Another Successful Senior Shoot!

I mentioned in my last photography post that we were going to do our niece’s senior photoshoot next. Well, we did and once again it was a success.

You ask what determines if a shoot is a success?

If we had enough great photos to edit and give, our clients are happy with the results and love their photos and we are happy with the work we’ve done then we call it a success :D

One thing we do is stage plenty of positions and take enough photos to make sure we deliver the amount promised to our clients. For this round we took 122 photos of my niece and my sister will receive about 30-40 of them.

I have only edited a handful of her photos so far. I did so quickly so that they can have a few to choose from to get her announcement cards made as well as the graduation dinner invites sent out. We did this photoshoot as a graduation gift for her. She was so overjoyed and excited and really appreciated this gesture.

When I reached out to them about their plans for pictures they had not a clue what they were doing but she knew she wanted some. You should have seen my face when I found out they had no plans 😁. My sister didn’t know we were taking our photography to the next level, she found out this way lol.

This whole process has taught me so much. Before a photoshoot I take the time to gather ideas on poses and positions. I do so based on the personality of our client and even their looks. I try to determine what would fit and look right for each one.

Not all ideas are successful but many have been and I’m grateful for that. So far each client has been easy going and doesn’t mind doing as we ask. Sometimes in person a shot may look like it’s going to be crazy or a fail but when I get home to my editing zone I see differently and am able to work a way around some things to make it work.

For this shoot, it was challenging getting some of the shots because my niece doesn’t like to smile big all the time. She usually has a serious face unless she is laughing about something. So in the shots she looks like she’s laughing (like in the above cover photo) it’s because she really was. Thankfully I know how to make her laugh and that’s what I used as my tool to get the shots I needed 😄.

On top of that she is so shy and does not like attention on herself. My mother also came to view the photoshoot so I had to make her and my sister stay away for some of the shots in order for my niece to be comfortable with posing.

You really have to be prepared for anything and willing to go the extra mile to capture great photos for your client. 😊

As mentioned last week, we found a place nearby that had waterfalls, geese, ducks and bridges. It made for such a pretty shoot and I’m excited to share these with you.

Starting our shoots right before sundown have worked really well for us. I prefer not taking photos in the midday sun as it is way too bright and you’ll get lots of overexposed photos if you don’t use the right camera settings. If you can find shaded area that might work okay but when the sun is lower you won’t have to worry much about that.

This place had lots of big rocks to sit on by the lake. My husband was willing to get close to the water to take these pictures looking uphill at her. I’ve been teaching him about the different angle techniques I’ve learned and I have to say I was proud of him for listening well. 😆

Here’s something else we learned, always make sure you know if there are big events going on so you can be aware of a crowd. Yea, it was prom weekend and we weren’t even thinking about how many parents would be out there taking photos of their kids 😦. There were people everywhere as this is a free and beautiful place to take those special occasion moments.

We wanted to get more shots on the bridge by the lake but it was so jammed packed on there. We were able to grab the end of the bridge to get a few shots. Thankfully after awhile it started clearing out as the students were heading off to their prom.

I was so excited when I saw we got a duck in this shot. Yay!

Part of my niece’s gift from us was purchasing an I’m Done 2022 prop for her to hold. It was a thin wood piece that would have looked awesome in this setting. Unfortunately it arrived in the mail broken. I was so disappointed because we didn’t have time to order another one. My sister went out and grabbed this prop she saw which worked just fine.

This huge rock was really great for holding the prop and served as a nice backdrop. I played around with the colors on this one and had to lighten her face because this side of the rock was more shaded but worked better for what we were doing.

You know I had to get my black & white in lol 😜. It just doesn’t feel right if I can’t find at least one. I enjoy changing up the levels of whites and blacks to make for a more interesting photo.

I loved her looking back and up at her achievement. Everyone really liked this one.

I wanted to capture a photo that said “I’m done” since we couldn’t use the sign I purchased 😒🙄. I took this while she was walking away on to what’s next for her. She had completed this stage now it’s time to move on. Farewell high school years. 👋🏽

Once again my husband braved the unknown. He traveled far down this particular waterfall that was on a steep hill with rocks and lots of tall grass. He literally had to step in the water (his shoes got soaked) in order to get shots of her sitting by the waterfall.

I wish I would have taken a photo of how steep it was. I was so proud of him. ☺️

And of course the closeup that’s always on the list. I think in a photoshoot having a few shots showing just their face is a must do. Capturing their essence is something I love to do.

I can’t believe my little niece is now a young woman. 🥹

I’m so glad we have this place in the books now as it is so beautiful there. I took so many shots with the waterfall background and look forward to them seeing them. I’ll be working on the rest of her edits throughout the following week.

You guessed it, we made her laugh in this photo to bring out that beautiful smile. 😊

I’ll leave you with some of the nature and animal photos we took in between…I hope you enjoy!