Garden of the Gods | Colorado Springs, CO

Garden of the Gods

Being a photographer for 16 years has been amazing. I have met so many families, giggled with so many kiddos and snuggled with so many newborns. My cameras have captured so many memories for everyone. It has seen happy moments, crazy moments, and even sad moments. Every now and then, a photographer has to shoot for just them. A dream place, a dream look, a fun idea, whatever they need. One dream of mine has always been to visit and shoot at the Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs. My wonderful daughter was my amazing model. Let me tell and show you how this amazing photoshoot went!

Why is my dream photoshoot at the Garden of the Gods?

If you have ever seen the pictures, you can almost guess why. If you have never seen what they look like, you will understand in just a minute! To be able to walk thru a magnificent site that was created by God. The color of the rocks, the shapes, the sounds, the animals, its’ all just gorgeous. So as we were planning our family trip to Colorado Springs, the Garden of the Gods was on the top of the list. Now, my family has had a camera on them their whole life so they don’t just jump at the chance to get ready and model for me. But, my wonderful daughter agreed and we begin to look for a perfect dress. It had to be the perfect color to pop against the rocks. We were walking around on a college tour to University Of Texas and found this perfect dream purple dress at Free People.

Visiting the Garden of the Gods

With my family in tow and my daughter dressed in the perfect dress, we started the hike. Never being here before, I had no idea where to go and what I was exactly looking for. So we headed out to see what we could find. My husband and son went their own way to explore and Kendyl and I went to work. We hiked up and down tons of stairs, rocks, tiny mountains looking for the perfect spots. She was a pro at modeling for the camera and a brave girl with some challenging climbs as we were looking for the best light. We were there about 2 hours before sunset so as we went, the sunset cast the most beautiful light over the rocks. After about 1.5 hours of “work” we made the way back to the truck with big smiles on our faces. I could not wait to get home to edit them! My dream photoshoot had come true.

The real reason behind my dream photoshoot

Yes, I wanted to shoot a new place. I wanted to capture the beauty of this place. But the overwhelming achievement of this shoot for myself was to put myself in a new place, new light, new environment and push myself a bit. Do something new. Do something different. Create art and refresh my mind on my love for photography. Of course, spending time with my family at a magical place and having one on one time with my daughter doesn’t hurt either.