Our little shooting break came to a fantastic halt yesterday when we photographed Leona and Lucas’s engagement portraits. We met them in Manitou Springs and then popped over to Garden of the Gods. (Prepare for photo overload, I went a little out of control with this sneak peek.)
Leona and Lucas brought their adorable dog, Pickle, who was so much fun to photograph! I’ll start with all of his pictures, because he’ll steal the show anyway. (And he deserves to–he stepped in a cactus and walked all over the prickly fields with us!)
![lldog colorado springs engagement portrait photographers](http://www.needlesandapen.com/photography/blog-old/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/lldog.jpg)
Pickle was totally making a run for the treat Nic had.
![llpicklerunning colorado springs photographers](http://www.needlesandapen.com/photography/blog-old/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/llpicklerunning.jpg)
Have you ever seen a happier dog?
![llsilly colorado springs engagement photographers](http://www.needlesandapen.com/photography/blog-old/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/llsilly.jpg)
Leona and Lucas are so cute! We usually have to coach our couples on the fine art of acting like you like each other on camera (lots of kissing, whispering, snuggling, etc) but right out of the starting gates they were ready to go!
![llfixed](http://www.needlesandapen.com/photography/blog-old/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/llfixed.jpg)
![llivy colorado springs portrait photographers](http://www.needlesandapen.com/photography/blog-old/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/llivy.jpg)
Here Leona is laughing at me because I was in and out of the ivy quickly when I took that last shot…not wanting to, you know, run into a spider or something. So there I was, in the ivy for half a second before jumping out, and there they were, and I expected them to keep standing in it!
![lllaughing colorado springs portrait photographers](http://www.needlesandapen.com/photography/blog-old/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/lllaughing.jpg)
Isn’t Leona GORGEOUS?! I think she looks like Jennifer Garner in a lot of these shots, but Nic says she looks like Courtney Cox (he’s clearly wrong this time).
![llleona colorado springs engagement photographers](http://www.needlesandapen.com/photography/blog-old/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/llleona.jpg)
![llleona1 colorado springs photographers](http://www.needlesandapen.com/photography/blog-old/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/llleona1.jpg)
(Edited to add this next shot–can’t believe I forgot to include it the first time around!)
![lladdon](http://www.needlesandapen.com/photography/blog-old/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/lladdon.jpg)
Lucas did his best to hide behind Leona in the beginning, but we don’t think he’s too bad looking. ;)
![lllucas colorado springs portrait photographers](http://www.needlesandapen.com/photography/blog-old/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/lllucas.jpg)
![lllucas2 colorado springs engagement portrait](http://www.needlesandapen.com/photography/blog-old/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/lllucas2.jpg)
We explored a new alley in Manitou and found lots of great textures.
![ll2 colorado springs engagement portraits](http://www.needlesandapen.com/photography/blog-old/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/ll2.jpg)
![ll3 colorado springs photographer](http://www.needlesandapen.com/photography/blog-old/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/ll3.jpg)
![llredbridge colorado wedding photographers](http://www.needlesandapen.com/photography/blog-old/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/llredbridge.jpg)
We even spotted a deer! (I love that I caught them spotting it! Although it’s a sad little deer I think–check out [or don’t if you’re eating or ever want to eat again] that growth on its head!)
![lldeer](http://www.needlesandapen.com/photography/blog-old/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/lldeer.jpg)
After the deer spotting, it was over to the fields of Garden of the Gods.
![llonshoulder colorado springs photographers](http://www.needlesandapen.com/photography/blog-old/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/llonshoulder.jpg)
Keep this next shot in mind for later.
![llinfrontofthescenest colorado springs portraits](http://www.needlesandapen.com/photography/blog-old/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/llinfrontofthescenest.jpg)
Leona and Lucas were great–totally up for anything. Including laying down in what we’ll call Colorado Prairie Grass, because that sounds nicer than “lots of prickly plants, grass, and some cacti”
![lllaying colorado springs photographers](http://www.needlesandapen.com/photography/blog-old/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/lllaying.jpg)
You ready for another Nic’s shot/Traci’s shot comparison? (This time I think it’s a draw.) My shot:
![lllayingmyshot colorado springs wedding photographers](http://www.needlesandapen.com/photography/blog-old/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/lllayingmyshot.jpg)
Nic’s version:
![lllayingnicsshot colorado springs engagement portrait](http://www.needlesandapen.com/photography/blog-old/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/lllayingnicsshot.jpg)
And another one. Nic’s shot (remember this one for later):
![llinfrontofthescenesn colorado springs engagement portrait](http://www.needlesandapen.com/photography/blog-old/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/llinfrontofthescenesn.jpg)
My version:
![llinfrontofthescenestversion colorado springs wedding photographers](http://www.needlesandapen.com/photography/blog-old/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/llinfrontofthescenestversion.jpg)
And something new: we’re going to start including behind the scenes pictures in our posts. I’ve been taking them occassionaly, but then just letting them sit in our computer files all lonely and forgotten. But I love seeing Bobbi and Mike’s so much I thought it might be fun to share ours, too!
Remember the second picture in the fields I told you to remember? Here’s me taking it:
![llbtstraci](http://www.needlesandapen.com/photography/blog-old/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/llbtstraci.jpg)
And from the second Traci’s version/Nic’s version shots:
![llbtsnic](http://www.needlesandapen.com/photography/blog-old/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/llbtsnic.jpg)
Leona and Lucas are so great in front of the camera! We can’t wait to shoot their wedding next month!