Senior portrait photography is all about capturing the unique style and attitude of an individual on the cusp of life's adventures. Each senior is so different from the way they style their hair, to who their friends are, to what their life story is all about. Senior portraits, carefully composed, capture a moment in time and (if you're lucky) they capture the beautiful essence of brimming hope and life.
Before we get into this fun senior shoot, don't forget to enter to win a FREE SENIOR SESSION for you or a friend. Entry details can be found on my
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the blog.
Take a journey with me and let's explore the different styles and moments captured in this personalized small-town senior session.
My subject for this shoot was full of personality! She's a hat-wearing, back-yard loving girl who is either wearing funky shoes or rockin' bear-feet. She has a favorite park where she tip-toes across wet-rocks to cross a small creek and hangs out on bright-red benches. She's a senior's senior who has seen good days and bad and has great empathy for others and an amazing vision for the world around her.
We started the session with some simple lifestyle pictures
in an oft-frequented orchard. Catering to my subject’s love of hats, we found a
fun, natural way to incorporate one of her favorites.
In this image (still in the orchard) I flattened my
histogram while keeping a low aperture, resulting in this beautiful,
vintage-style image that stands out from the rest for its muted color tones.
Next we move to the city-streets where a lone stair-case
with amazing textures and shadows catches this senior miss mid-laugh. This
beauty needed practically no editing- everything in it spoke naturally for itself.
In this image, I was inspired by the gray stone of the
building and sidewalk and the deep catch-lights in the subject’s eyes. Everyone
has dark days and to me there is great beauty to be found in the difficult
seasons of life. I wanted to capture the beauty of gray skies with this image
that speaks to my subject's own difficult times and to the hope she has looking
to the future.
My
subject is a bit of an artist and is remarkable with side-walk chalk. Though we
didn’t have time to capture one of her masterpieces, she did want to have her
graduation year “chalked” onto a downtown brick wall- this image is a
classic-style senior portrait.
As a barefoot, blue-jean, small-town beauty, we had to
capture the simplicity of life right now for my subject. This image reflects
her laid-back home-town style with great up-town charm and simplicity.
A rose might smell sweeter next to a natural lol-style
smile. The focus on this was set to highlight the subject’s nearest eye and
that GORGEOUS flower in her hand, the style was set to match the warm sun in
her hair and warm laugh on her lips.
I love this final image most of all BECAUSE my subject
requested this location and this pose. She loves the red benches to be found in
her favorite park and the laid-back look of laying down, feet up in the air
enjoying the soft-summer breeze. This picture was so natural, just her in her element. The red of the benches and the green of the
garden around inspired me to pop these colors to increase the feeling of the
fun kid-style warmth of summer.This photo is literally just as unique as the girl who conceptualized it.
So…what style is your favorite? Subdued and modern? Rustic
and vintage? Bright, bold and happy? Let me know in the comments! I’d love to
hear from you and get your inspiration for upcoming senior photos! My personal
favorite style is simplistic- I like to capture the natural beauty of an image and get it as close to the way it looks through my eyes as possible. It feels more sincere to me, more authentic.
Talk to me, tell me what you think, and till next time, peace out, all!
