Many thanks to Independent readers

For the third year in a row, Cayton Photography was voted among the three best photographers in Colorado Springs by readers of the Colorado Springs Independent. We're proud to say we've garnered all three of the top spots three years running and we're grateful to all of the readers of the Colorado Springs Independent for their unsolicited support! Check out the best of issue on stands now! — Sean

Our first billboard!

With help from our friends at Lamar Advertising we were able to put up our first billboard advertisement at 1505 S. Tejon St. We selected a photograph from Amy and Adam's Garden of the Gods Club wedding. Click here to see a slide show from their wedding and if you have a chance, please drive by the billboard and let us know how it looks! — Sean

Brides of Oklahoma features Erica and Bryan's Broadmoor Wedding

I just received Brides of Oklahoma magazine in the mail featuring Erica and Bryan's Broadmoor wedding. Erica and Bryan were married October 18, 2008 at the Broadmoor Hotel. The magazine spread features a wonderful write-upon the wedding and 12 of their images. Click on any of the spreads to see them larger. Click here to see Erica and Bryan's wedding slide show. — Sean

Rocky Mountain Bride Magazine features Anne and Ben's Keystone Ranch Wedding

I was thrilled to receive an e-mail from the editor of Rocky Mountain Bride magazine letting me know the magazine featured Anne and Ben's Keystone Ranch Wedding in its Summer/Fall 2009 issue. Anne and Ben planned a destination wedding at Keystone Ranch and were married last August. They had a lovely sense of style. Petal and Bean also did an incredible job with the flowers! Click here to see a slide show of Anne and Ben's wedding. Click on any of the spreads to see them larger. If you're planning a destination wedding in the Rockies, click here to order the best mountain wedding resource I know of! — Sean

Asiana Wedding magazine features Gina and Ajay's Snowmountain Ranch Wedding

I just received a copy of Asiana Wedding, the world's biggest wedding magazine distributed from England. The editors (who are always on the lookout for incredible multi-cultural events) sawGina and Ajay's Snowmountain Ranch Wedding and decided on a four-page spread of this fantastic affair! The layout featured 19 images from Gina and Ajay's wedding. One thing that made Gina and Ajay's wedding so special was their decision to hold two ceremonies, one Hindu and another non-denominational ceremony the following day. It was Gina and Ajay's desire to celebrate the best of both worlds with a destination wedding in the Rocky Mountains. It turned into a four-day affair with guests flying in from all over the world. I was tickled to read Gina's interview. Here's what she said about the photography "Sean was absolutely incredible. He was fun, engaging, professional and artistic. Our photos turned out wonderfully." Thanks so much Gina and congratulations on being featured in the magazine! Click on any spread to see it larger. Also, click here to see a slide show of Gina and Ajay's Snow Mountain Ranch Wedding. — Sean

Shannon and Peter's wedding on newsstands now!

Shannon and Peter's Air Force Academy wedding last May was really quite something and the editors at The Knot thought so too. The Knot Colorado is featuring Shannon and Peter's wedding in their 2009 Spring/Summer issue. I've posted spreads from the magazine here. The magazine will be out newsstands soon. Shannon and Peter were married at the Air Force Academy Chapel and celebrated with an evening reception at the Garden of the Gods Club. For me, what made their wedding day was how much fun they had. The Knot also posted Shannon and Peter's wedding online. Click here to so see more images and read more about their wedding day. Click here to see their wedding day slide show. — Sean

Voted Best Photographer 2008!

We're excited to announce the readers of the Colorado Springs Independent voted Cayton Photography as the best photographer(s) for 2008. The Colorado Springs Independent published their second of two Best of issues yesterday announcing the results of the photography category. Here's an excerpt from the paper: It's hard to make it as a freelancer. However, that's what husband-and-wife duo of Sean and Cathy Cayton and their team have done successfully in under 10 years. Using a photojournalistic approach, they capture the milliseconds of personality in weddings and other events that more traditional photographers might miss..."I love taking pictures, but good pictures happen because I have good relationships with my subjects," Sean says. "We spend a lot time here editing photographs, but I'd much rather be out with folks, getting to know them."— Colorado Springs Independent
The Independent is an award-winning alternative newspaper similar to Denver's Westword. We have a wonderful relationship with the Independent, and many of its readers will recognize our regular congratulatory wedding announcements in the paper. We're honored that we were recognized in this way. More than 5,000 Independentreaders voted. We're also thrilled that the cover image showing Jasin Serby of Gertrudes House of Hair was photographed by Cathy. A big thanks goes out to you — readers of the Colorado Springs Independent. And if you haven't had a chance to pick up a copy, I've also included our gorgeous half-page ad here from Amy and Adam's Garden of the Gods Club wedding! Click on it so see it larger. — Sean

Bonnie and Erin's wedding on newsstands now!

