The Royal Wedding

I did not think I cared much about the Royal Wedding, particularly in light of the opposing news of the tornadoes. But I did watch some of it on the news this morning in the 9 am hour and then again on the 5 pm news. (Did not wake up at 4 am to see it live) But it moved me in that way that the promise of love always moves me at each and every wedding I am privileged to photograph. Even in the grand scale of this royal wedding, and the media exploitation, this hope could be felt. The thing I am grateful for that we have at 'normal' weddings, is the ability to express the love more! I missed seeing hugs and arms around each other. It was hard to watch this young couple, not be able to hold hands or hug or kiss for more than a second or 2. The formality is intense and I am so glad we get to express it and I get to photograph it!! So here are some photos from the years past of hugs and arms wrapped in love!
A toast to couples everywhere in love: married, partnered, just getting to know each other... Here are some words from the sermon by the Bishop of London at the Royal wedding today:
“Be who God meant you to be and you will set the world on fire.” So said St. Catherine of Siena whose festival day it is today. Marriage is intended to be a way in which man and woman help each other to become what God meant each one to be, their deepest and truest selves. A spiritual life grows as love finds its centre beyond ourselves. Faithful and committed relationships offer a door into the mystery of spiritual life in which we discover this; the more we give of self, the richer we become in soul; the more we go beyond ourselves in love, the more we become our true selves and our spiritual beauty is more fully revealed. In marriage we are seeking to bring one another into fuller life."

What's In A Name?

My daughter chose to add my last name of Colombo to her last name last Friday. We also learned from Ralph, that COLOMBO means "dove". We like this meaning :)
We went to court, made it official with the law, and had a ceremony with her oldest friends and their famililes. Nick Meima of Wedding For You performed this brief ceremony in our home. He is a wonderful celebrant who performs ceremonies of all kinds. He is also a colleague and friend of mine and it was wonderful to create a ritual to mark this moment in our lives. And ceremony, whether it's a wedding or a funeral or a name change, to me means transformation for the people involved. We bore witness to change, to a young girl taking a stand for herself, connecting to both sides of her families, and feeling more like herself. There is power and a great gift of energy we share when we invite others to participate in our ritual and personal transformation. It is one of the reasons I so love photographing weddings. It is such an honor to witness a couple committing to each other in front of their people; being seen. It is a great gift to me each and every time I bear witness - thank you again and again to my clients for this privilege. And thank you to my daughter, Maya Luna Colombo Hamilton, for taking a stand, for being herself and for sharing with all of us the gift of this moment. My heart is full and I give thanks!

Happy Easter

So today I learned about the family tree from Italy, from my dear cousin Ralph, my Dad's 2nd cousin. True entertainment in the family tree back there in Italy. This all stemmed from my daughter adding COLOMBO to her last name on Friday, but much more on that later. Ralph tells us Colombo is the 7th most popular surname in Italy. Here is the last line of his history lesson on Colombo "For now, I can only wish you a very happy Pasqua - Easter - since Pasqua means Easter and your great, great great grandfather Pasquale's name means a child of Easter."
con amore-
Happy Easter one and all and here's to another Colombo on the planet :)

Fiddleheads-Photo of the Day

These sweet fiddle head ferns are just starting to come up-they are only about 1 inch tall!

Outward Bound -Event Photography Denver 2011 Gala

What a great night last week photographing for Outward Band at Invesco Field in Denver, CO. Outward Bound honored George Karl, Head Coach of the Denver Nuggets and Brian Griese, Super Bowl Champion and former Denver Broncos Quarterback. There were some other sports personalities present and hundreds of people supporting this awesome organization. Black Tie with Sneakers! A hugely successful event and fundraiser and a great joy to photograph!

Diane Dandeneau CD Release Party-Lyons Colorado

Diane Dandeneau has released her first CD called "What Would You Do if You Knew You Were God?" at Rogers Hall, in Lyons, Colorado. The music is inspired and amazing and I highly recommend you check out her new music here. The photographs of her on the CD are by me, 11:11 Productions Photography. Here are some photos from the concert Saturday. It was awesome!

Full Moon Sunday in April

Traditionally, the April full moon is known as the "Pink Moon,"supposedly because the grass pink or wild ground phlox is one of the earliest widespread flowers of the spring. Other monikers were the Full Sprouting Grass Moon, the Egg Moon, and – among coastal tribes – the Full Fish Moon, when the shad come upstream to spawn. ['Supermoon' Photos from Around the World]

Easter's full moon twist

The first full moon of spring, however, is usually designated as the Paschal Full Moon or the Paschal Term. Traditionally, Easter is observed on the Sunday after the Paschal Full Moon. So if the Paschal Moon occurs on a Sunday, Easter is the following Sunday.

Following these celestial rules, we find that Easter can fall as early as March 22 and as late as April 25.

Pope Gregory XIII decreed this in 1582 as part of the Gregorian calendar. So according to the current ecclesiastical rules Easter in 2011 is to be celebrated nearly as late as it can come, on April 24.

One more Engagement Portrait from Friday

This is a reflection in a puddle on the Boulder Creek Path. Magic happens...Click on it to see it bigger...

University of Colorado School of Music -Student Portrait

Yuni came by for portraits with her bassoon today. She is a PHD candidate at the University of Colorado School of Music. Loving the natural light in the studio. Hey students, give me a call to capture you and your instrument through passionate photography. We're only blocks away from the Imig Music Building.

Tyler and Carol Engagement

My dear neighbor Tyler is getting married to Carol this fall and today we did their engagement portrait session. Happy to have a new neighbor and happy to photograph such a great couple. 2 hawks danced overhead while we shot at Chatauqua tonight! A good sign!

Rain and Snow Photo for the Day

We finally got some rain and snow here and everything is wet! Off to shoot for Outward Bound Denver at Invesco Field. Tune in tomorrow for post from this black tie, gala event.

College Graduation Photos-Boulder, CO

Fun way to mark the end of college. Senior portraits made,as in senior in college! A great option to revisit after the senior portraits from high school.
I enjoyed this great session with Lisa as she ends her college career here at CU Boulder. Gorgeous girl...thanks for the fun shoot Lisa!

Feeling the Love

A new page on my site will reveal new and old testimonials. Please take a moment and see the new page here Thank you to all of my wonderful clients for sharing their thoughts and feelings with me regarding the work and service they received. It is my great joy to work with you. This was designed by Eric Turner of tvstudios. A pleasure to work with him!