When I was a High School Senior - in my little town we had one photographer that everyone went to for their Senior Portraits. You showed up for your appointment at his studio and walked out of the back to a small patch of land behind the building, where he had set up several vignettes. My whole class got a shot of themselves leaning on the fence post, and against the tree, sitting on the bench, etc... The only thing that seemed to be different was the person that was dropped into the frame.
Which is one of the main driving forces behind our Studio looking to make the Senior Portrait Session much more of an "experience". We like shooting on location with our Seniors. Especially if the location has some significant meaning for the Senior. We are also looking for interaction between the Senior and our team. We encourage Mom or other family members to tag along with us and interact as we go. In the end, we are looking for a relaxed environment where our Senior can breathe and let their true authentic self shine through.
Which for this shoot was fairly easy to accomplish. I have been photographing this young lady since she was born. As her Dad and the photographer, I had some proven inside tricks to get her to relax and show me her true personality. But, really, they are the same prompts that work on every one of our Seniors. Which is part of what I attribute some of our success to. We have 4 teenagers. We understand a bit about what motivates them. But beyond that - as parents - we are able to connect with the question of what images are the ones that we are going to want to have 10 years from now? 20 years? What is it that we want to connect to when we look back at these portraits and re-visit that part of our family's journey?
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