Denver Wedding Photographer – Mark Hayes

If you’ve read this blog for any length of time you’ll know the name Dain, owner of Photography by Dain.  Besides being a wonderful photographer Dain is also a close personal friend and the person I thank for re-igniting my passion and love of wedding photography.

Last year I assisted Dain on Sam and Sara’s wedding up at Dunafon Castle.   The work we did on that wedding led to Dunafon castle referring Nick and Nikki to both of us when they booked the venue last fall, and Nikki contacted both of us.

Now of course the first thing both Dain and I did was contact each other, “Hey, I just got a call for another castle wedding next summer”.  This actually gave us a moment of doubt.  If I received the booking Dain would be my first choice for second camera, and if Dain received the booking I would be his.  But would it be awkward for the couple to have the photographer they didn’t hire show up and shoot as well?  That’s the last thing either of us would want.

So our solution was to meet the couple together.  Since they liked the work of each of us, if they hired either of us they would in fact be hiring both of us to shoot the day, and one of us would just have the extra task of doing the bulk of the edits and the album design.   Now I like to think the fact that Dain had an amazing sample album with him to that first meeting, and I had none, gave him the shoe in on the number 1 spot.

After months of planning, vendor walk throughs, rehearsals, and teaser posts the day had finally arrived.

One of the great things about having two photographers, both of which can be trusted to handle any task, is the ability to divide the shooting tasks.   The bride and her ladies would be getting ready in one place while the groom and his men where across town in another.  So I was off to meet Nick downtown before heading up to Dunafon Castle.

My love of shooting at Dunafon Castle is no secret.   Every time I’m there I feel like I’m shooting on an estate in Ireland.  When I arrived at Dunafon Castle after leaving the grooms party was again taken back by it’s beauty and by the work the staff had done in making everything perfect for the day.

Of course it wasn’t long before both the bride and groom where also on site, shuffling each around to grab a few shots while the other was stashed away.

But before you knew it the time had arrived for the ceremony to start.   The fact that both Dain and myself attended the rehearsal really helped at this point.  Despite the setup being totally different than for the wedding we covered there last year we had been able to scope out the best of spots for our coverage.   For me it was off to the rooftop of the castle for the ceremony.

There is something magical about the combination of a soft breeze and a brides veil on her wedding day.

After the ceremony it was time for the family, bridal party, and couples photos.   Here’s one place where having a photography team familiar with the layout of Dunafon to be a benefit.   The grounds are so extensive with places for photos that it can be overwhelming.  But from previous times shooting there both Dain and myself knew where we could find the perfect light, as well as a few places we hadn’t used before to make sure these photographs where uniquely Nick and Nikki’s.

Then it was simply time for celebration.

Nick and Nikki, thank you for allowing both Dain and myself the privilege of being a part of your day and trusting in us to capture that day for you.

Now as wonderful as I think these photos are, these are just mine.   Dain is working on the album so has both our collections of images and has put together an amazing blog post and slideshow blending our work together.   If you like these you simply have to to read his blog post as well and watch the slideshow.

Dain’s blog post.

Dain’s Slideshow.

Until next time,

Mark
View my portfolio site | Contact Mark Hayes for your upcoming wedding