Training Day with Craig Alexander

As the year winds down, I can finally look back and show you some of the shoots I never had time to blog. (As it turns out, blogging just takes up too much time to do regularly like I used to.) Today's treat is a shoot I did for Inside Triathlon (a branch of Competitor Magazine). They did a video production called Training Day with Craig Alexander. It's an inside look at the then two-time World Champion, Craig "Crowie" Alexander, preparing for race day at Ironman Hawaii where he would go on to claim his third title. The mini-movie was published on the web, and can be viewed here.



I was brought on as the still photographer for the promotional shots they would use for the video. It was an amazing opportunity to see one of the world's finest athletes in top form, and discover what it takes to be the best.



The day began with a 110-mile training ride up in the mountains behind Boulder, Colorado. As Craig put it, it's a tough ride, but when this is your office, it's not a bad day's work.



Craig keeps good company: beside him is Mirinda Carfrae, and she was the defending World Champion coming into the race this year.



Here's what the years of training will do to your legs.



Most of the time, Crowie was all smiles...



...but sometimes he was strictly business.



I was part of a crew of four who followed Craig throughout the day. Bob Babbit, the founder of Competitor, stopped Craig a few times to interview him about how the day was going.



After the ride, it was a lonely run for Craig, with 12 mile repeats at 5:30 pace. Insane.



His face is a mask, but he was working to the limit here.



Back home, one of my favorite shots is just Craig sitting, zoning out, and taking in the day. He would go on to win the World Championships in Kona, Hawaii just a few weeks later. Congratulations, Crowie!

Studio Baby Portraits - Noah

Being busy is a great thing, but I'm starting to think I need to hire an assistant just to do my blog posts. There are dozens of shoots I've been wanting to share, but haven't been able to because whenever I think I'm going to have time, I end up booked out for another shoot. Good for me, bad for you, my viewing public. Well, here's a small gallery of the adorable baby Noah. Enjoy!

The Caveman Cometh

A couple months ago, I was privileged to get to photograph Conrad Stoltz, World Champion Xterra triathlete. Four time Champion, to be precise. And he's also won the ITU Cross Triathlon World Championships, similar to Xterra. Basically, he's incredibly dominant any time he does a tri on a mountain bike. And he's a pretty fantastic time trialist as well, and hopes to compete in the Olympic Games in London in 2012.

I was retained to shoot him exclusively for Inside Triathlon magazine. But funny enough, on the day we were set to shoot, Conrad told us had hoped to do some dirt biking. Did I want to come along and shoot that? Basically, I'd be doing a drive through the most gorgeous mountain country in Colorado, and do some shooting along the way. Um ... yes, please! Yeah, it's a rough life, being a commercial photographer. But somebody has to do it. Check out the latest issue of Inside Tri for the full story.

Kristen & Rob's Wedding

Shortly after the snowy engagement photos, we got to shoot Kristen and Rob's beautiful wedding. I absolutely LOVE IT when I can catch the groom getting all teary-eyed, and Rob was maybe the most emotional groom I've ever seen. It was ... AWESOME. We'll just let the photos speak for themselves.

Snowy Denver Engagement - in MAY

Okay, this session was an awesome treat - let me set the scene. It's May, and Colorado is starting to get warm. The weather is still a bit brisk, with a forecast for possible showers. No problem, because cloudy skies are a treat for photographers - they help get rid of harsh sunlight shadows. So anyway, we go out with Kristen and Rob to grab some shots, and of course, they look beautiful. We're nearing the end of the engagement session, when the skies just OPEN UP out of nowhere, and little pellets of snow start falling everywhere! Seriously, it was like Dippin' Dots were coming out of the sky. It was absolutely freezing, and we didn't last too long, but we did get some stellar shots out of it. Great work, you two!





LOVE LOVE LOVE this one. These two look so natural together.

And their pooches seem to be happy about their engagement too!



So we are shooting this (you two look awesome by the way), when all of a sudden ...

... BAM! The snow really went from zero to blizzard in about 60 seconds.

Run for the hills!!!

How gorgeous is this? I love it.

Family Portraits in Phoenix

A couple weeks ago, I got a special treat - a trip out to Phoenix for some warmer weather, and a rockin family portrait session! I left snowy Colorado (although it's warming up now), for the sunnier skies in Phoenix, Arizona. Harris is a father of four, and a grandfather many times over, and once a year, he gets the whole clan together for a week long vacation (sounds good to me)! It's a big group, twenty-two in all, and shooting a group that size is always a fun challenge. So many different personalities to capture, so much going on! Here are some of my favorites from the day. Enjoy!

The whole group, all together.

I'm pretty sure this one is gonna be a movie star, don't you think?

...and her cousin too! Love this shot!

It's not all girls though - there are some young guys too ...

... and some older guys, just as macho.

The adults got plenty of time to be silly too.

LOVE this one!!



Here's Harris and his wife, stealing a little portrait time with each other.