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Personal | Colorado


We headed West in my little red Mustang, the car loaded down with camera gear and snacks.  After a quick sleep in the parking lot of a rest stop in Kansas and several hours of driving, mountains arose out in the distance, my heart swelled.  As we got closer and closer to our destination, a cabin in Estes Park, we climbed higher and higher through winding roads.  We arrived at our cabin in the afternoon and stepped out to the sounds of a nearby babbling creek and then, the sound of a lone elk off in the distance.  It didn’t take long for me to realize Colorado is magical. <3

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Day one we were so excited we rose before the sun.

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Beau caught this guy on camera as well, be sure to watch his video at the bottom to see/hear what he sounds like. 😉

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Starting the long treck up Trail Ridge Road, in Rocky Mountain National Park.

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Probably my favorite photo and view of the day.  We went up a bit further, as the fog got thicker and thicker and we ended up behind a pack of Model Ts (no joke) we decided to make the descent down to finish the day of adventure.

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Day two: a day of hiking.  We saw waterfall on the list of options and set out to find it, Alberta Falls.

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Found a buddy on the trail, <3 the little snow falling around.

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The summit, beautiful Alberta Falls.

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Turned to my side and spotted this little guy. 🙂

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I was so excited when a fellow hiker knew how to operate a DSLR camera and was so kind to take our photo at the top.  It’s not often we are on the other side of the lens, this is cherished.  If you’re out there, thanks hiking friend!

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Checking out Estes Park’s famous Stanley Hotel that inspired the movie “The Shining”.

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My mountain man, he fit in so well with the natives. <3

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Guanella Pass, a beautiful winding pass through the mountains with many changing scenes and temperatures.

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Kind of bummed that I didn’t take more city pictures, but I kind of like that one was of “Duffy’s” Cherry Cricket restaurant in Denver.

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Last day trip out of Denver, to Garden of the Gods.

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#photographerselfie

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I hope you enjoyed these moments from our trip to Colorado and that you also get to adventure there soon.  Wanna see even more? Watch Beau’s amazing video creation below, hit the HD option and you will be able to view it in high-quality HD on vimeo’s site.  Worth it for the viewing quality!

Colorado from Alison Duffy on Vimeo.

 

Film photos taken with: Contax 645, Canon eos3

Film developed by: Indie Film Lab

Weddings | steppin’ it up


Over the past few months, I’ve been thinking about a fresh way to deliver digital photos to clients.  Although my custom discs do a wonderful job, I’ve noticed some new laptops (tablets too) don’t have a disc drive.  This lead me to look into flash drives, there were so many options that my head started spinning trying to figure out what was best for me!  I let the idea marinate in my mind until I came across the perfect solution at WPPI.  At one of the displays was the cutest, so on- brand for me, wooden flash drive.  The gorgeous light wood caught my eye right away and I just knew I had found an awesome item to add to my wedding collections.

Along with flash drives, I have also been thinking about adding prints to my collections.   It was another area I felt overwhelmed with choices, the push I needed came after hearing several speakers talk about the importance of printing photos for clients.  There’s just something extra special about being able to hold and show off your wedding photos. 🙂  As it turns out, the same company that makes the wooden flash drives also makes gorgeous wooden boxes to hold the flash drive with prints.  Cue my hallelujah moment!  After feeling like there were a million options out there, I found the one perfect for me.  I am so stoked to now have the flash drive, prints, and box as a part of my collections; the thought of brides having their photos so portable and displayed gorgeously makes me suuuper excited! 😀

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Another recent change, as some of you may have already noticed, is the blog.  As much I loved my first blog, it was time to update to something that looks sharper on phones and tablets.  I simplified the layout and now, if you’re viewing from a mobile device, there’s a cool front menu and posts can be viewed very easily with text and photos formatted to fit the screen.  Hopefully you enjoy this change as much as I do, I’d love any feedback or comments from you. 🙂  Since we’ve geared back into wedding season, be on the lookout for pretty spring engagements and weddings coming soon!

