Pin Up Girl Got Married!

Well she finally tied the knot, and I am happy to announce that Amber's images are no longer on the editing table. Here are a few of my favorite shots of Amber and her wild man husband, Mike, who's a bassist for a punk band out there in Scottsdale. Their wedding was a blast. So far from traditional and a ton of fun to shoot. Meet Mike and Amber! The Mr. and the Mrs.!

AND... check out my new logo!!! Jenny you are AMAZIN! Thank's again for my cool new logo, girlfriend!

Buena Vista, CO!!

Last week, Jenny and I went out to what I consider one of my most favorite places in the world.

No joke, Buena Vista is the world's best kept secret. In college I'd move out there and live in a little two man tent, working as a raft guide.

This shot brings back memories. I remember these customers. When I first met them, I was nervous because they looked like a bunch of nerdy old timers. Then when I got them in the river they would paddle like maniacs. That's me in the back with the blue life jacket... yelling at my paying customers, "FORWARD HARD!!!!". I don't yell at my wedding clients.

Some of the best memories in my life are in BV. My typical day for about 6 months of my life was: Wake Up at 6:00AM. Brush teeth, rinse from whatever water I had on me. Drive out to Bongo Billy's for some coffee and a pastry of some sort. Drive to work, American Adventure Expeditions. I'd then look to see what kind of group I had signed up (5-load from Kansas, paddle boat or ore rig). Then I'd pray that my group of customers were in good shape. A college group would be nice!

Then I'd head out to the boat shed where all the other guides were and I'd grab my favorite SOTAR, which is a brand of raft. Some people say it stands for "Swim Over To Another Raft", but whatever. I'd roll it out, pump it up, strap on a spare paddle, pack rain gear, clip my Nalgene bottle that was most likely filled up with TANG! and I'd then wait for my customers. When they arrived, I'd give them a "paddle talk", teaching them (hopefully) my paddle commands. We'd get on the water, hit some good class 4 rapids, have lunch, finish it off and head back on one of our school busses.

I was so poor that I actually bounced a check for Ramen Noodles and had a warrant put on for my arrest because of it. (Don't worry mom, dad... it's been taken care of). So I would PRAY for a good tip, which was like, $40 bucks! Then I'd meet my friends for some evening paddling in our kayaks down the narrows or Brown's Canyon.

The sunsets were warm and beautiful. Buena Vista is surrounded by some of the most spectacular Colorado 14'ers, the Collegiate Peaks. We'd grab a beer at the El Duran and FREE chips and salsa for dinner! And soon it was back to our tents. Sometimes I'd just sleep under the stars. Because there are no cities nearby, the stars shine incredibly!

Anyway, Jenny and I went out to BV for a day and it was awesome. I had so much fun showing Jenny my special spots. We even drove out to where my camp site was for the 3 seasons that I lived out there.

Right next door to American Adventure Expeditions was this old truck stop... THE GUNSMOKE. I used to go there for snacks and to gas up my old Ford Ranger. When I didn't have to work, I'd go to the diner and order a "Mr. Ed", which was a plate full of hash browns, snausages, green chili, three eggs, cheese and I think country gravy too! It looked like a pile of something you'd never want to eat, but we LOVED the Ed! I wanted to buy a Mr. Ed for Jenny but it wasn't splurge day. They also have awesome cinnamon rolls!


Here's a shot of some aspen trees off of County Line Road 311. If I ever got sick of my permanent camp site, I'd head out here for a night to "get away". ha!

This is the actual County Road 311. Purdy, huh?

And one more shot of some cool looking clounds on our way back home.

New Cafiero Logo is DONE!!!

I am so excited! I've been talking about remodeling my logo for months now. The previous logo was nice and classy, but was missing something that really distinguishes it. An icon that represents who I am, where I come from, and what I stand for. THANK YOU JENNY for making this for me! I have tried outsourcing my concept to some really high-end branding consultants. While they seemed to know what I had visualized, I just wasn't feeling it when I got their drafts. Meanwhile, Jenny, who is a pro graphic designer has been telling me that she wanted to do it. When she saw that I was less than ecstatic of my previous drafts, she took it to herself to make me a logo. It turned out EXACTLY what I had been hoping for. Even better, actually!

