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Jesse La Plante

J. LA PLANTE PHOTO

Denver, CO
5 Fearless Awards
944 Likes
$$$$
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Contact Jesse La Plante

I've been shooting weddings for 12 years. Before that, I was a professional photojournalist. I think most wedding photography is kind of uninspiring, so my brain is constantly churning to figure out how to do things a bit differently.

Skiing is my favorite pastime. We have two seasons here at J. La Plante Photo: wedding season and ski season. If pressed, I could probably eat around 47 tacos. I love to travel. I've been to all 50 United States and 18 foreign countries. So far...

Where are you located? Do you charge a travel fee for weddings not in your location?

I'm just a few miles east of the beautiful city of Boulder, Colorado.

How long have you been in business? How many weddings have you photographed as the main photographer?

I've been shooting weddings professionally since 2008. I've photographed around 170 weddings as the main photographer.

Describe your "style" of wedding photography.

Great question. The easy answer is to say I'm a photojournalistic wedding photographer. Shooting weddings is very similar to shooting events for newspapers, and much of the technique I developed as a professional photojournalist has carried over to my wedding photography style. I'm also big on doing a handful of editorial-style portraits at every wedding to make for a more balanced shoot. But style is more specific than that. Vibrant lighting, rich color, dramatic angles, genuine emotion and beautiful backdrops all contribute to my style. And putting all of those ingredients together in a unique way that hasn’t been done before is my ultimate goal.

What's the typical wedding coverage package that you offer? What is the price?

My most popular wedding package is $4,999 and includes a full day of coverage (generally 8-12 hours, but I don't limit time), two photographers, a password-protected online gallery, high-res images and the rights to print.

Do you have a studio where we can meet? Do you use Skype?

No physical studio as of yet, but I have dozens of convenient meeting places all around the metro Denver area. Skype works too.

What are your professional degrees, credentials, affiliations? Have you taken any recent educational workshops or classes?

I have a bachelor's degree in journalism (concentration in photojournalism) from Central Michigan University.

I'm ranked as one of the top 50 wedding photographers in the world by both the WPJA (Wedding Photojournalist Association) and the ISPWP (International Society of Professional Wedding Photographers).

I took Two Mann Studios' Metanoia Workshop last spring in Kaua'i, which was a wonderful experience. My wife, Moira, and I also recently started teaching our own wedding photography workshops as well.

Is there anything else you'd like to share about yourself?

I'm an avid reader. I read around 40-50 books per year, fiction and non-fiction alike.

11 Real Recommendations

How do I ever capture in words what an incredible job Jesse and Moira did with our wedding photos!!! They were so easy to work with, from beginning to end. We immediately clicked and my husband and I felt like we had partners who we could trust to capture our wedding day in the best manner. The day of, it felt like we had known them for years, which made it so easy to be authentic and genuine. Their artistry and vision just blows my mind. We did not want our wedding photos to be boring or posed; we wanted something unique, and we wanted to focus on the relationships and emotions of the Read More day. Jesse and Moira were the PERFECT people to do that, and we are thrilled with the results. In looking through the final portfolio, we can relive our day because they captured it so perfectly. The outdoor shots are just pristine and amazing! Plus, now we'll use them for all future photography needs. :)

- TIA + JASON - December 6, 2019

Where do I even begin to sing the praises of these two incredible, genuinely fabulous and insanely talented artists??? I guess starting with the fact that I have been a professional wedding photographer for the last 16 years might add some weight to what I'm about to say, as I understand both photography and wedding days in a way that 99% of their clients do not. I really do KNOW how hard it is to photograph a wedding. I know how stressful it can be. I know how impossible it is to please everyone. So, add to all of that that the pressure of photographing for another professional wedding Read More photographer in a room literally chalk full of wedding professionals turned guests, and you have a situation on your hands that is not for the faint of heart!

I met Moira at a wedding professional networking event and was immediately drawn to her. I could tell right away that she was intelligent and genuinely interested in making a real connection with me. When I met Jesse a short time later, it was the same thing. We clicked immediately as well. When I found out they were leading an upcoming photography workshop, I decided to go as a way to reignite some creativity in my own work. Over the course of the class, I sat there listening to them talk about their philosophies on life and work, it hit me like a ton of bricks. These were the two I wanted to photograph MY wedding. It was a decision I has been struggling with for months. I mean, seriously. How the hell does a wedding photographer with the perfectionist tendencies that I am constantly recovering from, such as myself, choose a photographer out of the MANY photographers I know and love anyway???

