Sam Adams Photography

My Favorite Wedding Photos of 2011

Sam Adams Photography — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 04:21:14 +0000

I’ve been spending the past week or so updating my wedding’s website. I’ve added several new galleries from some of my favorite weddings this past year, my busiest wedding year so far. I met a lot of great couples and had a great time covering their big day. Below are my 11 favorite “formal” images from 2011, you can click on the images to go directly to each of the sample galleries to view more from each wedding.

Caitlin & JP

Kathryn & Kyle

Melissa & Devin

Alexis & Matt

Jodi & Eric

Dana & Tristan

Jenna & Cameron

Alison & Kyle

Tracy & Aaron

Jessica & Matt

Nicole & Brock

Colorado Brides Magazine Cover

Sam Adams Photography — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 21:49:25 +0000

Just got a hold of the first issue of Colorado Brides magazine, which features my image on the cover as well, as an additional image inside. The images accompany a story about local dress designer Alisa Benay, whose dresses were used for this shoot in downtown Denver. The shoot was done a couple of years ago as a collaboration project with the dress maker, model, MUA, & myself. You can see the rest of the images from the shoot in this gallery for those of you who are interested: Bridal Portraits Gallery

Colorado Brides Magazine Cover

11 Images from 2011

Sam Adams Photography — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 20:04:19 +0000

I’ve been going through my images from last year in an effort to update my websites, and I thought I would share a few of my favorite images from 2011. There are a few images I definitely wanted to add to this list, but I have to hold on to them till publication sometime this year. Either way, these are some of my favorite images from this year, and I want to especially thank all my clients and friends who have given me the opportunity to create these images. It was a great year all around, and I am sure 2012 will bring some great things.

Denver's Light Rail

Washington Park Runner during a snow storm

Micheline Casey for Information Management Magazine

Kent Thiry of DaVita Inc. for Colorado Biz Mag.

Devon | Denver Fixed Gear Rider

Jake Johnson | Lafayette Skatepark

Rocky Mountain National Park

Colby Magazine

Linhart PR for Colorado Biz Magazine

Denver Rescue Mission for Colorado Biz Magazine

Kevin Curry | Denver Cycling

Bicycling Mag. & Lighting

Sam Adams Photography — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 16:56:20 +0000

So, among the many things I’ve been busy with this past few months, is a few assignments for Bicycling magazine. I’ve had a lot of fun with these past few jobs, and although I can’t yet share the images from the shoots (the images will be posted after they’ve been published this coming spring), I thought I would share a quick little bit about what I’ve been using to light some of the shots. These past few assignments I have been covering cycling events, instead of doing a portrait or more posed type shot. So my goal has been to travel light, but yet still have enough lighting equipment with me to compete with the strong day light. I used natural light for the majority of the shots, but I do like to have lighting equipment with me when I need it, to really make some of the images pop.

I used an Alien Bee 1600 strobe powered by the Vagabond Mini, and triggered with Pocket Wizards. The new Vagabond Mini, is a life saver when it comes to its weight and versatility, especially compared to its predecessor. I pack all of this into a Domke J-2 bag, which fits the strobe, battery, and cords perfectly. Also, instead of using a light stand for the strobe, I just attach it to a tripod because it can be adjusted much better for rough and uneven terrain. While carrying all this around with my two cameras and lenses may not be considered traveling “light” by some, it does give me a lot of flash power, mobility, and options compared to just carrying around a small speed light.

Colorado Biz Magazine’s Top Company Awards Photographs

Sam Adams Photography — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 19:55:49 +0000

I finally got a hold of some of the pages from the November issue of Colorado Biz magazine, which featured my business portraits of this years Top Company Awards winners. This was my third year shooting the assignment. It’s always a good assignment and it’s fun getting to meet some of Denver’s brightest and elite business members. You can see last years images here if you are curious – 2010 Top Companies. Otherwise, be sure to click below to see all of this years images.

Colorado Biz Top Company | Business Portraits

Click on the link to see all the images from this years issue.

Saunders Construction for Colorado Biz Magazine

Sam Adams Photography — Sat, 15 Oct 2011 23:10:01 +0000

Here is a tear sheet from the September issue of Colorado Biz magazine. I photographed two of the execs. of Saunders Construction in front of the new IKEA building that they were in the process of completing at the time. I had envisioned this shot before they arrived, but because of some bad weather I didn’t think we would be able to get out side to do it. Luckily, it cleared up for a few minutes for us to get outside and shoot them in front of the building.

