Twin Lakes Colorado Golden Hour Elopement

Carly & Jake’s Twin Lakes Elopement

Carly and Jake came all the way from Wisconsin to spend a few days together in the Colorado Rockies and get married in their own way. No big ceremony, no crowd, no stressful timeline or having to worry about others. Just the two of them, the mountains and a few lovely days away from home exploring and enjoying each other.

They had already exchanged their vows privately earlier that day, just the two of them. A few weeks later they would be back home in Wisconsin celebrating with friends and family, but this part was theirs. They wanted photographs from the evening that would give them something tangible to remember the trip by and eventually share with everyone they loved back home.

We met at Twin Lakes on a beautiful June evening with clear skies, warm golden light and plenty of Colorado wind whipping across the water.

“I’m awkward. I don’t know how to pose,” Carly told me almost immediately after we met.

“Just be you. Celebrate each other. I promise I’ll find the moments if you just have a bit of fun.”

And that was pretty much the extent of the direction needed.

We spent the evening wandering along the shoreline and through the surrounding landscape encouraging them to celebrate each other and have fun…even with the wind which I called the “Hollywood effect.”

As the sun danced down the western skyline, wildlife smoke moved in, but we kep enjoying it even with that eerie yet beautiful light. We moved around the shores and surrounding trails just simply ‘being.’

That is generally how I like to photograph elopements and couples. I’ll help with light, location and a little direction when it’s useful, but I don’t want the photography to take over the experience. The goal is to give people enough space to forget about the camera a little and allow real personality and interaction to come through. The landscape matters, especially somewhere as spectacular as Twin Lakes, but the people should never become props within it.

By the end of the evening, Carly’s declaration that she was awkward in front of the camera seemed pretty funny. I’d say she was a natural.

More than anything, I loved the simplicity of what Carly and Jake chose to do. They traveled across the country, found a beautiful corner of Colorado, quietly got married and spent a few days celebrating each other before heading home to celebrate with everyone else. There’s something pretty wonderful about that. So, if this sounds like your perfect getaway plan for an elopement, I’d love to help you celebrate and capture a bit of magic along the way. Reach out here to chat about how we can make it happen!