Of course, they had to say yes to me/us first. Which thankfully they did! We even picked our date around their availability! (Really, it’s true.) And from the get go as their clients, they made us feel so special and important. They had the most amazing ideas for our engagement/alt session and ultimately we landed on going all the way to Utah to the Salt Flats. It was such an unexpected adventure and incredible bonding opportunity for us all. And the photos they took of us are truly EPIC. I mean, really. They went above and beyond anything I would have expected...

The wedding day itself was a gorgeous whirlwind and I cant imagine two more lovely or calming forces than we had in both Jesse and Moira. They were everywhere and nowhere all at once. They captured the intense emotion from start to finish in a way that is truly beyond belief. They captured the SPIRIT of our wedding day with grace and a flow that is seriously next level. These are not just photos. They are works of art. The story they tell will be one that my husband and I, and our families, and generations to come will be able to relive with such texture and depth, it brings me to tears. Again.

Jesse and Moira, from the bottom of our hearts and from the depths of our souls, THANK YOU. Thank you for working so hard for us. Thank you for being who you are as humans and as artists and as professionals. Thank you for pouring yourselves 1000% into our day and giving us back this incredible moment in time in a way that we will be able to hold onto forever. We are infinitely grateful to you both and you are officially stuck with us as your friends, literally, forever. We LOVE YOU GUYS!

- FRANCES + BRYCE - October 19, 2019

Bottom line up front: the quality of their work speaks for itself. If you want traditional, boring, trite wedding pictures that look like everything you’ve ever seen before in a stock photo frame insert, then please go with anyone else. But if you want your wedding photos to reflect the unique magic and excitement of YOUR big day, then your decision to hire Jesse and Moira will be one of the best decisions of your life (before you commit to your “I do’s” that is).

Like any significant investment, it’s always important to “shop around” before deciding on which company best suits your Read More vision, style, tastes, and budget. If you’ve made it to this review, you need look no further. If the amazing color, creativity, and quality of their stunning photography on their website isn’t enough to blow your mind, just know that Moira and Jesse are two of the most personable, friendly, helpful, BRILLIANT artists with whom we have ever had the privilege to work. Of any part of the wedding, it’s the photographers who capture the moments, trap with energy and sentiment of the occasion in a timeless frame, and make the memories last a lifetime and beyond. So, of course you want to get it right! Well, I can sincerely avow that you can only go wrong by NOT choosing to work with these two! They are an exceptional team that makes your most important day even more vivid and amazing that you could possibly remember. Their finished product comes alive before you and you feel like you are there in midst of it all once again! In breath-taking detail, they take advantage of every pixel in the environment, scenery, and ambiance to encapsulate a unique essence that simply cannot--and will not--ever be replicated for any wedding again! And while you are stressing about your next move, they are an invisible hand by your side, guiding you effortlessly through the day—and transforming all of those present adventures and anxieties into future memories and astonishing works of art that you are going to treasure and share and relive for the rest of your lives!”

- ANDY + MATE - September 21, 2019

YOU NEED TO CALL JESSE AND MOIRA RIGHT NOW. I can’t say enough about how awesome Jesse and Moira are. Right out the gate they were so easy to talk to, so knowledgeable and reassuring, and relatable. Not only that, their pictures are INCREDIBLE. As my one friend put it, “They truly captured the atmosphere,” and I think that’s a perfect way to put it. All of our family and friends have been raving about our wedding pictures. Also at least 20–30 people said some version of this, “There were only 2 of them, but somehow they were always there every time I turned around, capturing exactly the thing Read More that was happening." I also learned after my wedding day how much behind the scenes know-how Moira was conveying to other people involved.
A few other things that were really helpful: 1. We gave them specific notes about certain people/aspects of the day that we’d like them to capture, and they got that perfectly, 2. We live in Colorado but got married on the East coast and Jesse & Moira were totally game to travel! 3. Our wedding was a full weekend at a summer camp, which included lots of other activities besides the wedding itself and they totally nailed it. 4. The number of pictures you get back in the digital album is huge, we have so many to choose from all the time. We had so much fun working with Jesse and Moira, we’d love to do it again!

- LAUREN + QUENTIN - August 31, 2019

Jesse & Moira make an amazing photography team. The photos they capture are insane. Their art is so different than other wedding photos and that is what we loved about them. I have gotten so many compliments on our engagement and wedding photos from nearly everyone I know. Not to mention that they are amazing people and so easy to work with. Trustworthy, responsive, helpful. Not only were they our photographers, they helped us find our wedding planner (who was equally as amazing), and have become our friends.

- KRISTIN + GREG - June 21, 2019

When I tell you my husband doesn't like pictures, I mean I MAYBE get one picture out of him. Two pictures? That's out of the question. Enter J. La Plante Photo. Jesse and Moira make taking pictures FUN! After our Alt session, my (now) husband could not wait to see them again for wedding photos and fun.