And here you have it:

Now to explain this logo... The only thing that has really changed is the addition of a flourish on the left edge of "CAFIERO". I wanted something that just subtly resembled the form and design of an old Gibson mandolin. I wanted an icon to honor my grandfather on my dad's side of the family. He was an artist, an Italian jazz mandolinist from New York, playing as a kid at the local pizzeria, eventually earning impressive recognition, while his music even brought him to Vegas. His timing was always so precise. The sound that came from his instrument was gentle and unique. The instrument he used (the mandolin) was a work of art in itself. I remember the bridge was worn through the stain to the wood from his hands working the strings. His fingers could move so fast and with so much finesse across the frets, it often looked like a blur. His music represented our Italian heritage and was an important part of each and every family celebration we ever had, be a birthday, holiday, or reunion. The music and the great Italian food are just two of the things that make me so proud to be a Cafiero. I chose to name my business simply put, "Cafiero" to honor the family that I come from. I'm one of the last Cafiero guys in the family.

I strive to be like my grandfather in more ways than one. His artistry in Italian music inspires my artistic expression through photography. Wedding photography, even! I can't play the mandolin, but I've gotten to the point where the camera has become an extension of my body. My camera is an instrument that I use to create artwork. Visual, rather than audible, but the objective is the same, to bring people closer together; to create a piece that will elicit a heart-felt response.

On another note, I knew my grandfather as one of the kindest, most gentle humans ever to step on this earth. His smile was genuine, his laugh contagious, and always seemed to put other people before him. He adored my grandmother.

He passed away one Christmas Eve. It was a sad moment, but one thing we all have to remember him by is his music. He left us with sounds that bring us back to the greatest times of our lives. That is the goal behind my photography business. I hope that when my clients are old and grey, they can look back at the images I create for them and remember their day EXACTLY as it unfolded.

Thus, a tribute to my grandfather, Joseph Cafiero.

Artwork by Chris Daniels for my grandfather's last recorded album, Mandolino.
http://www.chrisalandaniels.com/index.html

Splurge Day!

Warning: the following post features early morning, right out of bed photos. Don't be alarmed, I will NOT show up to your wedding unshaven, wearing Jeans and a Hoodie!

I'm on my fourth week of doing the 12 week Body for Life Challenge. I did take a "before" photo, but I'm not posting that until after I do my 12 week "after" photo. So far I've lost almost 9 lbs, which is like two bags of potaters. I am starting to feel different. Anyway, the fun part of this "lifestyle change" is the one day a week where I can eat WHATEVER I want. It's my splurge day! I binge each Sunday to the point of self disgust. I chose Sunday because I'm usually out shooting weddings on Saturday and if I'm going to splurge, it's going to be ALL DAY LONG. At weddings, my clients may find it offensive if I bring a box of doughnuts with me, although at a recent wedding Amber, my pin up bride had Krispy Kreme doughnuts while she was getting ready and I had one, but that was the week before my diet! It's great. Today, Jenny and I went out for Krispy Kreme doughnuts! We totally pigged out. Jenny's doing this with me.

So here are some very attractive photos of us pigging out at the Highlands Ranch Krispy Kreme. Mmmmmm.....

I tried to eat every one of the rasberry jelly filled doughnuts, but as soon as I finished off this batch, they had already made another 200. What a dirty trick.

Here's a photo of Jenny. You know she's ready to eat because her mouth is open. Kind of like one of those Venus Fly Traps, you know?

Oh man, their glazed doughnuts are TO DIE FOR! Literally! If you eat too many, there is a good chance that you will eventually die. Be careful. I'm taking a risk here, eating too many.

Jenny takes the modest approach and selects the most desireable doughnut before shoving.

And finally, I put on the Krispy Kreme hat and laugh at the storefront. I'LL BE BACK!

Allenspark, Colorado Wedding!

I just got home from shooting a really great wedding in Allenspark, CO, which is sort of near Estes Park. This wedding was at the Wild Basin Lodge, which was my first time shooting there. I loved it and hope to shoot there again! Meet Dina and Cameron. I loved working with them, they were just totally laid back and cool and just wanted to have a great wedding for their guests to witness.

Here's Dina's reaction to... probably some funny joke I told. ;)

Wine, anyone?


I loved the clouds today!