Saunders Construction for CoBiz Magazine

Urban Cycling Photos with Kevin

Sam Adams Photography — Sat, 10 Sep 2011 21:22:10 +0000

I did some photographs of another local cyclist here in Denver in early August. I had envisioned this shot for a while and wanted to find a cyclist to shoot these with underneath I-70 here in Denver. Kevin and his fiance, who just so happened to be looking for a wedding photographer at the time found me, and Kevin volunteered to come out and ride for the photos. We made some great images, and it was definitely a bit of a learning experience shooting out of the back of my car w/ flashes for the first time. Big thanks again to Justin for his help again, totally couldn’t have done this without him.

Under the Bridge | Bicycling photos with Kevin

To see more images and a set up shot click to read

Under the Bridge | Bicycling photos with Kevin

For the portrait set up we used two lights, an Alien Bee 1600 with a large softbox, and another AB 800 as a side light. You can see in the picture bellow our set up for the portraits. I unfortunately, did not get a shot of the car rig that we had going for the riding shots. I shot out the back of my hatch-back and using a boom arm we placed an AB 800 about 5 ft. out and away from the car to give some off camera lighting and to freeze Kevin as he was riding under the bridge.

Portrait Set Up

Dr. Deb Friesen portrait for Health Data Management magazine

Sam Adams Photography — Sat, 27 Aug 2011 17:29:35 +0000

A couple of months ago I had the opportunity to do some photographs of Dr. Deb Friesen of the Kaiser Permanente’s Colorado Medical Group. Coincidentally, I had photographed Dr. Friesen about a year earlier for Colorado Biz magazine. So, the AD and I knew going into this we wanted to something a bit different and away from the computer like last time, even through the computers / IT were a major component of the story. We did a few photos with Dr. Friesen with a white backdrop and then a few just on location in the halls of her offices. As with most business/health portraits we are working on a pretty tight schedule, and only had Dr. Friesen for about 20 minutes. So, it was definitely a big help to have my assistant Justin around, so thanks to him.

Dr. Friesen for Health Data Management magazine

They decided to run the image above as a two page spread, as well as an image on the table of contents. To see a couple more images from the shoot click for

Dr. Friesen for Health Data Management magazine

Lighting Set-Up for the seamless

For the lighting set up, we used two alien bees and a quantum q-flash for the white seamless. For the image that was published that was lit with a single AB with a large softbox.

Rocky Mountain National Park Photography

Sam Adams Photography — Tue, 23 Aug 2011 05:54:44 +0000

This past weekend Sydney and I took a trip a couple of hours north-west of Denver to Rock Mountain National Park. Having been here in Colo. for a couple of years now I’ve been wanting to get up and camp in the RMNP for a while. We finally got our chance and made the trip up there this past weekend. Below are a few of my favorite images from the trip. Most of which were shot on our last morning up there when I finally managed to get up before sunset and get to some great locations when the light was just perfect.

Rocky Mountain National Park

Rocky Mountain National Park | Sunrise over Trail Ridge Rd. (Click to enlarge)

Rocky Mountain National Park | Moraine Park (Click to enlarge)

Be sure to click on the panoramic shots to view them larger, these small images do not give the area justice. To view some more images from the trip click to read

Rocky Mountain National Park

Rocky Mountain National Park (Click to enlarge)

Rocky Mountain National Park | Aspen Grove

Rocky Mountain National Park

: Rocky Mountain National Park (Click to enlarge)

Rocky Mountain National Park

Rocky Mountain National Park | Glacier Basin Campground

Skating Photos w/ Jake Johnson

Sam Adams Photography — Mon, 22 Aug 2011 04:15:18 +0000

Just wanted to post a few new images from the Lafayette, CO skatepark with my friend Jake Johnson from Albuquerque. He and some other friends of mine were in town this past week and we checked out a few local skate parks. I hadn’t been to the Lafayette park before, but it was a really cool park with a lot of different features that I’ve never seen at parks before, especially not all at one park. Lots of cool rock cuts and interesting transitions.

Jake Johnson | Lafayette, CO

Jake Johnson | Lafayette Skate Park

To see a couple more images click to see:

Jake Johnson | Lafayette Skate Park