Not only do their pictures and talent blow everyone else out of the water, but they are genuinely awesome people who make taking pictures relaxing and entertaining at the same time. My family and friends cannot get enough of them and their pictures, nor can we obviously! They are so unique Read More and captured us and our loved ones so perfectly.

I mean it when I say they are the absolute best, hands down, nothing even comes close. The insane shots and memories you will get from them are something you will cherish forever.

Wedding pictures are a big deal, and having the right photographers can make or break your day. Our wedding would not have been the same without Jesse and Moira, and I could never thank them enough for being who they are as individuals and as a team, and for utilizing their extreme and unique talent to give us the most epic pictures.

If you are lucky enough to book them, rest assured you are in fantastic hands and your wedding events will be one for the books!

- ASHLEY + MITCH - May 17, 2019

There are very few things in life where you want the best photographer and your wedding is one of them! We didn't want same old same old boring group photos we wanted a photographer who thought outside the box, who got to know us and our personalities and what made us happy and laugh! Luckily we found J. La Plante Photo when our friends used them at their wedding. We were blown away by those photos and we were then blown away again by our photos. I don't think words can describe just how amazingly cool these photos are! EVERYONE and I do mean EVERYONE has said the same thing about our Read More photos... that they captured the amazingness of the night! Not only that, but their website is so easy to use making the download and sharing of photos so much easier! And to top all of this off, these two people (Moira and Jesse) are just lovely, kind, smart, sweet, and easy to work with. It is a HUGE WOW! JUST WOW!!!!

- SHELBY + BRIAN - May 11, 2019

I'm not the type of bride that was looking for your typical wedding or engagement photos in the hay fields or romantically posed photos. But since that is what's popular, photographers with that style saturate the market. So that made finding a wedding photographer whose style I liked, very difficult. My style is unique, I love bold, bright colors and things that really make you go "WOW". I myself am not artistic and leave that work to the professionals. I knew the photographer that we got was going to need to have a crap ton of creativity with crazy ideas up their sleeve to deliver what I was Read More looking for. It took me a while but I finally narrowed it down to 2 or 3 photographers. One of which's portfolio had exactly what I was looking for. That was J. La Plante Photography. I spoke with the other photographers and J. La Plante was the highest price but their portfolio was all out whereas the others had some photos that were all out and some were just meh IMO. After debating for a week or so, I decided to spend the money and reel the budget in elsewhere. At the very last minute, we decided to do engagement pictures with them as well. My availability was super limited but we made it work and trekked out to Moab, UT to Arches National Park to meet up with Jesse and Moira. We stopped at a few different locations within the park and they took some candid shots and posed shots. We basically spent all day with them getting night shots as well. It was super fun getting to know them better throughout the day and we ended up grabbing dinner and drinks with them afterwards at a dive bar that had a horribly fun atmosphere. We got 70 photos back about 3 weeks after our session. And let me tell you... WOW. That's the response I got from absolutely every person who saw the photos. Jesse had said that he was going through a blue stage (I'm thinking Picasso's blue period). He was exactly right! The photos looked phenomenal with the deep blue sky and bright orange arches.

Fast forward a few months, Moira called to chat about the wedding day timeline and our expectations for the day. She had a timeline of her own and I had nothing in particular planned except the ceremony at 4:30. I can't even verbalize how grateful I was that she had a timeline. It was the standard for the entire wedding day. My homework after the call was to get a list of all of the family photos that I wanted with a list of names for each family member. I have a blended family, so that's a lot of people. Come wedding day, Moira and Jesse were so patient with our gigantic family and getting everyone together and organized efficiently.

The day before the wedding, we ran into them while they were scouting and chatted about a few ideas so they had a good rundown of plans for the wedding day. On the day of the wedding, Moira and Jesse were involved right from the beginning, with hair and makeup at 10 freaking AM. As the day went on, I got more anxious (due to the stupid small things like when do I get the microphone from the DJ and blah blah stuff) and Jesse and Moira powered on, even through my anxiety. They got some amazing shots of the ceremony, followed by the extensive family shots and then the reception began. They hung around the dance floor and got great shots of everyone dancing and having a great time. It has been amazing looking at them and being able to feel like I was able to experience everything that the people in the photos are experiencing even though I was off doing something else. At the end of the night, we took some couple shots in a few other places and then said goodbye.

