sparkling eyes : boulder, colorado senior portraits :

Meet Sarah. She's class of 2012, yay!

She's was so much fun to work with. We laughed and played America's Next Top Model with lots of smeyes and sass. It was a great afternoon. A big rain cloud followed us throughout our shoot but we kept shooting until the rain came and light disappeared. It was perfect timing because we got everything we needed. I love it when that happens.

Wishing you the best Senior year Sarah!

Love and Light,
Heather

© 2011 Heather Gray Photography, all rights reserved

home : california wedding photographer :

One of my favorites from Rebecca & Jon's engagement session.

Home is wherever I'm with you.

-Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros

This weekend I have the amazing honor of photographing my brother-in-law Jon's wedding. He's marrying Becky, a sweet soul who is beautiful inside and out. My husband, son and I arrived in San Francisco this afternoon and we couldn't be more excited for this very special wedding.

It's beyond marvelous to be back in the Bay Area. The second we landed my heart smiled while looking at the familiar skyline. I miss it here, I really do. There's something magical about this place for me. It's home. When I find myself in a moment like this I try to honor it, really feel it. This nostalgic nuance chasing desire is why I love what I do, I get to watch couples and families find these moments of home within each other. The way a couple embraces and really breathes each other in... I live for these snap shots, these windows of home. I cannot wait to find these moments for my brother-in-law and soon to be sister-in-law to cherish! 

I'm off to the rehearsal dinner and then quick to bed to get plenty of rest... because as cute as my little Finn-alarm-clock is... he sure wakes up early. Have a great weekend everyone!

Love and Light,

Heather

 

gold, falling from the ceiling : boulder senior portraits :

It's beginning to feel like fall. Warmer days melting away to chilly nights.
It's my favorite time of day. Not only for the relief from the heat but for the warm golden
light that seems to shine a little softer at the end of the summer.
It's the perfect light for photos.

While taking this portrait of the beautiful Sarah, I thought of one of my favorite songs.
As the golden light twinkled through the clouds, over the flatirons and across her tousled
locks, this line ran through my mind:

"There's gold falling from the ceiling of this world, 
falling from the heartbeat of this girl."

Angus & Julia Stone

(Yes, I am obsessed with this band. Yep obsessed. I just can't stop listening to them
and now my son like them too. When he freaks out about being in his car seat,
I put on this cd and he chills out almost instantly. It's that good.)

I'm looking forward to taking is as much of this soft golden light as I can.
Let the gold fall from the ceiling of this world...
through the heartbeat of this girl.

Love and Light,

Heather

starting your life together

Have you heard about Rachel Beckwith? She was a remarkable little girl who left this

world far too early but in her death she lives on with an incredible legacy. Rachel

decided to forgo birthday gifts for her 8th birthday and instead asked friends and family

to donate to her Charity Water campaign. She decided to do the same thing for her 9th 

birthday not knowing she wouldn't make it to her 9th year. She passed away in a car 

accident just a few months before her birthday. Her wish to raise money for Charity Water 

was carried out by her mother and father and  has turned into an amazing force. Her 

campaign has raised over one million dollars, far beyond her goal of $300. May little 

Rachel inspire you to give a little today.

We make a living by what we get,

we make a life by what we give.

~ Winston Churchill

A lot of my couples add charitable organizations to their wedding registries and Charity Water

is a great one to consider. It's a great way to let your love grow around the world.

It's the perfect time to start your life together.

For more information about Charity Water, please visit their website and watch the video below.

Love and Light,

Heather

love: Valerie and Gaddy : boulder wedding photographer :

Meet Valerie and Gaddy. They're getting married this Sunday. They both have fantastic laughs and are so much fun to be around. I just know their wedding is going to be great celebration of love and light. Someone once told me that the secret to a long and happy marriage is the ability to laugh together. Valerie and Gaddy are pros at that! Congratulations you two!

Love and Light,

Heather

golden years

I'm photographing a 50th wedding anniversary party this evening and I couldn't be more excited. Can you imagine, 50 years? Isn't that beautiful? Whenever I photograph a wedding, I can't help but think of my own marriage and wedding day. I like to think this helps me relate to my couples and support them as they begin their lives together as husband and wife. Photographing a married couple of 50 years is a little different. With this party, we're doing family portraits with their children and grandchildren, it's so wonderful. Honoring 50 years of marriage is very special. I am sure I'll think about my own marriage and wedding as I normally do, but with this celebration I will be looking up to this couple. Admiring the dedication and love they have for each other. Looking into the future and dreaming of being married for 50 years. I wonder what that must feel like? So tonight, I'll step through the looking glass and imagine 50 years of marriage. I couldn't think of a better way to spend the evening, dreaming about the golden years. I can only hope that all of my couples get to experience this anniversary together. Here's to 50 years and beyond. Cheers!

Love and Light,
Heather

cherish: on the brink : boulder colorado senior portraits :

I love doing senior portraits with seniors who are looking for something a little different. A little whimsy, a little artsy and a lot of fun. I want to make sure that we are a good match, just like I do with my wedding couples. Senior portraits are a very symbolic and transitional moment for young adults, so I approach each session with that importance and intention.

