Best of 2021 – Year end recap!

LSP’s Best of 2021

Another wild ride of a year! And this time I actually have it together enough to share my best of 2021. My recovery from 2020 included NOT putting together a year-end recap, so after skipping a year I’m back in action. And what a year it has been.. So many changes and so many high points (peaks, you might say). Keep scrolling to see all my best images from this incredible year! Pssst.. looking for bloopers? Get a load of the hilarity here.

Winter 2021

The winter season started off with a Vow renewal at the dry lake bed in southern Nevada. What a way to start the year – this sunset was unforgettable! While in the desert for the winter, I was able to visit two new national parks: Saguaro National Park and White Sands National Park! These two are desert lover’s paradises. Totally different but totally awesome. If you’re considering a desert elopement or wanting to stay warm in the winter, look no further than these two. Upon returning to Colorado, I visited Garden of the Gods in the snow and WOW! If you get the chance to go after a fresh dusting, take it! In March, Rae & Erik’s Bear Lake Elopement was a foggy fairytale in Rocky Mountain National Park. I basically thought I’d peaked for the year! I was also featured on Shout Out Colorado for my elopement work.

Spring 2021 Highlights

It wasn’t long before my husband whisked me off on a birthday trip to Costa Rica. It was an epic trip with rainforests, mountains, scuba diving and wildlife galore! I began shooting portraits underwater and was thrilled to meet Damian and Evalina at a waterfall for some steamy lovers’ portraits. Hot, hot, hot. I got back and immediately plunged into a beautiful snowy elopement near Denver. We capped off the spring season by exploring the Arches and amazing geographic features of Colorado National Monument, where we met with Andrea and Russell for a ten-year vow renewal on the cliff’s edge.

Award Highlights

Though the biggest award will always be having happy clients, it sure doesn’t hurt to get more validation from the best professionals in my field. This year I more than doubled my fearless awards from 4 to 10. Fearless awards are like the olympics for photographers who shoot marriages – to get an award is like getting a gold medal. With an additional 6 WedElope awards this year, I’m now the recipient of 17 of these awards for excellence in storytelling at elopements – the most of anyone in the world. I also received 1 Reportage Award, 7 new WPJA documentary awards, 12 Artistic Guild (creative portrait) awards, and 29 Engagement photo awards. I couldn’t be more grateful to expand my awards cabinet this year.

Summer of Lovers

Summer was packed with incredible couples celebrating every way they know how! It also marked my first time visiting Great Sand Dunes national park for another incredible vow renewal on the dunes. I was able to explore Telluride and Ouray and I was to shoot two groom’s amazing engagement portraits at sunrise while there. In mid June, I had to step in for another photographer due to a death in her family, and save one couple’s wedding day with some great photos! Later, I photographed couples here in Colorado and in New York back to back in a mad attempt to make it to every rescheduled party in one weekend. It was WORTH IT! Traveling all over the mountains, hiking and taking many gondola’s and ski lifts makes for an epic summer, and I thank all my unique and gorgeous couples for joining me on these warm summer days!

Major Changes this Summer

With the Summer season also came big changes for me. We sold our home in Denver and moved into a 37′ long 5th wheel camper. It’s just like a one bedroom apartment, but on wheels! Built in 2005, our camper is officially called The Mobile Command Center, or “The MCC.” It will be our home base as we travel across the country shooting elopements across the western USA. We have a fully equipped kitchen (with an island!), a fireplace, three skylights, a bathroom complete with washer and dryer, a good sized closet and a king sized bed. We are honestly loving our simplified, nomadic life.

Fall of 2021

Fall was my busiest season of 2021 with 16 couples celebrated! I started off by injuring my left hand by wiping out while busting a move on a dancefloor (in my defense, my jam was on.) Luckily it only seems to be bruised and not broken. Similarly, I broke my second lens of the year and had it sent out for repairs. Elopements at Lake Dillon, Estes Park and Boulder were big highlights for me and all were so different. Three glorious proposals made my heart happy, and I’ll see some of those betrothed couples in 2022 I’m sure! Finally, I was able to put together three more elopement guides within Colorado: Mt. Evans, Summit County, and Aspen. I rounded out the year with a scuba diving trip to Mexico, and of course, I had to create an elopement guide for it.

This year in numbers

If you love data, you’re going to love my best of 2021 numbers recap! But the data can’t quantify the countless laughs, new friends, candid moments, and silly shenanigans I got to experience this year. I truly have the best job and can’t imagine doing anything else! Thank you all for having me along for your stupidly fun adventures!
– 80,987 photos taken
– 20,715 edited photos delivered to clients
– 17,368 miles flown
– 2,969 miles driven
– 21.6 Miles hiked (for work).
– $8,520 spent on new cameras
– 2,000 instagram followers
– 226 hours behind the camera
– 61 awards won
– 45 blog posts published
– 39 couples served (5 LGBTQIA)
– 11 dogs photographed
– 9 states visited
– 4 National Parks visited + many national monuments and national forests
– 2 insurance claims for 2 broken lenses (I go hard.)
– 1 happy photographer!

Stay tuned for the hilarious outtakes and bloopers coming up soon in my 2021 Behind The Scenes post! It’s going to be ridiculous.

As I look ahead to 2022, I’m taking only a select few more bookings. Please don’t hesitate to be in touch with me if you’d like to get on my calendar.

2022:
May – 2 spots available
June – 1 spot available
July – only available in Hawaii
August – 2 spots available

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