Like so many people these days I found my one and only later in life. I was 38 when we had our first baby and she was 40 years old. My wife and I met in 2012 at the Vail Ice Rink. If you had told me then at 32, when I met Sarah, what the next 8 years would have in store, I would have never believed you. I was a teacher and ski bum living in Minturn at the time, and she was a VOIP engineer in Lafayette, CO. We ended up doing the long distance thing for close to two years, and then spent the next four years in the front range together trying desperately to start a family. Being an older couple was a huge roadblock for us in the fertility department. We love to ski, mountain bike, hike, cross country ski, road bike, anything outdoors! We love all that Colorado has to offer and wished for our hypothetical kids to grow up in the mountains, so we devised a way to live there for good. We have been in Eagle since 2017. It was a lucky move! Since then we have had two sweet kids via the miracle of embryo adoption, we have a 2.5 years and a 1 year old. We feel so incredibly lucky to be living this dream and raising our kids in such an awesome place. Some days are hard with little ones and two working moms, but even so most days are filled with so much joy that I want to pinch myself, we are so blessed.
I was a photography/ graphic design/ art teacher for 15 years. I loved teaching and found it to be incredibly fulfilling. I put so much effort into being an excellent teacher and enjoyed many aspects of it, but eventually, I reached a point where I wanted to be a part of something I could grow, something where my efforts were aligned with my income. I started my photography business because I wanted to achieve financial freedom and spend more time with my family. I have grown my business patiently over the past six years, and photography has been my full time venture for about a year and half. By taking the leap and quitting my day job, I was really able to focus on creating art for my clients and that made all the difference for me. I am inspired by the beautiful locations here in Colorado, in my home state of Michigan and the other places I travel to pretty frequently: AZ, HI and UT. Which is part of why I love to set up travel sessions on our trips to beautiful places. (Another inspiration from Stormy!) I always try to incorporate water in my backdrops and sessions in some way, it is one element I really love. It has so much to offer in the ways of creating reflection in a composition, adding fill light, incorporating a playful scene and it brings a bit of drama… it really can add a lot to a session. I love to shoot everything that is wrapped in love, lately this has been parenthood from maternity to family portraits. However, I do still take on 10 weddings or elopements each year.
When I saw that Stormy was building presets I was really excited. I knew I would sign up for her course and buy her presets, there was no question. I absolutely love her polished look and was not able to achieve the end product I was going for in my own work. I also signed up for her Iceland workshop last summer, but it’s been rescheduled for June 2021 due to COVID. We have plans to do my family photography in Iceland with Stormy after the workshop, which should be amazing. She took our family portraits last spring and it was a great experience both as a client and a student.
My editing has been the most impacted by the course, but my shooting style has also been influenced. With shooting, I feel more confident with my vision and letting things unfold more naturally. Overall, it was within a couple months of starting the course that my work had transformed into something I was really proud of and it just kept evolving as the journey went on. It would have taken me years to hone the skills I have acquired so quickly in this course.
I highly recommend this course if Stormy’s style is something you gravitate towards. You learn so much and can make it your own. After I started implementing the course in my work, I was getting so many inquiries and bookings that I had to raise my prices. It was magic and 100% worth the investment.