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Personal | Las Vegas, NV


Earlier this month, we traveled to Las Vegas for the largest photography conference of the year, WPPI ( Wedding & Portrait Photographers International).  I met some of my favorite photographers and learned so many ideas that I’m super excited to start implementing here at home.  The mountainous landscape outside of the city was my favorite area, but the city also offered its own beauty with its vibrant buildings and people.

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During a spare afternoon, Beau and I ventured back to the mountains that captured our hearts on day one.  We hiked up a hill where we watched the sun begin to set between rolling peaks.  We took some personal photos of one another and below I’m sharing a few.

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It’s kind of hard for me to share photos of myself sometimes because I still have my younger-self voice in my head saying I’m not skinny enough, good enough, etc.  While growing up, I was teased for being overweight numerous times from peers and even family a couple of times.  It’s still sometimes hard for me ‘put myself out there’ because of fear of being judged/not good enough.  Those old scars may be a part of my past, but growing up has taught me that everyone is created beautifully unique and has something amazing to offer.  I share my story in hopes of possibly bettering this world in some way, and to show others that they are beautiful and good enough just the way they are.

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You belong among the wildflowers
You belong in a boat out at sea
Sail away, kill off the hours
You belong somewhere you feel free

Run away, find you a lover
Go away somewhere all bright and new
I have seen no other
Who compares with you

You belong among the wildflowers
You belong in a boat out at sea
You belong with your love on your arm
You belong somewhere you feel free

Run away, go find a lover
Run away, let your heart be your guide
You deserve the deepest of cover
You belong in that home by and by

You belong among the wildflowers
You belong somewhere close to me
Far away from your trouble and worry
You belong somewhere you feel free
You belong somewhere you feel free – Tom Petty

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All shot on:

Contax 645, Kodak Portra 400

Canon EOS3, Kodak Portra 160

Film developed and scanned by: Indie Film Lab

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Personal | Inspiration Shoot at Red Rock Canyon, Las Vegas


We recently traveled to Las Vegas for a photography conference and from the moment I booked the flight, I imagined a photo shoot in the desert.  Lucky for me, my cousin and his wife live there and were totally down to help my vision come to life.  I handmade a floral crown for Rebecca to wear and stylized their outfits to accent the landscape that was like an unreal painting.  As we were driving, off in the distance, I could see the canyon bright with hues of red.  Stepping onto the rocks for the first time was more breathtaking than imagined, creating photos there was better than dreams…

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All shot on:

Contax 645, Fuji 400h

Canon EOS3, Kodak Portra 160

Developed & Scanned by: Indie Film Lab

Stay tuned for part two of our Vegas experience, our personal photos from around the city and mountains.

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Personal | Hi from Wiley & Luna


It’s been way too long since I’ve shared photos of our kitty babies, Wiley & Luna.  The light coming through our front window and bedroom were super nice the other afternoon so I busted out my latest love, my Contax camera.  Here’s what an afternoon for them looks like, they have it sooo rough. 😉

To start, I’m not going to lie; for a brief period of time, I thought Luna had a crazy eye.  I then realized that whichever eye of hers is towards the light looks bigger compared to the shadowed side.  Hahaha, my little bright eye. 😛  I’ve also found that photographing her is kinda tricky, she pretty much has to be in bright light for a nice exposure, good thing she loves to sit in sun patches around the house.

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Wiley, on the other hand, is pretty easy to photograph and I swear he even poses.

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As much as I’d love them to, here’s Exhibit A as to why they don’t sleep with us at night: they are constantly up and down the headboard & in and out of the window sill directly behind it.

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Luna’s favorite lookout.

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Wiley is super serious sometimes, it’s hilarious.

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My favorite of each cat below. <3

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All shot on:

Contax 645

Kodak Portra 400

Developed & scanned by: Indie Film Lab

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