Bonnie and Erin's wedding is featured in the Fall/Winter 2008 edition of Brides Colorado. Bonnie and Erin were married last March in a magical winter setting at Keystone's Ski Tip Lodge. The editors at Brides Colorado loved their winter wedding and it's easy to see why.It was an intimate destination for close family and friends. Small weddings seem to be on the rise. Couples like Bonnie and Erin are looking for more meaningful moments with their guests. As an added benefit smaller weddings mean they are able to afford better locations,better food and better photography:) The setting was perfect. Keystone had a banner snow year and that day the Ski Tip Lodge was blanketed in new snow. Be sure to pick up a copy of Brides Colorado on newsstands now! — Sean

Jennifer and Mathew's Broadmoor Wedding on newsstands now!

Jennifer and Mathew's Broadmoor wedding is featured in the latest edition of The Knot Colorado.
This is the second portfolio of images from one of our weddings to be featured in a magazine this year! Liz and Andy's wedding was featured in Bride Colorado this summer.
And we're especially happy that the editors selected Jennifer and Mathew's wedding. They had a fabulous wedding at the Broadmoor in April and the three-page spread in The Knot Colorado is awesome!
There were quite a few locations and people involved in their wedding including St. Paul's Church, the Garden of the Gods Club (where they held a fabulous their rehearsal dinner), Design Works with their awesome flowers and decor and of course the talented planner Maggie Moran of Celebrations by Maggie who made sure everything for this destination wedding went off without a hitch! — Sean

Prison Boot Camp - Follow up

Earlier I posted an image I shot for the Colorado Springs Independent about a prison boot camp. Today the paper published writer Anthony Lane's story on the boot camp at the state prison in Buena Vista. The cover shows a dramatic moment during 'Zero Day,' the beginning of boot camp for 42 prison inmates. Mike Perry, the program's director, insists that the drill sergeants are 'role playing.' Unlike the traditional military model that incorporates aggression training, this boot camp focuses on addiction-recovery and vocational training that includes GED classes. Click here to read about the boot camp. — Sean

Independent Best of 2007

The second issue of the Colorado Springs Independent Best of 2007 is out on newsstands today and the cover is an image I made of the guys at West Side Tattoo. They were voted best tattoo parlor. It's a fun photograph and it wouldn't have happened if they hadn't suggested showing off their 'art.' If you ever need a tattoo...they truly are artists and it shows. Also, we were voted best of the best for photographers in Colorado Springs and a huge thank goes to the readers of the Independent for voting for us! Check out Volume 2 of the Best of 2007 today! — Sean

Independent Best of 2007

I still love taking pictures for the newspaper and I was ecstatic to pick up the Colorado Springs Independent's Best of 2007 paper this morning and see a cute photograph I made of the fine folks at Front Range BBQ on the cover! Readers selected Front Range as the Winner of the Best BBQ for 2007. There are so many categories that the Independent has to publish two different issues. I photographed for both issues. Be sure to pick this one up to find the best food and entertainment in town! — Sean

Liz and Andy's wedding on newsstands now!

Brides Colorado Fall/Winter edition is on newsstands now and we're pleased as punch to see that editors selected Liz and Andy's wedding at the Denver Botanic Gardens for a Real Weddings feature in the magazine. Below is the page with our photographs and Liz'sdescription of their day:

"We actually forgot to arrange for music, but we didn't miss it," says Liz. Instead, the father of the bride played an impromptu jazz tune on the Boettcher Mansion's grand piano so that they could could perform an official first dance. — Brides Colorado

What is especially nice is that Liz and Andy had a very small wedding and they were featured right alongside larger, more extravagant weddings. It just goes to show that any wedding can be done well, and done well without maxing out the credit card! Click here to see a slideshow of Liz and Andy's wedding album. Below are names and links to some of their service providers. — Sean

Ceremony location: Denver Botanic Gardens
Reception site: Boettcher Mansion
Confections: Gateaux Pastries
Dress: Lazaro Bridal
Suit: Brooks Brothers
Salon: Salon Varia 303-778-0457

The July issue of the CC Bulletin

In May, I attended the commencement ceremony of my Alma mater Colorado College. I always like to attend commencement. It's a lot of fun and makes for some great photos. Plus, I really wanted to hear this year's speaker, photojournalist David Burnett. Later, I posted a story, some photographs and a brief slideshow from commencement on this blog. Click here to read the post. Editors of the CC Bulletin liked the story so much they asked permission to run my photograph of David along with my blog post on the back page of the magazine. Today, the Bulletin arrived in the mail and I think it looks great! Click on the picture to see a larger version. — Sean

Be who you are. Be a Girl Scout.

