launching Denver Band Photographer

Denver Band Photographer With much thanks to Denver's Best Marketing and Web Company 3Roads media, I am ecstatic to launch my protege, Denver Band Photographer . I gave Brennan complete creative freedom with the site and he blew away any expectations that I could have had. The team at 3Roads goes above and beyond to create custom websites and strategies that make dreams come true.

Check out the Band Photography site and become a fan on facebook

Do we tweet? We tweet.

creative band photographer | head for the hills

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Last weekend I had the privilege of meeting with Denver's best bluegrass band, Head for the Hills. The band was looking for something fresh, atypical, modern and urban. We traced through some unique locations in Denver to create this one-of-a-kind album cover art.

Aside from their fabulous music, the boys in Head for the Hills are really great guys. Thanks again for the opportunity and your willingness.

Interesting in learning more about our band photography? Check out our sister site, Denver Band photographer [flo_button url="http://www.denverbandphotographer.com" style="black" size="large" type="round" target="_self"] Band photography info and pricing [/flo_button]

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Interesting in learning more about our band photography? Check out our sister site, Denver Band photographer [flo_button url="http://www.denverbandphotographer.com" style="black" size="large" type="round" target="_self"] Band photography info and pricing [/flo_button]

kids photographer | lifestyle portraits

Kids photographer

I have the privilege of photographing this family a couple times a year. It is so fascinating to watch their development. The twins have matured greatly. As I was taking their photographs, Micah politely said, "Jackie, now about how many photos will we be taking?" After some negotiation, we agreed on five. My five is a lot more than their five. Every time we did a set we would count it as one. It didn't take many tricks to get them out of there "cheeeesssee" and document their joyful interaction and wonderful playful youth.

Miss Abi knows what she wants and won't settle for lagging behind her older brothers. She didn't care to sit down and smile, but when we got her playing and running around, Abi's simple joy and laughter was contagiously spilling out. As a kids photographer, photographing these kids is such a delight.

I love this family.

Interested in learning more about kids photography? Check out Jackie's site featuring kid's photography.

[flo_button url="www.jackiezoeller.com" style="grey" size="small" type="round" target="_self"] kid's photography pricing and info [/flo_button]

How to be creative in a non-creative environment

How do you remain creative in a non-creative environment? We've got some thoughts on that. Check out our latest feature on Pictage's blog "The Photo Life," which acts as an educational resource for professional photographers. Facilitating Interaction in a Non-Creative Environment.

denver childrens photographer

Micah Here returns another set of lifestyle photographs of Micah, Mr. Personality. He is now two (or as he says, four) and is full of independence and laughter. He's talking as much as he's walking and has a vibrant and contagious joy to him. I love this little boy so much.

This is Micahs "no" face

I have had the privilege of watching Micah grow. Below are a couple of images from two of his last photo shoots. These touch the beginnings of his smiling, walking and talking - the momentous steps that only a picture can clearly recall.

selah's custom, artistic wedding invitations

Thanks to our designer Rachel and her fabulous illustration skills, we now offer artistic custom wedding invitations, trendy RSVP cards and modern save the dates to go along with your custom photo guest book. Here are a few examples:

lifestyle newborn photographer in Denver

Jonathan Experiencing his second week of life, I was so honored to be a part of documenting this newborn's story. I followed him around his home to capture all of the little big moments that make parenthood so special. From his spit-ups to his yawns to his flailing hands...to the joy and anticipation where words aren't quite big enough. As a newborn photographer I want nothing more than to document all the beautiful details of living. These lifestyle photographs document the little pieces that mean so much in a child's life.

I was tempted to go through and put comments on many of the images. I'm not sure words are suited for these newborn portraits. The photographs are some of the best; I'm in love.

The image above is my favorite. Mr. Personality is totally aware of what is going on.

painting-like photographs

The painter in me is deeply drawn to these blurry, abstract and unpredictable images taken with 120 film and my holga camera. Let the exploration continue.

creative headshot photographer | denver

Featuring Denver's best website and marketing company: 3roads Media. The team was after some headshots to document their professional, creative, quirky and highly intelligent group. This team includes graphic designers, masterminds, SEO experts, programmers and artists. We not only accomplished their goal, but made them look like rock stars in the process. You all are the best!

i fell in love with the holga

"Are you sure you want these?" the woman at the camera store asked me as she was glancing over my film. The negatives were all dark and faded; I could hardly say, "I'm sure," fast enough for me to run to my office and drool over these untold images.

They are full of delightful mistakes. It appears as if I loaded the film wrong. This "mistake" adds a pile of interest to these unpredictable Holga images. Most of the film frames are exposed with two different images which create wonderful lines and intriguing compositions. The modern, abstract photographs are such a wall statement that any art lover would love to hang on their wall.

