This is a video from one night of X games in Aspen Colorado. You put a few thousand people together and it's people watching paradise. January in Aspen CO is usually really cold and so was this night. Like any huge event it's a fun crazy mix of this constant line buses loading and unloading, security people directing the crowd, and people sliding around on snow. Pretty much it's a ton of kids having fun at the concerts and the sport events. People were really nice to me some were more messed up than others but who hasn't been there? Aspen is super proud of the event and supportive of the crowds of kids. We hear a lot of complaining around town but since I was filming a little on the early side of the evening it was obnoxious yet. I'm sure the stories from Aspen at 2am are quite different. I'm an old guy but I love the kids and thought it would be great for people that don't go to the event to get a taste of whats going on. When you're at that point in your life that you've been to a million huge concerts you lose your taste for the crowds and lines and noise and cold. But if you're just starting you notch your belt with the big events I imagine it's one of the best out there. I met a lot of people from Denver/Boullder but some were from Arizona and one kid from Maine.
Big Sur California
I’m working on stock photography of the California coast from Big Sur down to the San Diego area. It’s a break from Aspen photography but I think it will sell well. My photography base is Aspen but I make a couple trips per year to photograph the ocean, coastline, and even high desert.
Aspen Photographer Big Sure CA
Aspen Portrait Project
This is a project from 2004 in which I photographed people in Aspen, Colorado. The idea was to photograph people that have made an impact on the town. I started with a few people I knew and asked them to recommend others. The shot list could have included dozens and dozens of people. Luckily, I have these because, of course, by 2018 many of them have passed away. I imagine it is time to do this project again!
Pizza Party
I shot this video of Aspen’s New York Pizza restaurant during the 2018 summer. It began with some fun behind the scenes shots and grew into a real promo video after I had the idea to do video portraits of the employees.
Video portraits are interesting. I intentionally just pointed the camera at them and left it there. You can see for yourself how different the reactions are. There is no judgement. They are simple and real clips.
Aspen has been losing the places you can grab cheap eats. New York Pizza is one of the few. As always, it was really fun for me to meet the owners and all the people that work there.
Aspen Photographer Goes to the Beach
Here are several images from my recent trip to LA. I wanted stock images of yoga/meditation for publication both in LA and Aspen. I found the perfect model (smart and fun to work with) and a gorgeous sunset. Yoga and meditation are popular topics for social media platforms, magazines, etc. This imagery sells well for that content.
Vignettes of the desert
This short film is from the fall trip to Arizona. You'll see the quiet beauty from the desert landscape. It's a break from my Aspen Colorado photography and I get to stretch out with moving pictures. This was filmed in two locations both east and west of Phoenix, AZ.
For a larger view click on "Vimeo" in the lower right corner.
I love out-takes!
Sometimes parents are horrified but after twenty years of photographing children, mostly here in Aspen, I realize kids are going to be kids. I just roll with it. I let them do their thing so I can do my thing. I have an unspoken contract with the kids. I love the chaos that goes on behind the scenes while we're getting that nice family shot that goes on all the cards.
When photographing in Aspen people seem to gravitate to a more casual look for their family portraits. That's a good thing because the weather can be doing anything and everything. The kids can have room to be kids but at the end of the day I always get my shot!
As promised...Dalhart TX Cowboys
I edited several days worth of images into this short video/slideshow. I went from an Aspen photographer to a Texas photographer. It was a great trip and fulfilling personal project. And best of all I know some great people in Dalhart, TX now.
In August Dalhart hosts a pro rodeo and I may go back to get more portraits. I may even expand the project to get rodeo cowboys and regular folks of Dalhart.
As a student of photography I've read the stories of photographers getting a big break to shoot a celebrity or politician but only getting 5 minutes to do the shoot. (Talk about pressure.) These cowboy portraits were just as unnerving. I got a few of them to stop for about one minute! And several of them wouldn't even get in front of the camera at all. I guess if it ain't cow-punching they don't want anything to do with it.
Photographing in Aspen, CO is beautiful and I am very lucky to live and work here. But it's always a great experience to travel. The landscape around Dalhart is completely different and really speaks to me. That landscape is like my photography- it's a subtle beauty.
Knowing most people view my work on a phone or, slightly better, a table, I should post more dramatic shots. I should make images that have a real "WOW" factor. I do have some of those but an artful photograph should have layers and the viewer should discover more and more as they look around the photograph. Phone screens are too small to allow that. Furthermore, a large art print in your home should make you feel good overtime you see it. You should react differently to a real art print as you change as a person. You should have a different experience viewing it after several years because you are a different person- a different viewer. The simple brightly colored "WOW" image won't have that longevity.
Thanks for visiting and remember- if you're looking for an Aspen photographer you're in the right place.
Ocean Fun
I was hired by two passionate kite surfer dudes to make a short video of them. Port Aransas, TX is a favorite place for kite surfers because the wind is usually howling. I am most well known as a portrait photographer here in Aspen, Colorado but I've been doing a lot more fine art work and lots of video work. Please enjoy the video.
I love projects...and travel
Normally I photograph in or near Aspen Co. This image from a photo series I shot in West Texas. It was spring roundup time. Up at 4:30 so by the time there's enough light to see the cowboys are already on their horses and ready to round up the cows and calves. The trip was very successful & I'm editing a slideshow with sound. I'll post it in the next few days.
Wedding Photography
As a photographer in Aspen Colorado I specialize in stills and videos for many purposes. I do family portraits, children portraits, business portraits, and branding photography and video.
This video (2 Min. sample) is an example of using creative photography skills for a wedding in Aspen Colorado. The couple didn’t want to hire a videographer since it was a small intimate wedding but they wanted something digital for their friends back home. The solution was to make a slideshow which I consider a cross between a video and an album of stills. The client was delighted.
I almost laughed out loud when I got the call for the job. Melissa said it was a small elopement- just she and Peter. They had planned a huge wedding in Hawaii and in the middle of planning decided to forget the whole thing and fly to Aspen Colorado for the wedding -or elopement. I thought that was a great idea. They saved Hawaii for large party for their friends and families.
I arranged an officiant and flowers and champagne, and a driver. We spent most of the day together shooting them getting ready, the ceremony, and portraits around Aspen. They loved it!
I've been doing photography in Aspen Colorado for 20 years. I'm after a feeling and care much less about equipment or trends, etc. I shoot high end portraits which I call “fashion portraits.” It blends the fashion photo-shoot style with the portrait session. I have a crew for make-up and hair, a photo-assistant, and stylist. But with all that going on I still make the subject feel comfortable and we get amazing shots.
So many beginning photographers claim they use “available light” which simply means daylight. That’s fine but it simply means they never learned to use all of the tools available to a trained photographer. We use studio lighting in the field. That way we get creative no matter what the weather is doing. There is an example video of shooting a family portrait with a crew on my website titled “Weiss Family Photog-Shoot. You can find it on the “Behind the Scenes” page.
I get bored easily...
I'm a photographer in Aspen, Colorado. If you landed here looking for a photographer in Aspen CO then I'm here for you!
I don't know whether to think I get bored easily or if I'm in a creative mode more often than I realized- and is one of those negative and the other positive?
This video is an example of why I'm asking myself these questions. On a recent photo trip, while mountain biking on some amazing trails, I had the idea to make video vignettes of my wife. I had the final video in my head before the first take.
The notion that came into my mind was a silly video for her website showing what she does for fun. I say "silly" because I wanted a simple video instead of a serious art video of her having fun.
So I got to ride sweet trails and get a bunch of shots to make a fun, silly video. See what simple looks like-
Weiss Family Photo Shoot