We got our full wedding suite of 800+ photos 4 weeks after our wedding. I am in love with all of the photos. They were able to capture our day so accurately and beautifully. We aren't the most photogenic people and are defintely the type who look awkward posing. Jesse and Moira were able to get us to look natural and coherent. I hope to be able to work with them in the future, maybe at a 10 year anniversary party.

- EDEN + CADE - May 4, 2019

I can't use enough superlatives to describe their work; truly phenomenal!I researched many photographers online before settling on 4 to reach out to. Moira responded immediately, and set up a time for a phone call. She spent about 45 minutes talking to me just trying to learn more about my fiance and I, how we met, and what we were looking for in our wedding photos. By the end of that call, I felt like she really knew us. But I had to get the fiance on board, as I had done all the research to this point on my own. He looked at all the portfolios I presented to him, but when he saw Jesse and Read More Moira's work, he stopped and literally said "Wow. You can really see the emotion in these photos, and feel it." That coming from him was HUGE! Next we met them for a beer and to get to know them a bit more. At the end of that, we were reassured that these were the people we wanted photographing our wedding. All our friends had told us that one vendor to definitely NOT skimp on for your wedding is the photographer. Jesse and Moira were worth every penny and then some. We picked them because we didn't want a bazillion forced, posed, or basic portrait images. They got some of the most unique shots I have ever seen. All of our friends and family who have viewed the photos said they were the best wedding photos they've ever seen. Half the time on wedding day I didn't even know where they were, because they blended in so well and have major photography ninja skills. They also have an insane ability to capture both the beauty of the environment (both inside and outside), as well as the spirit of the people, without one being at the expense of the other. And on top of all of that, they are just wonderful, mellow, awesome human beings. I am so grateful we chose to have them as our photographers, and so grateful for their amazing craft. I won't ever be getting married again, so I won't have cause to use them for another wedding :-) But YOU can, and you should!

- KRISTIN + G - September 30, 2018

Moira and Jesse were the absolute best to work with. Their work speaks for itself, but they went above and beyond what we expected of them. They were at the venue before us (scouting out locations and taking some scenery pics) and were literally the last 'guests' to leave at the end of the night. Even as we were dealing with a minor issue with the shuttle at the end of the night, Moria patiently waited for me to handle it before SHE DROVE me and my husband to a final location down the street that Jesse was already waiting at (scouting again!) to take a few more pictures of us. They then drove Read More us back to the venue where we said our goodbyes. Another amazing aspect of working with them - we had about 30 edited and AMAZING pictures within 5 days of our wedding that they had given to us as a sneak peak while we waited for the rest! I have other friends who got married weeks before us that are still waiting on their photos. Lastly, I can't tell you how many people have told us these are the most incredible wedding photos they've EVER seen. And while biased, I totally agree :). So grateful we chose Jesse and Moira and I HIGHLY RECOMMEND THEM.

- JERRICA + JASON - September 29, 2018

I am updating my review as my original said that "I don’t know how to do justice to these two incredibly talented and genuine people," and I still can't, even now being able to consider them as friends.

I did a ton of research on wedding photographers because I new from the start that I wanted something other than the traditional, posed, and somewhat cheesy photos that you usually see from weddings. When I came across J. La Plante, I was instantly enamored with the photos on their website. They weren't just bold and vibrant, they were so much more interesting than what I had been seeing. I Read More was only (extremely) nervous that we either couldn't afford them, or that we couldn't work with them for one reason or another (distance, date, etc.) Moira got back to me within a day with feedback and even suggestions on where to look if the dates/pricing did not work for us. John (who thankfully did not need much convincing) and I actually changed our wedding date so that we could work with them, and we are so glad that we did because it was the absolute best decision for our wedding!

We Skyped with Moira and Jesse, got along instantly, and put our blind faith in them to do what they do best. All of the photos, from getting dressed to the ceremony and our couples shots are gorgeous, and I treasure them all. As a person who can be ridiculously awkward in photos, I'm grateful to be able to look back and feel as good as I did that day. They also came up with the idea for a water balloon fight at the wedding, and it was not only so much fun for us and our guests, but we got some stunning photos as a result, which we still get compliments on (and a little envy) whenever someone see them. When we attend other weddings my stepson still asks when the water balloons are coming, and declares our wedding "way more fun and not boring" compared to others. We were also fortunate enough to also participate in an alt session (even more stunning photos), and without Jesse and Moira none of that would be possible, and it's my personal goal to work with them every year for as long as they'll have us.

If you’re looking for amazing photos shot by equally amazing people, you cannot go wrong with J. La Plante. Jesse and Moira, thank you so much, John and I are nothing short of grateful, and are looking forward to seeing y’all again soon!

- AEKTA + JOHN - September 9, 2018