I've never loved making mistakes as much as I did with this roll of film. Compelling, impulsive fine art photography that is fresh and exciting. Inhale.

denver band photography | no fair fights

[flo_image_text image_url="http://selah.dev/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/band_photographer0061.jpg" img_position="left" img_width="50" ] No Fair Fights is a local Denver band on their way to the top. I was so excited to try out some of my "too strange for a wedding" ideas on these guys. Their urban album cover-like images turned out to be very fresh, edgy and unique. This is much attributed to their willingness to give anything a try. The musicians have several shows coming up, one of which they are showcasing the public debut of their new album The Sound of Burning Bridges. I was fortunate to receive a pre-released copy and highly recommend checking them out. Check out more band photography at our sister site

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This is Collin. How do I know Collin? Great question. One wintery evening we literally "ran in to" each other. His name isn't "Collin Wreck" in my phone because his last name is wreck. He said his band was looking for a photographer while I was trying to think of how I can charge them enough to pay off my deductable.

After this I told the guys that they needed to try and act like they weren't having fun fighting. I guess guys think this is fun? Girls would be crying and talking about it within the first couple of minutes.

No Fair Fights--Thanks for the opportunity. I think this is the start of something great.

street photography | study of color | indonesia

These images are long due for a post. One of my favorite people in the world  teaches in an Indonesian school. I was able to go and spend some time with her and experience life in this different world. I have yet to put many words to this experience...except maybe in regards to my awe of creation and the sameness in vivid difference.

This post is a documentation of Indonesia captured through digital, HDR and time lapse photography. I have hopes of doing a gallery showing with some of the images. Stay in tune for that.

Upon looking back at some of the writing I did during this experience, I pulled out some interesting thoughts. -I often wonder if I like traveling so much because I can tell everyone about it later on. -God you made all these people too, huh? -Now I am the one being observed. I am the one who looks so different. -It's unbelievable...yet still there is more. -The lighting above the clouds is fantastic

hungry are the poor of heart tranced in the beat of an invisible god.

starved to receive favor for good things they've done.

empty bent regressing what nothing has become.

barefoot and needy in pursuit of their false god.

the reality of a dream

In a recent interview with the ISPWP, I said, "The way I see has been shaped by everything I have learned and experienced." The more I embrace that, the more significant all those things I have experienced becomes. I recently was conversing with a local musician. Our conversation led me to share with him about my dream job:  photographing bands. The past week has left me understanding the beginning of that dream, as well as a compelling drive to not let dreams sit dormant. I get this from my dad. When I was a child, my dad & I would drive 2 miles an hour by  300 empty and weed covered acres of pasture. He would say, "That would be an awesome place for a concert." One of the best and most lethal gifts I have inherited from my dad is my ability to act despite odds. One of our favorite verses says that God laughs at odds, no matter how big the hope, lofty the dream or infinitely immeasurable the task God can do it and infinitely more.

After years of those slow drives across our land, it soon became a venue for Nebraska's largest music festival featuring some of the best national talent in America, as well as a home for a unique windmill collection. It was a place where thousands of people located to an unincorporated town three hours from an airport. A pile of lofty odds became reality.

I purchased my first camera toward the end of the festival's existence. I made myself a media pass and sat on the edge of the stage photographing legends of the country and rock industry. It almost makes me sick to think of all the access I had which could have handed me over to my "dream job." Out of the thousands of concerts that happened literally in my backyard, I documented maybe 20.

So I sit here shuffling through images, remembering where I came from and what I have seen.  I've got a notepad filled with ideas on how to make my dream a reality. Life is short and anything is possible.

The Second Wind Ranch houses nearly 80 standing windmills and has hopes of being the world's largest collection of standing windmills.

Poison

Big and Rich

Keith Urban

Peter Frampton

Creedence Clearwater Revistied-CCR

Ariel image of Comstock. This is a stock image.

Brooks and Dunn--accompanied by Jess, her Micky Mouse glasses and me doning a hair beard. "'I've never seen anyone wear their hair like that,' said Brooks."

On the right, Kirk Cameron--best known for his acting on Growing Pains. The bearded man, Travis--- best known for being the Comstock employee that was hated by security :) The girl--That's Casey-- I mean me, best known for the large sign that I made in the north beer tent saying, "Warning! Undercover Cops on Dudy!"

Keith Urban, one of the best performers I have ever seen.

I guess you can see that we weren't too star-struck. My brother and I thought it would be appropriate to wear mullet wigs when we met Kenny Rogers.

Comstock Festivals have been in and out of activity for the past few years. The downturn of the economy took a hit upon the entertainment business. As these images show, things are falling apart. The images evoke a lot of emotion for me. They show the honesty and fragility that we have on earth, the truth that things come and go.