Meet Daphne. She's in the class of 2012. She's a dancer, artist and amazing soul. She reminds me of a young Marion Cotillard... a timeless beauty. My favorite thing about taking Daphne's portrait was in each frame she transformed. There were expressions that were very much a senior in high school and the next she was a young woman and then what I imagined her to be in her 30s and so on. This timeless beauty was traversing along time as I witnessed her expressions through the lens of my camera. I couldn't help but stand in awe of this precious moment. I remember this time in my life clearly. You have moments when you feel like an adult and then others where you know you have so much to learn about the world. It's one of the most precious teeter tootering moments in our life. This is such a beautiful age. An age on the brink of new horizons.

Senior portraits are a great way to honor this magical time.  If you're a senior looking for a photographer to take your portrait, make sure pick someone you feel comfortable with and that they are going to capture your best side. In Daphne's case, she wanted an artsy approach, something unique to who she is. Don't be afraid to ask for what you want and find someone as special as you are.

Love and Light,

Heather


© 2011 Heather Gray Photography, all rights reserved

seeing from the heart : boulder wedding photographer :

"If I create from the heart, nearly everything works, if from the head, almost nothing."
Marc Chagall



I've had a bit of a lazy Sunday with my husband and son. Wedding season is in full swing, so these moments together are even more precious. We woke up at 7 am as usual (life with a little one leaves little option for sleeping in, although napping is encouraged... the whole "sleep when the baby sleeps" is something I still hold on to dearly after a long stretch of work and mama duties). After some snuggle time and nursing we headed to our local doughnut shop for a little treat.

While the three of us sat together I glanced over to the table next to us at this sweet little girl eating with her dad. She looked over her shoulder and smiled at Finn. I think there's a hidden language among children. They say so much with just a glance. I love those subtle nuances we share as human beings. I guess this is why I'm so wild about what I do. I get to witness these authentic moments constantly. The sweet glances, the way a husband lovingly brushes his wife's hair out of her face, the look she gives him as she stares into his eyes for the first time as his wife, the laughter they share captured in a single frame for them to remember forever.

At Molly and Tim's wedding yesterday, the bride shared something with me that filled my heart with joy. While looking at one of her engagement photos, she told me, "the thing I love most about this photo is that I remember exactly how I felt in that moment." I smiled from the inside out because that is why I do what I do. I want to suspend time for my couples and take photographs that evoke emotional memories. I want them to hang their wedding photos on their walls and as they speed past them on their way out the door, they glance at them for a moment and feel that magic they share together.

I have one of these moments on the wall near our front door. It's from my wedding and I can clearly recall how I felt in that photo (thank you to the brilliant Mike Larson, our talented wedding photographer). It's a close up of me and my husband holding each other tightly right after our ceremony. We were smiling and completely giddy from saying our vows. When I walk past this photo it's hard not to smile. It's a gentle reminder of where we came from and where we are today. It captured our past, present and future in a single moment, with our love as the constant.

These moments are important. The times when we're authentically us. These little windows into our hearts and souls, the ones that children share so generously. It's my ultimate goal to find these shining stars with every couple, family or individual I photograph. I'm a collector of light, a historian of glimmering moments. Whether I'm watching the world through my camera or observing the subtle nuances shared by the people in a doughnut shoppe, I'm constantly recording what my heart sees.

Love and Light,

Heather

love: Molly and Tim : denver engagement photographer :

Meet Molly and Tim. They're getting married this Saturday at the Denver Art Museum. I couldn't be more excited, it's the perfect blend of things I love; art, weddings and a couple whose love you feel through every cell in your body. You just can't help but smile when you're around a love like this. Their wedding is going to be a glorious day.

I met the couple through Tim's amazing dancing sister who I've photographed many times. Molly and Tim live in Denver, love art and traveling. Tim asked Molly to marry him while they were traveling through Barcelona. Isn't that romantic? He proposed with his grandmother's ring (so did my husband!). There's something very special about wearing a ring that you know carried your grandparents through their marriage. Another story of love, a legacy. Molly and Tim had the diamond placed in a gorgeous setting that updated the ring and incorporated Molly's personality. To bring this beautiful proposal home they're serving tapas with a long night of dancing at their wedding, two things they loved about Spain.

We took these engagement photos in Civic Center Park in downtown Denver. It was so pretty. One of my favorite memories from the day was when a lady bug landed in Tim's hair. We all agreed that it was a sweet little blessing for their marriage. So lovely.

After many photos, we took a little break to share some IZZE drinks and fuji apples. It was a very warm day and I don't think an apple ever tasted so good. Did you know that IZZE started in Boulder, Colorado? An all natural soda... of course it came from Boulder. :)

Before we left the park, Molly and Tim made a wish with a few lucky pennies. I'm not sure what they wished for... you're supposed to keep it a secret if you want it to come true. :)

It was a wonderful day and to make it even more special, we were joined by Tara Rynders of You & Me Cinematography. She is an amazing video artist who created a lovely window into Molly and Tim's story.

I can't wait for their wedding! It's going to be amazing.

Love and Light,

Heather