Rachel

Photos by Julie Afflerbaugh

My Life

I LOVE life.

I feel insanely blessed with and very grateful for the life I lead.

I am the wife to an amazing husband and the mother to two incredible little girls, and I couldn’t possibly love them more.

I am surrounded by an immediate and extended family whose love and support I never take for granted. They have made me who I am and encourage me to grow and learn everyday.

I am a dedicated friend. My friends are filled with passion and a zest for life that I feed off of and thrive on. They all inspire me to be a better person.

I am a photographer. It is a career I adore, and find it hard to call “work”. Even the challenging aspects of my job are still fun and creative!

I am an adventurer. I run marathons, road and mountain bike, downhill and telemark ski and practice pilates. I am lucky to live in a state where all of those activities are right out my front door.

I am a traveler. I love exploring new countries and cultures. I have been fortunate enough to travel around the world. I’ve made stops in the Virgin Islands, Bahamas, Venezuela, Brazil, South Africa, Kenya, Tanzania, Switzerland, Scotland, Wales, France, India, Vietnam, Hong Kong, China, Japan and the Galapagos Islands, and lived in Italy for two summers, and England for a month. My appetite for travel cannot be quenched. I yearn for more!

I am very thankful for all of the blessings in my life.

The relationships I have in my life ARE my life. To each of you, I have an unending amount of gratitude.

That’s me in a nutshell. I can’t wait to meet you.

My Life as a Photographer

“Some people work all day, others play. Then there are the occasional few who fail to see a difference.” -Anonymous

I feel as if I get to play every day I work.

Photography has been my passion and creative outlet since high school. It was then that I was fortunate enough to take my first official photography class and gain exposure to the darkroom. I graduated from the University of Colorado with majors in Photography and Biology with the idea of becoming a conservation/wildlife photographer.

After two careers outside of photography (Vail Ski Patrol|Backroads bike guide and pharmaceutical sales rep), I have found myself back to where my heart never left, living my dream of being a professional photographer. I am currently most active in the areas of weddings and portraits, while I am always seeking time to pursue my passions of fine art photography, conservation photography and photography exploring common humanity.

Over the years, I have studied under many amazing photographers including, Andy Katz, Thomas Mangelsen, James Christianson, Laura Esmond & Ami Vitale. They continue to inspire and challenge me to bring my art to a new level.

As photography has changed throughout the years, I have pursued my love of the art and its technical advances by taking courses through the Art Institute of Colorado, National Geographic on Location, The Nikon School, and Boulder Digital Arts. I have also attended many professional photography workshops such as the FStop Workshop with James Christianson and Jenna Walker, National Geographic on Location with Joel Sartore, PhotoBiz Bootcamp with Liana Lehman, WPPI Plus with Mike Colon, One Light Workshop with Zach Arias, Alt F with John Michael Cooper, Learnfest with Audrey Woulard, Tamara Lackey, Lena Hyde & Laura Novak, Jose Villa Workshops with Jose Villa, Power of Passion with Sandy Puc & Jerry Ghionis, the Flash Bus with Joe McNally & David Hobby and the Lighting and Skillset Bootcamp with Cliff Maunter, and Ami Vitale’s workshop at the J-L Ranch.

Photography is my consuming life-long passion; one that is luckily both work and play.