Straight and Long
I’ll admit it, I love it when clients have curly hair. It can be messy and yet it still looks perfect. Straight hair clients, on the other hand, bring out my anal tendencies! Abby got to experience exactly what I’m talking about.
Abby has beautiful, long brown, straight hair! Although it frames her face perfectly, and is really a perfect match for her personality and who she is, when it came to her senior session, she was probably wishing she had pulled it back! I was constantly fussing with it, to make sure it laid just right and framed her face perfectly.
I have to give Abby lots of credit, she just relaxed and let me do my thing. Every once in a while I’d be almost ready to take an photo and I’d notice a piece of hair sticking out or looking funny and I’d lean in to fix it, and she would just laugh at me.
Yep, I’ll admit it, I’m anal…but there’s always a method to my madness!
Just Cold Enough
Kaleb was officially my last outdoor session of the season, and thank goodness for that!
Most of the leaves have fallen off the trees, and the grass is slowly losing it’s green color. Not to mention, the chilly temperatures…by the time we finished the outdoor part of his session, Kaleb’s nose was a nice shade of red, and I could no longer feel my fingers.
Despite the cold wind that blew right through Kaleb’s sweaters, he was a great sport! He told stories, answered my endless questions, even flashed me some smiles…although his preferred expression was either serious or smirky.
Moving To His Own Beat
Mitchell is definitely a music lover. He has played the drums and other percussion instruments since grade school, and during the fall season, marching band, jazz band and even choir keep him moving.
Mom says that Mitchell is forever tapping things, whether it be a pen or a pencil, a dinner fork, or even his fingers on the table…it doesn’t matter, he is just making music. At one point during the session, he even started snapping while walking. I can only imagine the tunes that flow through his mind, and what restraint it takes to keep them in.
Mitchell brought his box drum to his portrait session. I thought it was awesome when he sat down and started creating a beat. I could see in his body language, and the tap of his head, that he definitely goes to a happy place when he’s making music! It just flows!
Caught On Quickly
When it comes to senior sessions, there is always a little bit of a learning curve between my senior and me at the beginning of a session. I’m not always great explaining which way to turn or how to move your head. I know what I want to say, it just doesn’t always make sense to the person on the other side of the camera.
Jessica, however, caught on very quickly. We stumbled through the first few, but then she picked up my finger points, head bobs and gibberish!
She almost got to the point of being telepathic. I would take a breath, getting ready to say, “Sit up straight” and before I could udder a word, she’d sit up straight. Or, I would sort of tilt my head and she’d tilt hers. Being on the same wave length like that makes for a very fun and entertaining session.
From Formal to Relaxed
We started Scott’s session off in his Drum Major uniform…formal and standing tall. We then transitioned to a suit and tie, a bit more relaxed, but still pretty formal. Taking it one more step, he took the jacket off, loosened up the tie and rolled up the sleeves. We then moved on to what I called his western wear…Wranglers, boots and a fun shirt…definitely more relaxed. But, when we ended his session in a sweatshirt and jeans, he announced that he was comfortable!
The good thing was that the outfit had little reflection on his expressions. Although, we had to do a few more serious ones in the Drum Major uniform, for the most part he was smiling, laughing and serious throughout the entire session, and all outfits were treated equal!
Best of all…you would never know that having his photo taken is NOT one of Scott’s favorite activities!!
Learned Something New
Austin and I were talking, joking and smiling, all in all having a great time during his senior session. In the middle of the session, he tells me that he feels like he’s been blinking a lot. I had noticed that he’d been blinking some, but it wasn’t out of control, so I wasn’t worried about it.
He tells me that when he was around eight years old, a photographer told him that if you see red after the flash goes off that means you blinked. If you see blue or nothing then you didn’t blink. Austin was shocked that I had never heard this before, and thought it was pretty cool that he had actually told me something I didn’t know.
So, of course, we had to test the theory. Every time Austin saw red, he would tell me and I would check the back of the camera. Guess what, he was right! Every time he saw red, I had a photograph of him with his eyes closed.
It makes sense, because you’re seeing the light through your eyelids. I had just never given it much thought, and given that I spend the majority of my time on the other side of the camera, it’s never even crossed my mind.
Talking and Talking
Brett’s senior session lasted a little bit longer than the typical guy senior session, but that was mostly because we talked so much!
I’m the first to admit, I’m not the best at holding a conversation and photographing at the same time. I can ask a question or two and listen to the response, but I usually can’t reply to the response without breaking away from the actual photography.
Brett was great at answering questions and telling me about himself, school, summer and future dreams, so it was very easy to get drawn into the conversation and then, when he would bust out with a great laugh, quickly remember, oh yeah, I’m supposed to be photographing.
The great thing about talking is that it really brings out a relaxed feeling, and we all know when you’re relaxed and comfortable…that’s when the best images are captured!
Ready for Senior Year
No one ever wants summer to end, but when you’re getting ready to start your senior year of high school, sometimes the beginning of school isn’t so bad!
Which is a good thing for Sydney, because even before school started, she was in the thick of it! Early morning rises for sailing camp, followed by 7 AM band camp mornings. I think the early to bed, early to rise routine has already been established.
I had a blast photographing Sydney! We talked. We laughed. She struck poses, and gave me awesome expressions!
The Boy
Brendan is the only boy of five siblings. I have photographed his two older sisters, and some day, I will meet the younger two. This time however, I got to do the boy thing!
As I’m sure you can imagine, growing up in a house with lots of girls, Brendan tends to be on the quieter side. He’s not the big talker of the family. Though, if you get him talking about something he’s interested in, you can see the sparks in his eyes and the smiles come very naturally.
What’s Brendan interested in? Rugby! Rugby is Brendan’s sport of choice. He’s been on the Rugby team since he was a freshman, he travels around the US to play in tournaments, and even spent Spring Break last year in Ireland playing Irish teams. Brendan’s session was great, because I had a great lesson on Rugby. I wouldn’t say I’m an expert, but I definitely know more than I did!
It’s definitely a rough and tumble sport, perfect for “the boy”!
Talking & Laughing
Even though a senior portrait session was not at the top of Adam’s list of things to do on a Thursday afternoon, Adam’s senior session was full of talking and laughing! We talked about everything from activities he did as a kid to dreams he has for his future. In between, we laughed, joked and even got some awesome expressions out of Adam.
