Woodline Partners celebrated its fifth anniversary with a multi-day retreat in Aspen in October 2024. Planned by Aspen Event Solutions, the gathering brought the team together for hot air ballooning, golf, a Maroon Bells hike, jeeping, horseback riding, and tennis, followed by a closing dinner and party at the Sundeck on Aspen Mountain.

I covered both photography and video for the retreat. With different groups heading to different activities, the challenge was making a coverage plan that let me document every activity and still prepare a photo montage for the final dinner.

Watch the Woodline Partners Aspen retreat film

The film brings the retreat’s mountain activities and closing celebration together. It is one way to see what coordinated Aspen event photography and event videography can preserve across a company gathering.

Watch the retreat film on YouTube.

Three retreat guests hold a Woodline Partners anniversary banner inside a hot air balloon basket.
A 6 a.m. ballooning start was one of the retreat’s early coverage priorities.

Six activities, one carefully planned coverage route

Hot air ballooning meant a 6 a.m. start. It was also a personal highlight: I got to ride in the balloon while photographing and filming the experience.

That was only one part of the schedule. The company had a large group, with people taking part in golf, hiking at Maroon Bells, jeeping, horseback riding, and tennis. Before the activities began, I went through the times and worked out exactly how I would get from one event to the next.

Covering every activity was no small feat. The photographs and film depended on that preparation: knowing where each group would be, how long I could stay, and when I needed to move on. Once the schedule was mapped out, I could concentrate on the people and the experience in front of me.

Woodline Partners hiking group holds an anniversary banner beside Maroon Lake, with the Maroon Bells and golden aspens behind them.
The Maroon Bells hike brought the group into Aspen’s fall landscape.
Retreat guests smile from the open rear seats of a yellow Jeep.

Photographing and filming the same retreat

For this event, I handled both photo and video myself. That added another layer to the logistics. I was constantly making decisions about which moments needed a photograph, which needed movement, and how to cover both without losing time between activities.

It was an absolute blast, but the preparation mattered. A multi-day retreat is not just one event repeated over several days: the locations, activity groups, and coverage priorities keep changing.

For another company planning a retreat, I would start with the complete activity schedule and the intended deliverables. This event worked with the route I planned; a different schedule with overlapping priorities may call for an additional photographer or videographer. Deciding that in advance is much easier than discovering a coverage conflict on the day.

Four horseback riders cross a grassy meadow with autumn hills and mountains behind them.
A retreat guest follows through on a golf swing beside golden autumn trees.
Two smiling tennis players touch rackets across the court during the Woodline retreat.

A photo montage ready for the final dinner at the Sundeck

The closing celebration took place at the Sundeck on Aspen Mountain. Alongside covering the retreat, I prepared and delivered a photo montage of the activities for that final dinner. The team could look back on the experiences they had just shared while everyone was still together.

Delivering something during an event takes its own planning. For Woodline, I had to make room for the montage while also keeping up with the photography and video coverage. It was a specific part of this retreat’s delivery, rather than something left until after the company went home.

Woodline Partners guests sit around candlelit dinner tables beneath the Sundeck’s timber ceiling and blue event lighting.
The closing dinner brought everyone back together at the Sundeck.

The moment that stayed with me

During the speeches, the team specifically thanked me for the work. That does not happen often in a speech, and it meant a lot after the early starts, travel, and editing that went into covering the retreat. They were incredibly appreciative and later invited me to more of their company retreats.

What I remember most is how much fun it was to be part of the experience while making sure it was documented. The planning made it possible to cover a demanding schedule and give the team both photographs and a film to revisit.

Planning photo and video for your Aspen company retreat

If your retreat includes several activity groups or locations, share the full schedule early. We can discuss the moments that matter most, travel between activities, the number of people needed for coverage, and whether you want a montage or selected photographs available before the retreat ends.

For more planning detail, explore our corporate retreat photography services and Aspen and Snowmass retreat videography guide. When you are ready, tell us about your retreat.

Event planning: Aspen Event Solutions
Photography and film: Dale Mitchell, Summit Photo and Film
Closing celebration: Sundeck, Aspen Mountain