Though the hope is lofty and the task lacks practicality, there is a crew investing in Comstock's revival for 2011. One of the certainties I have learned from my dad is that nothing is impossible.

fine art photos | holga exploration

It seems as if I just ran across a new road of photography that may open up a world of exploration to my work. It took me six months to use up my first role of film during my holga exploration...I'm thinking it won't take me nearly as long to roll through them in the future. I'm very interested in the spontaneous and unpredictable effect.  This fascinating emotion that is evoked in the soft, leaky and grain filled image is going to lead to some epic imagery. Many of the shots below are overlaid with structural imagery within the camera. The photos have slight dodging and burning done in PS.

Denver Fashion Headshots

Upon fufilling an order for one of the models I photographed at a Denver Fashion Agency, I found myself pulling out some of my favorite fashion portraits from 2010. I love head shots. There is so much aesthetic interest in the shape and color of people's faces. These are all such beautiful people. The below images are taken with Nikon's D700 along with my trusty Nikkor 50 mm 1.4 lens. The fashion portraits are either lit naturally or by Elinchroms Ranger pack which was used to illuminate the subjects in cooperation with Elinchrom's Rotalux Softbox.

Kiss Wedding Book feature

Kiss Wedding Book Feature We just received Katie and Paul's 12x12 Kiss Wedding Album. My love for the albums grows every time the mail man brings by one of the Kiss company's lovely little books. The turnaround time, quirky touches, ease of transaction and final product put a joyful ending to a huge investment. From the attention to the vibrant color to the vintage wrapping, Kiss transforms a wedding album into a unique and simple heirloom. I am tempted to order a little book for myself each time I print one. xxxoxxo (but mostly xxxxx)

wedding photojournalist

Being a professional wedding photojournalist requires more than expensive equipment and technical understanding. It's about the captured expressions, connecting with every aspect of the environment and telling the truest story of the entire day. Our focus at Selah Photography is on these three concepts:

Expression: It is important to have your camera aimed and ready at all times to get the most genuine expressions. If you see the image in your viewfinder you are often too late. One must anticipate; the most expressive photographs occur in a fraction of a second. This image was taken by Sarah at Jaci and Lane's wedding. The bride told us that she was really close with her father and wanted to make sure we got some genuine images of them together. Sarah was focused, and she documented their closeness well.

Connection: Accurate story telling is carried out best when we are listening and attune to the environment. Being a photographer that documents moments effectively requires an openness that listens and connects. That connection requires the journalist to invite themselves into the situation and remain aware of all happenings. This is one of my favorite images Whitney took this summer. The movement is strong and her decision to click the shutter was timed perfectly. She not only captured the vibrancy of the flower girl, but the energy in the environment.

Storytelling: Stories are interrelated and connected. In an emotive environment people display a reaction that develops from someone or something. As a photojournalist, we must observe beyond the main subject. The most unique stories are often told when one has connected with the root of the story rather than the obvious subject. I love this image. Charista's (the bride) father is a pastor and his love for her was displayed vividly throughout the day. This image is of him seems to be a story of him supporting and giving up his daughter to his Father.

This is another great image captured by Sarah. The Collin's dressed their dog as the ring bear. As everyone was rushing out of the house to get to the ceremony, the dog wanted to make sure that he went along too.

Capturing images with a photojournalistic approach takes practice. At Selah, our goal is to not only train our eyes to see the honest story all around us, but to fix our minds to each moment, gathering the most genuine of expressions. That is what photojournalistic photography is all about.

Props to Whitney, Sarah, Ben and Rick for their outstanding photojournalist work during the 2010 wedding season. Below are some of the best photojournaistic wedding photos that they documented with Selah during the year.

family storytelling

Natural family Photographs in Colorado Pikes Peak was quietly rich as I spent the day alongside this wonderful family. Our interactions are always filled with rooted thought and care. Through many questions and observation, I again learned much about listening and teaching from this family. It was a delight to document the beginning of Whitney's second year of life.

This is such a genuine documentation of their family's loving dynamics. Craig and Mary are delighted by Whitney's personality.

lifestyle baby photos

I had the honor of photographing precious Abbot in theWash Park fall leaves this past weekend. Abbot's soft and joyful personality filled these lifestyle, story telling images. These baby photos are so cute! We spent out time together playing and laughing with the baby. It's always really entertaining to watch the parents of the child. They may be more entertaining to take photos of than the baby. Regardless, it always makes for some great baby pictures.

journalistic denver baby photographs

Journalistic baby photographs Abi just celebrated her first birthday and has been walking a little over a week. I get to visit with Abi and her family every month or so and it has been wonderful watching her grow and develop over the year. It is great to be able to document such a beautiful and vibrant little girl.This natural type of documentation helps remember life as we really know it to be. We didn't tape Abi to a chair and have her smile her best baby smile...There are Abi, who she is and the personality that we love. Journalistic children's photography is so great and meaningful.

This image is so meaningful; a child during her first weeks of learning how to walk is in such trust of her mother's supportive grasp.