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Senior Portrait Photographer

As I mentioned in my last post about Jalen’s senior portraits, we’d had everything planned for a few weeks. When plans started to fall apart, I knew right away that we’d have to choose a 2nd date to finish his session. That’s just one reason why our senior portrait sessions are different from any other senior portrait photographer in the East Valley. I don’t want you to worry that we won’t get to everything. I understand that some things, like the football field, are out of your control. Your senior portrait experience will be everything you imagined and more! Even if that means going out for a 2nd shoot! I’m much more concerned about documenting a complete story than watching a clock and worrying about how much time I’ve spend with each client. I spend about 15-18 hours per senior. We talk you through the session, help with outfits and locations, discuss what your dream session looks like, and then we make it happen!

Senior Portraits at Basha High School

Look, this is where you’ve likely spent the last 4 years. You have many memories of this place and you’ll be graduating soon, so why not incorporate it into your senior portrait session? We tried to get permission for weeks ahead of time, but the person we needed to reach wasn’t available. Since Jalen had talked to his coach, we just hoped it would be OK to be on the field for pictures. Well, it would have been if the track hadn’t been resurfaced! But on our 2nd visit, everything fell into place! And because we had another day, Jalen chose a different football jersey.

Planning Your Senior Portraits

At your pre-session consultation you’ll have the chance to look through many different clients and complete photo shoots to get ideas. You’ll see lots of options for locations and wardrobe choices, and together we’ll help you choose what is most important. Cathy had seen a similar image from Brandon’s senior portraits in Colorado, so I wanted to be sure to create these images of Jalen too!

The bleachers can make a great backdrop for nearly any sport, so I took a was sure to get a nice shot of Jalen smiling that mom will love!

Unique Images and Poses

Everybody wants unique senior portraits, and why shouldn’t you? One great thing about our final portrait galleries is that you’ll have lots of variety! We don’t turn every image black & white, because not every image has the best lighting or emotion to make a great black & white portrait. Sometimes, if an image calls for it, you’ll get a creative edit or two as well! I created this textured art print of Jalen because I wanted something that looked rough and tough instead of bright and sunny.

The Lamborghini Was Worth The Wait

Finally, it was time!!! Trust me, Jalen’s dad Warren had a blast with this session! Yes, mom & dad are more than welcome to tag along! In fact, I encourage it and we all have a blast together! Warren drove the car to the high school, then we discussed where to shoot. Originally I had planned on using a parking garage, but with the car sitting so low we didn’t want to go over speed bumps. Being a professional photographer means I have tons of ideas and thoughts in case the original plan doesn’t quite work out.

Jalen started out in one of his favorite t-shirts and jeans. You need to be comfortable and look like you for your senior pictures! This ended up being by far my favorite car picture ever! Can you blame me? Love it!!

A quick shirt change and a pair of sunglasses make for a completely different look! Love it when guys add sunglasses, so make sure you bring yours!

So many people stress about the location of their senior portraits. First of all, don’t think it has to be someplace special in order to get great portraits. Often I try to just get away from everything so we can get the sunset and not have to deal with cars and crowds. For these pictures, we just drove south through Gilbert and Chandler to find a nice dead end with views of the desert and San Tan Mountains.

Artistic Senior Portraits

One reason my clients choose me for their professional senior portraits is my artistic ability. Anyone can take pictures, but professionals have multiple lenses and know when to use them and where to position their subjects. Look how massive the Lamborghini looks when the shot is taken from the ground with a wide angle lens! Not to bore you with details, but it would have had a totally different feel if I had used a 70-200mm lens. FYI, that’s the big lens that is on my camera most of the time for senior portraits.

Tips for your senior pictures:

• Bring your car or rent a fun sports car
• Plan ahead and call the school for permission to shoot on campus
• Don’t stress if things don’t work out as planned

Did you miss Day 1 with Jalen?

No worries, you can see the rest of his senior portraits right here!

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