Photography: Vail Portrait Business photoshoot for Realtor Nancy Fuqua
The Vail portrait business photoshoot for Nancy Fuqua was as enjoyable as it was productive. I met Nancy for our photoshoot downtown after we decided to schedule for a quiet Sunday afternoon. And we lucked out!… ideal light and autumn weather. A realtor in Vail and Beaver Creek Colorado, Nancy is a delight to photograph. We started at the Brown Palace before walking the streets of downtown Denver finding interesting background locations.
Here are a few of the gems created that day of super photogenic Nancy.
Over the years, I’ve had hundreds of photoshoots in and around the Vail valley. One of the most memorable was a multi day commercial photography photoshoot at the Eagle/Vail airport for G2 Secure ––the folks who handle everything about jets from security to luggage to maintenance and ticketing. I’ve done family portrait sessions in and around Vail, business profile portraits and lots of romantic wedding photography too. Oh course, I’m always ready for Vail business portrait photoshoots! Some of my fondest Vail memories are of creating photography landscape images along the Gore range. A special thanks goes out to the incomparable world-class landscape photographer Sophia Floyd for reintroducing me to that slice of heaven on earth –– Piney lake.
It must have been about 1962, my first memory of the Vail valley. My dad was teaching at a photographer seminar on The Grand Mesa which incidentally, is when I caught my first fish. Heading back to the front range from that week-long trip, we hit a dear. It was a dark moonless night so I couldn’t see much more than the Texaco sign illuminating our reddish orange Ford and its crumpled front hood. What I remember most is the smallness of Vail at that time. In fact, the way I remember it, there was little more than a sole gas station along side that two lane stretch of highway US-6.
Fifteen years later, during the construction of I-70, I remember the day a truck hauling watermelons jackknifed at the bottom of the hill down from Eisenhower tunnel. I was working on construction of condos that summer when the truck spilled its bounty at lunchtime. How convenient, workers and others showed up from the whole mountainside to gather up warm watermelons. But that story, of course comes from the other side of Vail pass.
There were lots of visits to Vail when I was a whitewater river guide. My expertise was farther west in the desert along the Colorado, Green and Yampa Rivers. But I did trips on the upper Colorado too, from Burns down to Dotsero. Some of those other ‘boatmen’, as we were called in those days, were real studs who had an elaborate itinerary of bars and saloons to visit up and down the valley.
A sight that visitors to Vail might miss is the exotic look of the Aspen trees along the ridges. They’re easily noticed from the village if you look. In about 2000 it started. Aspen groves in Colorado and the western US were being decimated by fungus and beetles. Dubbed ‘Sudden Aspen Decline’ SAD, the phenomenon is linked to climate change. Near Vail, lower branches have been trimmed to help prevent SAD from spreading. At a glance, trimmed Aspen trees look like palm trees.
Too many memorable ski days to mention here, but one sticks out. My best friend Eric Lombardi and I were racing (we were probably about 15 at the time). As we came around a curve, Eric was a length ahead when from out of nowhere a skier bolted in front of my buddy. He hit her pretty hard forcing me to veer sharply. What I saw next was Eric wrap his arms around the rotund lady as the two of them bounced like cartoon figures. I thought she or both might be hurt until I heard the laughter. “Oh it’s ok” she said, “I have grandsons who ski like you… I wish I could.” As we skied off, I heard her say “Thanks! That was the best ride I’ve had in a long while.” And that reminds me, it was in Vail that I lost my virginity.
Vail might be the only ski area in Colorado that wasn’t previously home to mining or ranching as its reputation became linked with wealth. And while it is true that the valley attracted affluent fru fru folks from around the globe, the area has settled somewhat since the last century. Semi old stories and newer ones can be heard up and down the Vail valley. Working with Nancy on continued Vail portrait business photoshoots, will be a pleasure.
The Vail portrait business photoshoot of executive realtor Nancy Fuqua came to me from a recommendation from successful entrepreneur Dana Vietch who I owe a big thanks for helping to promote my work. Dana is owner of the exciting KissCam app based in Denver Colorado. KissCam displays images of fans at areas throughout the world and during the pandemic, thousands of fans have downloaded the app to use at home while they cheer on their favorite teams. Be sure to check out the story and photographs of Dana Veitch in A KissCam Photoshoot Portrait.
