Our First Senior Photoshoot!

I am so excited to share our first senior photoshoot with you!

It’s been pretty amazing booking events based on word of mouth and people sharing our photos with others.

In my last photography post I shared about our goals of moving forward with this small family business. We hope this does well for our family and allows my husband to be able to work
from home part-time as we run this business together. It would be amazing for this to generate enough income to make that possible. 🙏🏽

It’s one of those things we’ve talked about for so long and played around with the idea but now we’re actually making moves to accomplish it. There will always be a demand for photography. We just have to do our part to stay up to date on the looks and styles that are currently trending and in season. Along with that adding our own creative touch and signature to the photos will also remain a goal.

Right now we are currently working on a family business name so that we can create and register our LLC. We are also familiarizing ourselves with the ends and outs of small business and all the contracts and legalities we need to know. This will definitely be a process. All of the monies we are receiving from our photoshoots will be used for equipment and other tools we need.

𝙶𝚛𝚘𝚠𝚝𝚑

My interest in photography started six years ago when I joined here. Ever since I’ve always tried to improve my techniques and adopt new ways to enhance my photos.

For the longest I was only photographing flowers and things of nature as well as miscellaneous objects around the house. It then turned into photographing event set ups to now capturing people.

With this photoshoot I wanted to try different angles. For some of the photos I slanted my camera in ways that would make the photo more interesting. This is something I noticed from other photos and I liked the look of them.

I’ve gotten away from keeping my camera at the same horizontal or vertical angle and I love the results. The cover photo is one of the ones
I used this method on and she absolutely loved the look. I want to continue finding new ways to upgrade my photos and keep them fun and interesting.

𝙳𝚎𝚝𝚊𝚒𝚕s

It pains me seeing anything out of place in a photo or to see things that don’t belong. I will take hours just editing out little dots and spots that make a photo unattractive. From flyaway hairs to unwanted blemishes I take my time to remove it all.

If I feel it will take away the spotlight from my subject or be a distraction bye bye it goes lol.

On top of that I pay attention to the smallest details surrounding my subject. On some of these photos you’ll see that I enhanced the vibrancy and sharpness of the surrounding leaves and grass. Even if there is color that is in the background I try to focus on it if I feel it would look good being brought out a bit more.

Every little detail adds up to equal the entire photo so they really do matter. It will change the dynamic of your photos if you just take the time to focus on the small details whether it be to enhance them or edit out.

I get excited when a client notices those small details. This young lady was amazed that her braided hair looked so fresh and new (she mentioned at the photoshoot she didn’t want her flyaway hairs to be seen). She was also amazed at the vibrant colors in the surrounding nature.

𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚂𝚑𝚘𝚘𝚝

She wanted her senior photos taken at the same place I took my niece for her sweet sixteenth birthday. I showed her those photos because they were similar in age and I thought she would like the style of them and she did. 😊

I’ve found that the best looking outdoor photos are captured when the sun has already started to set around 6:00pm. We met at 5:30 in order for me to get a few shots with a little more sun but the best ones in my opinion are the ones we took later on.

She had one outfit change and then we took some with her cap and gown.

I love the relaxed look of this photo. She has such a beautiful big smile. I directed her on when to smile big or a little or not at all. I always try to match up the mood of the photo with the environment and posed position.

The colors she wore in this outfit matched the colors of this building very well.

I have to admit I got a little giddy with this shot. I was super excited with being able to capture her reflection here. She was really pleased and impressed with this one.

I was going to rid the shadow from her face but my husband said we should leave it because the whole look of the photo works. I’m glad we did because she and her mom both loved this photo. Yay 😁! The reflection of the stained glass windows made such beautiful glowing colors around her which added a nice effect to the photo.

So let me tell you about this chair. I knew I wanted a nice looking one for a photo prop but didn’t have the funds to grab one. The day of the shoot we had to go to my mother-in-laws. She has been housing some guests there so the idea came to me that she might have a comfortable chair.

I go looking through the house and I found this one! I couldn’t believe she had this there right in time for this shoot. One of her neighbors had put it out for pick up and she saw it and asked if she could grab it.

I am very pleased with how this photo turned out. I had in mind for her to be in a field sitting in a chair like this and to actually see it come to life was quite exhilarating. When she saw this pic she couldn’t believe it was her lol.

I intensified the green in the leaves on this one as well as the sharpness.

Another chair shot that I love. The sun was really starting to set while taking this one. I really love the look of her being in the midst of all that nature.

This pose behind the tree looked dreamy to me so I wanted to make the photo look that way by softening it up and slightly dimming it.

A fun and cute shot! She did this pose on her own because she was really enjoying herself 😊. This was her first time having professional photos taken.

I always try to add in one or two black and whites and I felt this one was a good one for it. I played around with the light and dark parts to try to make the photo more interesting.

Her mom told us to please make sure to get a full on body shot of her with the cap and gown. It was starting to get a little windy but we managed to get one with the tassel and numbers showing.

My husband saw this opportunity to get some photos of her from below this walkway where she would look down at us. We were able to get a few of these in before the sun set too low. Her mom really liked the look of this one. They could tell I enriched the color of the sky. I truly appreciate when people notice the little efforts I put into my edits. ☺️

Finally, we wanted to get some closeups of just her beautiful face. Another thing I have been focusing on is the eyes. I turn up the exposure and sharpen them because they are an important part of the photo to capture.

I took 165 photos and edited a total of 50 for her to keep! The process of weaving out the not so good photos and keeping the best ones took a full day as I worked on them in between homeschooling and house chores.

We invited them over to view all of the photos and it was pretty awesome seeing their reactions. They were discussing what they would do with each photo. Some were going to be on the graduation party invite while others would be to give away to friends or blow up into a canvas for hanging at home.

We had a lot of fun doing these. I feel with each photoshoot I learn something valuable that I can take with me to the next one. I want us to improve on our work with each photo session we do.

Next I’ll be doing my niece’s senior photoshoot. We will meet tomorrow on Friday at a location that has a waterfall, a beautiful display of rocks, a bridge and ducks. She wants to be surrounded by nature as well so I’m looking forward to seeing how this goes.

Stay tuned to find out! 😉

Event Links:

Event 1 - Diva Birthday Party

Event 2 - Elegant Evening Birthday Celebration

Event 3 - Classy Vowel Renewal Ceremony

Event 4 - A Young Gentleman Party

Event 5 - A Pastor’s Anniversary Celebration

Event 6 - L.O.L. Surprise! Birthday Party

Event 7 - Sweet 16!

Event 8 - Quinceañera

Event 9 - Boss Lady Photoshoot

Thanks for Viewing!