There was something special about flipping through the photo album on my parents coffee table while my daughter snuggled in beside me. The photos protected by a thin layer of cellophane allowed me to take a deep dive into generations of memories. I felt like I was being transported in time - whether feeling a variety of emotions as I recalled the moment in time a photo was taken or peaking into history as I viewed a photo that was before my time.

Hello! My name is Adair Padilla! I am a Littleton, Colorado-based, family-centered photographer. I enjoy photographing the love shared between couples, the beauty of a woman carrying her child, the fleeting moments of a precious newborn, and the joy of a family.

I intend to preserve memories, tell stories, and evoke emotion by freezing moments in time through the eye of my lens and post editing process.

I am married to the man who sat next to me at our college orientation. Ray and I became fast friends who fell deeply in love and were married in a small town in upstate New York. We welcomed our daughter into the world shortly after our first wedding anniversary. Most people comment on her big brown eyes - they are truly beautiful (in my completely unbiased opinion). We don’t know everyone in our small church, but if someone describes our daughter, inevitably they at least know us as “Harper’s parents”.

I’ve had two defining moments as a person on the other side of the camera - our wedding day and the birth of our daughter. These experiences have shaped me as a photographer.

Our wedding day was absolutely beautiful as I was met so tangibly by the peace of the Lord. I felt so much joy, love, and excitement at the sight of our loved ones gathered around to celebrate our marriage and of a year long vision coming to life! Unfortunately, our wedding photographers did not enter into such a special moment in time with the excellence and reverence for the day as they should have. One of them boasted on how easy his job was - he shared that all he had to do was simply snap a few hundred photos and hand them off to the editor. Their lack of professionalism and attitude towards the job reflected in their photographs (or lack there of). To these photographers our wedding day was just an easy way to make money, leaving me feeling devastated at the sight of our wedding photo gallery.

Weeks before Harper was born, my doula shared that a friend of hers was looking to build upon her birth-photography portfolio and asked if I wanted my birth photographed. It took a couple weeks of careful consideration and prayer around inviting a stranger into such an intense and vulnerable experience. After meeting with her, I felt peace about inviting her in and I am so thankful I did. She entered into such a sacred moment in time with such love and compassion. I felt empowered and at ease with her presence. Was labor hard? Heck yeah! But when I view her photographs I’m not immediately reminded of the pain but of the intimate moments Ray and I shared as he stayed by my side and how loved I felt by him. I am not reminded of the pure exhaustion I felt but am taken back to that moment of pure joy and relief as I pulled Harper up onto my chest. I wasn’t just someone to help build upon her portfolio. She made me feel seen and valued as an individual.

These experiences exemplify how I do and do not want to show up for my clients. In life I’ve strived to work in excellence. As a photographer, working in excellence not only looks like making sure all of the technical aspects are met while photographing a scene or subject and later in the editing process - excellence also looks like meeting people with where they’re at.

My desire is to make you feel like you can truly be yourself in our time together. I hope to create an atmosphere where you feel okay to be vulnerable and at ease in intimate moments. I want to capture genuine laughter and ear-to-ear smiles. My goal is to make you feel seen beyond the snap of a photo. I aspire take photos for you that are worthy to be printed, framed, and perhaps live inside an album on your coffee table - a book of memories that easily bring you back to those moments in time.

Couples + Engagement | Maternity | Newborn through First Year | Family