This might count as one of my favorite ring shots!

Gotta love a good embrace.

Who's this creepy guy that keeps showing up in the background with a camera? This shot was 100% intentional. It's just something I do at every wedding for some reason. I'll post my gallery soon!

Detail shot from the Wild Basin Lodge!

I love this shot. This was the mother of the bride. She's in a wheel chair and doesn't come out of it often, but her son insisted that she get up and dance. You can really tell how great of a time she's having! You should have seen her dance! She was absolutely loving it. As she headed out I heard her say, "Oh dear, that was really a nice time". :) I have some great shots of her dancing, but I REALLY like the reaction shot.

Check out this Colorado Sunset! Ya gotta love the Colorado Rockies!!! (NOT the baseball team... just in general. You pickin up what I'm layin down?)

Our Marathon Runnin Family

My younger sister, Katherine, ran her 2nd or 3rd Marathon last weekend! She and a friend of hers decided to run a marathon in Tennessee... even though they live in Kansas. Here's Kathy in all her glory .



And here's her bro (me) running the Pike's Peak Marathon just a few years ago! Katherine is smiling and I am grimacing at 14,115 feet!

My older sister, Gina is also a marathoner. I'll dig up some nice shots of her for a future post.

Just havin some fun

This week I decided to try out a new lab. I've never really had just one lab that I work with consistantly, and decided it would be a good idea to find a lab that can handle all of my jobs. After a lot of research, I've found Fotoworks of Southern California, per Becker Photographer's recommendation is HIS blog. They work with some of the best photographers in the country so I think I can trust them. Also I looked at their product line and they seem to have everything I need to totally wow my wedding clients, so I'm psyched!

To get started, they asked me to send them 5 images to make sure our color calibration is a good match and they are going to send me 5 8x10's for free! Bless their little hearts! Well I didn't know what kind of prints to send em, so I decided to send some of my favorite 6peeps shoots. I had fun playing around with them and in the process I thought of a good way to enforce my brand a little more. That's a secret, but you'll start noticing it more in the future. These images don't employ my new branding idea, but they sparked the idea. Anyway, here are some of my favorite 6 Peep Shots from the past few months!

This is a shot I grabbed driving out to Denver after work one day near A-Basin when I was doing the Ski patrol thing (something I did to give me something to do during my wedding off-season)... why not! I still shot lots of weddings, mostly in AZ, one in Playa del Carmen, MX. Here's one reason I love the mountains so much. Check out that sunset!

One of my favorite shots from my Ski Patrol Rookie Party. I am so happy that I have completed my first season as a Ski Patroller. I had the experience of my life and learned so much about myself. I'm actually pretty good at taking care of wounded skiers with broken bones, dislocations, facial trauma, and all sorts of medical issues. I saw it all this winter, and got some great skiing in (40 hours a week!) and met some really fun peeps. Here's Mark Winchester doing his thing for the camera. In the background, there's Julian Lamarche (black t-shirt), a big-air contestant, and one of the best skiers I've ever met (you should see the that guy huck and jib at the terrain park), and Jake Ziemski (red, black and grey jacket), a stud that all the women dreul over. I've also never seen him in a bad mood. The ladies are various girfriends.

Of course, the vintage pin-up girl shots with the old WWII warbird is a favorite of mine. I'm looking forward to doing another shoot with the planes for a wedding dress company. After these shots got out, I inspired Stephanie James of http://stephaniejamescouture.com/ to do a similar shoot. So next week I'm meeting her and husbend Jim Kennedy http://www.jimkennedyphotography.com/ , who happens to be one of my top inspirations in this business of wedding photography to do a shoot of her line-up. I'll be posting those soon! Also we got my bride, Amber to model some of her dresses and we're looking forward to seeing Amber "represent" for Stephanie!

Oh man, I just realized I never posted the shots of my dad's sailboat! He has a really cool old 1977 33 foot sailboat that's docked out in Oahu! Jenny and I stayed on the boat when we went out there. We made a really cool poster for my dad, a collage of some nice detail shots. This is one of my fav's. I sent this to Fotoworks to see how their sepia tone prints look. I'll post more images from my dad's boat soon! He loved the poster and even got all teary-eyed when we gave it to him. He loves that boat and I could tell this was a special gift.