The Colorado Springs Independent and the Girl Scouts-Wagon Wheel Council of Colorado Springs asked me to help them with photographs for an ad campaign. The copy reads: She's courageous. She's confident. She has character. She's a Girl Scout. The first ad will appear in tomorrow's edition of the Independent. I visited Troop 814 at Wilson Elementary and with Marianne's help made these portraits. It was a lot of fun to do them. The girls were incredibly sweet and they loved being photographed. Click here to see a brief slideshow. — Sean

On Assignment

I spent yesterday at a prison with Michael de Yoanna, senior reporter with the Colorado Springs Independent. I feel really lucky sometimes, not only because I'm not in prison:) but because I get to work with some really great people. Every once in a while I have a relationship with an incredible writer and we do some really interesting assignments. Michael's one of those writers. He's dogged and he has a nose for news. Michael was responsible for uncovering the PTSD story at Fort Carson that got so much national attention. So here we are again doing another really interesting story. Without giving anything away, we interviewed and photographed a convicted murderer. — Sean

PTSD, a soldier's plight - Tonight on ATC

In July I posted a story here about soldiers returning from Iraq who are suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Tonight on NPR's All Things Considered, journalist Daniel Zwerdling reports on the military's treatment of these soldiers. Zwerdling's half-hour investigative report will feature many of the same young veterans I photographed for the Colorado Springs Independent. Independent reporter Michael De Yoanna brought national attention to this story last spring. To read the Independent's July cover story **CLICK HERE**. To locate local stations/times for both NPR News programs, visit NPR. The investigation will also be available for audio streaming online at approximately 7:30PM (ET) at NPR. Additional Web features, including photographs of the soldiers and extra audio segments from their interviews will be included at NPR. — Sean

Hung out to dry

I recently finished a story for the Colorado Springs Independent about the small community of Rancho, Colorado. It sits on the eastern edge of the Fort Carson Army Post, right next to some of the post's training area. It's a community that is tenacious to say the least. 'Of Rancho's 264 households, fully a third are waterless,' writes Independent reporter Naomi Zeveloff. To learn more about Rancho and its plight: **CLICK HERE** — Sean

Love is...

This spring we were invited by TESSA to help with a poster campaign to raise community awareness about domestic violence. TESSA is an agency dedicated to the issues of domestic violence and sexual assault in El Paso and Teller Counties. It offers a variety of prevention, intervention, and treatment services to victims of domestic violence and sexual assault. TESSA has had an ongoing poster campaign. And it conveys a pretty hard-hitting message about domestic violence and sexual assault. We wanted to make a poster that has a more 'lead-by-example' kind of message. (Click on the posters to see them larger. Cathy designed them.) It shows people in our community who have wonderful, vibrant, life-long relationships together. The couples pictured in these posters truly love each other. And that's the most important part of TESSA's message. Love is Respect. Working on this project and photographing these couples, reminded us of St. Paul's beautiful description of love. We incorporated it into some of the posters. The passage is powerful and striking: Love is patient, love is kind; Love is not jealous or boastful; Love does not insist on its own way; Love bears all things, believes all things; hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends. —St. Paul to the Corinthians We edited it for the purposes of the poster. Nevertheless, it's worth refelcting on. Our hope is that people viewing the posters think about their own relationships and celebrate them. —Sean

Now showing on the Wedding Channel: Lyndsay and Adam's Wedding

I just got an e-mail from Lyndsay Ressler who was married to Adam Ressler Jan. 7th. Her wedding is now featured on the Wedding Channel! To check it out: **CLICK HERE** Lyndsay and Adam were married in an evening ceremony at Shove Chapel. They had a fantastic reception at the Colorado Springs School. Maggie Moran of Celebrations by Maggie helped to coordinate the wedding. One of the things that made their wedding so special were their friends. Adam is a pilot in the Air Force and his friends are stationed all over the world. One of Adam's friends is stationed in Afghanistan so he couldn't make the wedding. But he did make arrangements for a gorilla in a pink tutu to stop in at the reception:) To see a slideshow of their wedding: **CLICK HERE** All of our slideshows require flash player. Download a free version here: flash player Cathy and I are thrilled to see their wedding featured on the wedding channel!

Vow Wow - featured in the Gazette

We got a call from a reporter at the Colorado Springs Gazette who was doing a story on interesting wedding locations. He wanted to know about some of the more interesting places we've photographed weddings.I told him about our friends Glen and Chris Roseboom. They were married Nov. 6, 2004 at the Sertich Ice Arena — right out on the ice where they first met playing hockey. Chris came out on the Zamboni. And after the ceremony, they drove off the ice on the Zamboni. Their ceremony was decorated with roses and hockey puck candles :) The story in the Gazette was published today and featured a photo from Glen and Chris's wedding ceremony! To read the web version CLICK HERE: Wedding Article The link probably won't work after today. So I've included a couple of images from their wedding in this post. Congratulations Glen and Chris!

Abby's first birthday

Our daughter Abigail turns 1 today and on the same day this ad of her with her grandmother Viney is running in the Colorado Springs Independent. It's one of my favorite pictures.

On Assignment: A soldier's funeral

For the Colorado Springs Independent Sean was assigned to cover the funeral service of Sgt. Gordon Misner, a Fort Carson soldier and 23-year-old husband and father of three who was killed in Iraq.

On hand were hundreds of veterans, members of the Patriot Guard, carrying flags. They lined the road with their flags to honor the soldier and his family as the funeral procession left for the cemetary.