Fort Collins Senior Pictures

Even though I’m based in Arizona, we have family in Fort Collins making it easy to provide professional portraits in the beautiful communities of Fort Collins and Loveland as well as other Northern Colorado cities.  Last year I met Janene and we worked together for their family portrait session (which was amazing, btw!). She mentioned then that Brandon would soon be a senior, so fast forward to this spring, she asked if I’d be back in the area to do Brandon’s senior pictures!  Um, yes!!!  Family vacation and fun senior session at the same time!  Talk about win-win!  Brandon will be graduation from Resurrection Christian School, Class of 2018!

Senior Pictures for Guys

Janene and I discussed what types of things Brandon was interested in and she created a small Pinterest board so I could get keep track of her ideas. Since I really enjoy working with senior guys, many of them choose to bring their cars, or at least their dad’s car.  So we started off near their home on Boyd Lake. The ’67 Camaro paired with his letter jacket created the perfect look for senior pictures!  Since this was his top pick for his yearbook picture, and the yearbook requires that the image be in portrait orientation, I just modified it slightly to fit the criteria.

Yes, we love including dogs in senior pictures!

And then there’s Kody!!! Maybe you’ve noticed that I love dogs, but this was a little more special. Just after their family session last year, they had to put their beloved dog to sleep. We all know that we can’t replace our furbabies, but when Janene first shared pictures of Kody, I was in love! Brandon’s new puppy was just precious!  Fast forward a year later, and Kody is just as precious but definitely a little bigger. Because their time with us is never long enough, I’m a huge believer in having pets be a part of your photo session.

Senior Pictures for Football Players

Soon we were off to Fossil Ridge High School.  Since Brandon is a football player at RCS, I was really hoping he’d want to incorporate that into his senior pictures.  While he didn’t want to do the full uniform, the jeans worked great with his jersey and helmet. We used the field at Fossil Ridge High School since RCS plays there sometimes.  We had problems finding a football field that didn’t have soccer nets attached to the goal posts.  Never imagined that being an issue, but we checked a few other fields, but they all had soccer nets attached.  Thankfully Fossil Ridge didn’t!

Below is a before and after of what you see vs what I see. I knew I wanted a grungy black & white image for one of Brandon’s football pictures. With a little creativity and artistic knowledge, the difference is amazing!

So this is one of my favorite pictures from Brandon’s session, and it was one of his favorites too!  So we turned it into a beautiful metal with a quote.  It isn’t just about pictures, it’s about meaningful artwork for your home.

This is the perfect quote for Brandon. It is truly amazing to think about his future and all the wonderful things God has planned for him!

I asked Janene to snap a quick picture of the metal, which is even more gorgeous in person!

Downtown Fort Collins Senior Pictures

As a Fort Collins senior photographer, one of my favorite places is Downtown Fort Collins!  It has so much character and tons of great locations for senior pictures!  We walked through the alley, crossed College, and we’re greeted by quite a few people who thought it was a great idea for a photo shoot!  In face, we need to go back in a few years…one of the men offered to buy Brandon a beer when he turns 21!  See, it isn’t just about the final products, but the memories that happen during the photo shoot too!  As we were walking, I noticed the pier in front of Drunken Monkey, which I loved for senior pictures…even though perhaps the Drunken Monkey doesn’t really send the best message to teenagers!  Thankfully Janene is a great sport and was actually thinking of this location before I mentioned it!  Great minds!

Every mom loves close-ups of her kids, and sometimes the serious face is just a winner!  Loved the look of Brandon’s shirt with the sleeves rolled up exposing the plaid, and the color works great with all the brick in the downtown area.

I wasn’t sure where I wanted to go next, so Brandon and I just started wandering and planned to have Janene go back for the car and pick us up. It was nice to talk to Brandon for awhile and hear that he was actually having FUN!!! What good is a photo shoot for senior pictures if you can’t have some fun? One of the last shots of the day was back a couple of blocks.  I knew the beautiful trees would make the perfect backdrop for one last shot with his letter jacket.  Even better, it is the perfect cover for his Signature Image Box that holds all of prints!

Ideas for your senior pictures:

• Your dog, including treats, toys, and a bag to clean up messes
• Letter jacket
• Sports gear and accessories
• Basic jeans, so you can swap shirts easily and still have a variety of looks