New and Exciting

Years ago, I knew I wanted to do exactly what it is I am doing now. It's funny how things work out because back then, I only thought that it would be fun to be a photographer, but I never imagined that I could ever successfully BE one, you know? How would it be possible that I make a living off something I LOVE doing? Capturing precious moments for people to cherish forever... works of art for everyone to see. It's completely me and I couldn't imagine stepping into anything else ever again!

Seeing my business blossom just makes me more and more excited for the future and for what is next to come. Ever since I started doing real photographs for people only just a year ago, I knew what it was that I was meant to do in my life. Before then, of course, I LOVED photography itself and have always had room in my heart for nature photographs and fine art. I will be posting a blog here soon with my favorite works of art to share and to show all how my photos have progressed.

Anyway, speaking of blossoming business. I have some very new and EXCITING news to share:

This winter I have started to work on a website... a REAL website. My own little corner of the internet to display who I am, who I am as a photographer, and of course... my work! The whole process is fun and new and exhilarating and so much more than I imagined building a website would be. All thanks to ShowIt, I will have an amazing, flash based, fun, and hopefully visually appealing piece of the internet up very soon.

And with this in mind, I would love to give ALL my thanks to Sarah and Andrew Barlow for all their help and contribution.. and INSPIRATION I have received through this journey. Without them, I'd still be stuck in a black hole unsure of what to do!

And for now, I would like to present my website, currently under construction, but SOON it will be complete and I just can't wait!

www.MalissaAhlin.com

Engagement: Brandan and Michelle

Bustamante is a familiar name in my life. I went to school with a beautiful friend of mine, Kristin, since... gosh, I believe second grade? I remember staying the night at her house one time and meeting her brother sooo long ago. I don't remember much of him, except that he was really really into music!

Years and years later, he has worked up his music career as being a Worship Leader and creating beautiful music for all wandering ears to listen! He has lead worship at New Life Church in Colorado springs, toured in several locations.. and, as he mentioned during the shoot, went to my FAVORITE city of Nashville to record! That is where he met his beautiful future wife, Michelle. And goodness do they go great together!! Models they are, as well! They were so much fun to work with and were totally down to any pose, anywhere, and I barely had to direct them at all!

These two were engaged in Nashville and will be soon to wed in Ohio. Though I will not be photographing the wedding, I was very very happy to have spent the time with both of them to give them some beautiful engagement photos! Congratulations Brandan and Michelle!

Check out some of his amazing performances, especially for the Desparation Tour he did. The videos for these performances are found on his YouTube here!!















Michelle is quite the model!! She wanted to get a few good shots of just herself for her visit to Colorado for these photos! She is originally from Nashville..


GORGEOUS!!


Be sure to check out more of Brandan's music HERE! Or here! He appreciates all the support!!!

Engagement: Anthony and Audra

Anthony: the most sarcastic person you've ever met.

Audra: the cutest person you've ever met.

Anthony and Audra: one GREAT couple!!

I met Audra years ago through my Young Life College group, The Life. I knew something was up when I wasn't running into her as much on campus, and sure enough... she was in LOVE. Aww... :)

At first I felt soo bad because Audra and I had been playing phone tag for quite some time to talk about her wedding. Back and forth we went... but when it finally got down to the time for her to send out invitations, I made SURE we made a point of it to get together to get some cute shots of them to send out with the invites! We found an open spot in the morning. My first morning couple shoot! The light was BEAUTIFUL! We went down to the Nature Center in Pueblo to take these. At this time of year, especially with all the left over overgrowth of the summer, this area is gorgeous. I've been doing a lot of my shoots here lately and the outcome is just perfect!!

Can I also just say, I love love LOVE doing engagement and couple sessions? They're so intimate, and so fun, and when you are with two excited and in love people, you can just see it and feel nothing but warmth and happiness inside you. I purely enjoy every minute.

I'll be doing their wedding in January and I can not wait!!

Family: Pope/Batdorf

I met Tiea and knew her as my red headed co worker during the 4 years I worked at Starbucks. Through working there, we've developed a life long friendship and I am so thankful that I have her in my life. Through the beginning of my photography career, Tiea and her family were so supportive and always loved being my test subjects. I enjoy every moment I have when I'm with her and her family.

This session was special because this time it included her twin sister, and her father from Denver who hasn't visited in a long time. It was a pleasure to meet him and it was so fun, as always, to photograph this family!

Model: Brytny (Night and Day)

Brytny and I decided to head out and do a little bit more experimentation. I had some ideas stirring in my head so she contacted me at the perfect time! Brytny is always the girl I run to when I need a quick model. She's just so easy to work with and is willing to do what it takes to get a good shot (though she hardly needs to try...). Here is the outcome of some of the best shots from our series of sessions. Hope you enjoy!

Married: Bri and Erik

Bri is a wonderful and beautiful person who I met in middle school! We have known each other for years and she is just that type of girl that you can spend time with, and not see for a long time, but when you see each other again, it's like you just spent time together the day before!! She hasn't changed a bit, and neither has our friendship.

In high school, she attended a different school and we kept in contact. But in college she moved away. Our only contact was through the internet. But it wasn't until she finally got engaged to her long time boyfriend, that we really started talking again. Had time really gone by that fast and we are moving on with our lives and getting married, finishing college, settling down? Uh... YEAH IT HAS!! I couldn't believe it. I offered to be her photographer for her North Carolina wedding. Not only because I wanted to just photograph her wedding, but it would be the most joyous thing for me to be there and be a part of this special day. I love her like a sister and I am so happy for her. Her husband is so wonderful and kind (and so is his family who I got to know really well!), and I expect nothing but happiness and good in her marriage. Congratulations Bri!!

In this post, I will put the photographs from her wedding. But being that is is my *FIRST* Destination wedding, I will do a separate post for all the photographs I got along the way! I hope you all enjoy!!




























To view more photos from my trip, view the blog by clicking HERE!

My Journey to North Carolina

Here are some of my photos from my trip for my very first destination wedding in North Carolina. To read the full original blog, please click HERE! Enjoy!!!

The Appalachian Mountains, in the plane!


The gorgeous mountains! There were like NO evergreens so in the fall, everything changes color!


View of the Charlotte buildings from the first night there. We stayed in the suite at the Omni Hotel!


We ate at a delicious restaurant called The Vida, located in the heart of Charlotte. I definitely recommend it! The food we all had was delicious and they have an amazing skinny margarita for only 100 cals. Beyond that, it was a lot of fun exploring what is around there, especially The Noda.


The next day was the wedding. We drove all the way from Charlotte to Beech Mountain.


Look at these colors!!


View from inside Dorothy's house at the Wizard of Oz Resort at Emerald Mountain, where the Ceremony took place.


We did a tour of the house, and there was a mimic of what the house would look like if a tornado had caught it! It was cute.


Cool artifacts throughout the home.




More gorgeous views:


More color!




And THE BEST PART!!!!!! There was a REAL yellow brick road!! And if you followed it, it went through almost every important scene in the movie. They even had trees with faces on them!


Photo of the faces from my phone:


And the most important part of being there, the newlyweds..



It was definitely amazing! I hope to do many destination weddings in the future!!