OF COURSE, much love to my woman!

Scottsdale Wedding!

I just returned last night from Arizona, where I photographed Brooke and Lanny's wedding in Scottsdale. The weather was nice and in the 80's, and I absolutely loved working with Brooke and Lanny. Brooke really reminds me of Cameron Diaz. Very elegant, and a really fun boisterous laugh. She was all smiles which I love. Lanny is awesome too - he's really animated which made him fun to photograph. I have all sorts of hilareous shots of him. Anyway, it was a great wedding...

Had to add one shot of myself. That one's a quick shot I took for my own enjoyment. :)

Scottsdale Wedding (Cont...)

I met the bride at her parent's place in Scottsdale, which was VERY nice. It's called The Wellness Ranch, and I assume that's her mother's business. Kind of a progressive medical type of business. Anyway, it was really neat and decorated extremely well...

Also Lanny claims to be non-photogenic. I think he looks pretty dapper here, myself!

Scottsdale Wedding (Cont...)

The reception was held at the very nice Terravita Golf Course, Scottsdale. It was a great venue, and I hope to shoot there again soon. The golf course looks really nice. I bet I could really hack it up over there.

Scottsdale Wedding! (cont...)

This old dawg belonged to the bride's family. He's old enough to get a driver's license in the state of Colorado, and judging by Colorado's driving requirements, I don't think his impaired vision or hearing would be a hinderance to his qualifications! So... stay off the sidewalk!

VEGAS!

I just got back from Vegas, where I was asked to give a 2 hour Master Class presentation (see below) at the Wedding and Portrait Photographers International (WPPI) convention at The Paris Hotel/Casino. It was an honor and I had a great time. A very special THANK YOU to Bill Hurter, who's the big man of that organization, and editor of RANGEFINDER magazine. He has trusted me to give my first presentation at the event and I don't think I let him down at all. I got some really nice reviews and I hope to be back next year with my part deux! Thanks Bill!

Also a huge THANK YOU to Becker Photographer of the O.C. who invited me to his party at THEhotel near Mandalay Bay. Some of the photographers I respect in the business including Jim Kennedy, Mike Colon, Cliff Mautner and many many others were there. I was honored to be in their company and not to mention a really fun party! Becker served Peeps, which happen to be my favorite marshmallow Easter treat! Also I had plenty of cocktails and left feeling pretty good! Becker is extremely talented - see his BLOG at http://www.beckersblog.com. Becker is the man responsible for me getting my own blog going, among so many other things. Thanks [b], you are absolutely one of my greatest inspirations in this business!

Here's a shot from my hotel room - nice view of the Eiffel Tower!

I LOVE the Bellagio water show. I mostly like watching other people, watching the show! You should see the looks of amazement you get from the other people! It's awesome.

Finally, here's just a pretty shot of a tree with pretty flowers. :)

VEGAS! (cont...)

I thought I'd buy a vacation home in Vegas, since I like it there so much. Here's a humble snapshot of my patio.

VEGAS! (cont...)

YEAH!!!! This year I was asked to be a guest speaker at the Wedding and Portrait Photographers International convention at Bally's / The Paris Hotel/Casino. It was the absolute highlite of my career! I gave a two hour presentation, speaking of the business side of being a pro photographer, and then more on the photography side, "Capturing the Candid Moment". My first half was called "Pilot or Passenger". Everyone really loved it and I had a ton of great feed back. I'm already sketching my new presentation for next year because there were a lot of subjects that I didn't quite have time to make, so we'll look forward to Pilot or Passenger, Part II. I kept seeing these posters with my name on them in the casino. It was a lot of fun!

Oh and thanks to Jenny for making my photo slideshow that was put to music. It was a real hit!

VEGAS! (cont...)

Well, everybody knows that in Vegas you should expect to have a few cocktails. I love cocktail hour, and we had a few of them in Vegas. We went to see Mama Mia, which was awesome, and we had some really stiff ZOMBIEs... which are basically a whole bunch of different kinds of rum with a splash of juice. My kind of cocktail! We also had some martinis at the Stone Crab Restaurant

...and my favorite wine, LaFonda, just like the girl from Napolean Dynomite! (OK, I penned in the "a" at the end. Couldn't help myself!)