Florence High School Senior Pictures

Lately I’ve been getting a lot of clients that find me on Google. I also get a lot of word of mouth. Combine them, and I get Rylee! Rylee and her mom Amie found my website and just happened to see Adrienne, one of Rylee’s friends. They remembered how amazing Adrienne’s senior pictures were, so we scheduled a consultation and our planning began. Rylee is a 2020 graduate from Florence high school. It’s a good thing we got started when we did. The day after her session was the first day of Quarantine 2020. Rylee had a lot of ideas and requests. Some parents think it’s too much, but as a photographer I think it’s great! I love it when kids come with opinions of what they want and let’s face it, what teenager isn’t filled with opinions? Rylee loved a little bit of everything. She loved my favorite ditch and the idea of being near the water, but also loved downtown Chandler and San Tan Village.

Looking Great In Front Of The Camera

Rylee recently told me that she was very nervous before her session. I had no idea! She is a natural in front of the camera and along with just a few secret tips and tricks, she realized there was no reason to worry! If something doesn’t look right, you’ll be the first to know and we’ll fix it right then and there. If a pose looks awkward, we move on. I check images throughout the session so if your eyes are closed or there is breeze right when I click the shutter and your hair is flying in your face, I know immediately and we can reshoot. That way we miss nothing! Ah yes, the joys of digital photography. I’m also a chronic over-shooter and shoot everything multiple times so when I pull the images from my camera I can select and edit only the ones where you look spectacular! How many images do I shoot during a typical senior session? Hmmmm, probably in the 200-300 range, and have been as high as 650! It depends on how much action and movement we do, and how much fun I’m having. If you’ve been out shooting with me, you understand. “Just one more shot” never means one more shot. It means one more in that spot, unless I find something else along the way, or you have a great expression, or we find a fun chair or…well, you get the picture. Ha, no pun intended, it just happened.

For Rylee’s senior photos we started at my favorite ditch to take advantage of the beautiful Arizona desert. She arrived with professional makeup already done, including individual lashes (my favorite!) andshe had so many outfits! We were very lucky to have such beautiful wildflowers and her blue dress gave us contrast for this lovely photo.

We left the ditch and headed towards Eastmark which is only a couple minutes away. As we were driving out of the neighborhood (Amie and Rylee followed in their car) I saw these fun chairs. Well, they looked fun to me. When you’re a photographer, you just see things differently. I wanted to stop but there was no parking so I drove around the block again with Amie and Rylee following me, probably thinking I was crazy because we ended up back where we started. We parked and they got out of the car, but thankfully they understood my craziness and just went with it! Yes, I know we were headed somewhere else, but first, this chair! Good thing too, because it ended up being one of their favorite pictures, and mine too!

Cap & Gown Graduation Pictures

If you have the ability, always bring your cap & gown to your portrait session. If not, I do offer free cap & gown sessions in May that are exclusively for my clients. If you won’t be getting your cap & gown until right before graduation, we do have black caps & gowns available during your session, but of course you’ll need to order a tassel specific to your school and graduating class. I always recommend ordering an additional tassel from Josten’s ASAP and usually you’ll have it by October. Having your graduation gear available allows us to do more than just a quick headshot. Combining your sports, hobbies with your tassel allows you to capture truly unique senior pictures that I know you’ll love!

Creative Senior Pictures

I tell all my seniors to please share their Pinterest board with me, and that’s exactly what Rylee did. She showed me a few creative cap & gown pictures and we decided to give it a try! I can’t guarantee how they’ll turn out, but if we don’t try how will we know? So I played around a little and ended up with this! Again, a favorite that ended up on the back cover of her Luxury Image Box! Here’s your warning. When I try to copy something it almost never turns out the way it did for the original photographer. That’s how art is…I see one thing, they see something else, and neither is right or wrong! So I play…that’s my favorite thing about seniors. They’re patient and let me try things, whether it’s new locations, lighting, outfits, or themes, I toss out ideas and if they like any of them we plan it to add it to their photo shoot. That’s another reason I don’t limit our time together. I need my play time!

High School and All Star Cheerleader

Rylee has been in a competitive All Star cheerleader for years, and continued competing through college! It’s always great to recognize these accomplishments and show them off during your senior portrait session. I was extra lucky that Rylee already had her senior sash and bow, and brought both for her pictures. Here are some of the highlights of her career, pretty impressive! But if you know Rylee, you know she’s incredibly determined and talented…a great combination for competitive cheer!

• Competitive All Star cheerleader from 4th-8th grade
• Made the competitive varsity cheer squad as a freshman and continued through her senior year
• Made the competitive all girl stunt group as a sophomore and continued through her senior year
• Florence High School Sophomore female athlete of the year
• 6 time AIA state champion, back to back to back (Did you catch that? SIX times!!!)
• 2018 All Girl Stunt
• 2018 Division III Showcheer
• 2019 All Girl Stunt
• 2019 Division III Showcheer
• 2020 All Girl Stunt
• 2020 Division III Showcheer
• AIA academic athlete all 4 years of high school

Wow, that is quite a list for this young lady! I was also blessed to see part of her senior banquet where she was awarded many scholarships. So proud of you, Rylee!

A Special Note from Mom

I love the fact that my daughter excels both in academics and athletics. Throughout her high school career, Rylee has been selected for the Sports360AZ All-Academic Spiritline First Team and has won 6 state championships; back to back to back championships in 3A All Girl Stunt and Spiritline.

Checklist for Competition Cheer

I’ve photographed many cheerleaders who cheer for high school and competition. Here are a few things you don’t want to forget. It might seem obvious, but it’s easy to miss these items.

• Competition Uniform
• High School Uniform
• Cheer Socks & Shoes
• Poms
• Bows
• Championship Rings and/or Jackets

If you love Rylee’s senior pictures, you might want to check out more from her session!