great images
instead of trying to bend the light to cooperate.
Denver, it was an absolute joy. I can't wait to see where life takes you. 🤍
