Denver Wedding Photographer
As a child I was always fascinated looking through old family pictures and photo albums. I was amazed by the seemingly magical process that allowed capturing moments on paper from when my grandfather was a boy younger than myself. This in turn led to my love of photography.
My first self assigned photo project was in 1978. I took the families polaroid and all the film in the house I could find to photograph my Star Wars models hanging from thread against a dark background. This taught me a little about lighting and a lot about how expensive film was when you had to replace it out of a dollar a week allowance.
I’ve been shooting 35mm cameras for close to 20 years or so now. Been shooting professionally as a second job for about 10 of those years (late 90’s). In January of 2008 I left my job of 15 years with the Dumb Friends League, Denver’s largest animal welfare agency where I was the Network Administrator and since that time I’ve been following my passion of wedding photography, although I do get back to the League once in a while to work on special projects for them.
Denver Wedding Photojournalism
My style described as mainly hands-off wedding photojournalism, anticipating and capturing the moments instead of orchestrating them. With an quiet and unobtrusive approach,I provide direction only when needed; allowing you to enjoy the spontaneous moments of your wedding day. For me, a wedding is a glorious event in the lives of two people and their families that should be photographed unobtrusively, and without dictating what happens in front of the camera. The wedding should be about the bride and groom, their friends and family, not about the photographer. As soon as the photographer directs or controls the events in front of the camera, that wedding becomes the photographer’s idea of what the wedding should be, rather than what it actually is. Your wedding story should be uniquely your own. I would rather record the day as a historian, to document and record in such a way as to produce images which are honest and truthful, and can be enjoyed for generations to come.
Now that doesn’t mean as a Denver wedding photojournalist I don’t do the family and wedding party formals and beautiful couples romantic photos, those are part of the day as well. We do try and do these quickly though since most of our clients would rather spend their day in celebration than standing in endless posed photos.
When shooting weddings I don’t think of the bride and groom as my only clients, but I’m shooting for their children and grandchildren. To me my ultimate goal is that some day you’ll be sitting with your grandchild going through an old wedding album and sharing the day grandma and grandpa got married with them.
Sometimes a photograph captures reality.?Sometimes a photograph captures the imagination.?Ultimately, a photograph simply captures a moment in time.?And then, it lives forever…………..
For editing the majority of images are processed in a solid clean style. The goal being to provide timeless images that won’t look “dated and trendy” just a few years down the road.
My love of black and white photography has led me to find ways to duplicate the rich contrast and depth of the films I learned photography with and about 25-40% of the images are typically converted to B&W.
Despite the traditional approach to most of the editing process I still explore and study current trends and techniques in artistic photographic editing. A handful of images will also be rendered artistically, capturing the mood of the day using the latest in editing techniques. But these will be the exception, not the rule.
Colorado Wedding Photography
Despite being based in Denver and most often working with a variety of Colorado Wedding Venues in the Denver area I am frequently asked to shoot in many other amazing Colorado wedding destinations such as Vail, Aspen, Estes Park, Beaver Creek, Winter Park, Steamboat Springs, Evergreen and throughout Colorado and the surrounding states.
Denver Wedding Photographer Mark Hayes
As a child I was always fascinated looking through old family pictures and photo albums. I was amazed by the seemingly magical process that allowed capturing moments on paper from when my grandfather was a boy younger than myself.
My first self assigned photo project was in 1978. I took the families polaroid and all the film in the house I could find to photograph my Star Wars models hanging from thread against a dark background. This taught me a little about lighting and a lot about how expensive film was when you had to replace it out of a dollar a week allowance.
My first experience with 35mm cameras came in high school, shooting for the school paper and doing some basic darkroom developing through a science class. I’ve been shooting professionally as a second job since around 2001. In January of 2008 I left my job of 15 years with the Dumb Friends League, Denver’s largest animal welfare agency where I was the Network Administrator and since that time I’ve been following my passion of wedding photography, although I do get back to the League once in a while to work on special projects for them.
Denver Wedding Photojournalism: My Style and Philosophy
My style described as mainly hands-off wedding photojournalism, anticipating and capturing the moments instead of directing them. With an quiet and unobtrusive approach, I provide direction only when needed; allowing you to enjoy the spontaneous moments of your wedding day. For me, a wedding is a glorious event in the lives of two people and their families that should be photographed unobtrusively, and without dictating what happens in front of the camera. In my opinion the wedding should be about the bride and groom, their friends and family, not about the photographer. Your wedding story should be uniquely your own and your wedding photos should tell that story for generations to come.
Now that doesn’t mean as a Denver wedding photojournalist I don’t do the family and wedding party formals and beautiful couples romantic photos, those are part of the day as well. I do try and do these quickly however since most of my clients would rather spend their day in celebration than standing in endless posed photos.
When shooting weddings I don’t think of the bride and groom as my only clients, but I’m shooting for their children and grandchildren. To me my ultimate goal is that some day you’ll be sitting with your grandchild going through an old wedding album and sharing the day grandma and grandpa got married with them.
Sometimes a photograph captures reality.
Sometimes a photograph captures the imagination.
Ultimately, a photograph simply captures a moment in time.
And then, it lives forever…………..
For editing the majority of images are processed in a solid clean style. The goal being to provide timeless images that won’t look “dated and trendy” just a few years down the road.
My love of black and white photography has led me to find ways to duplicate the rich contrast and depth of the films I learned photography with and about 25-40% of the images are typically converted to B&W.
Despite the traditional approach to most of the editing process I still explore and study current trends and techniques in artistic photographic editing. A handful of images will also be rendered artistically, capturing the mood of the day using the latest in editing techniques. But these will be the exception, not the rule.
Colorado Wedding Photography
Despite being based in Denver and most often working with a variety of Colorado Wedding Venues in the Denver Front Range area I frequently work weddings in other Colorado wedding destinations such as Vail, Aspen, Estes Park, Beaver Creek, Winter Park, Steamboat Springs, Evergreen and throughout Colorado and the surrounding states.
Mark
View my portfolio site | Contact Mark Hayes for your upcoming wedding
