Just for fun, I invited my grads to come over for some glow in the dark shooting! I got some blacklights, some glow in the dark paint and let them go to it! They did their own designs on each other and we had fun being creative. Sometimes it’s fun to shoot just for the heck of it and try new things. I paid them for posing with fudge brownie sundaes, which seemed to suit them just fine!
Jesse moved in next door quite a few years ago and has been in and out of my house with my kids innumerable times! This made her shoot just a little more special and fun. I’ve been looking forward to her grad year for ages and we made a day of it!
We started off at the park, changed casual wear for some fun cap & gown shots, pulled her sister in for some shots, hit a graffiti wall downtown, back to her house for some more there and then moved into the studio for more formal cap & gown portraits. We may or may not have worked that girl for 6 hours… but she did get a few breaks I swear!
It was an absolute pleasure from start to finish and I love what we created! Keeping our secret bus stop shoot under wraps was killing me but I managed to hold it in until their reveal and ordering appointment. It was so much fun surprising her parents with those portraits! I was thrilled that they loved them as much as we did (1 album spread: done!)
Having your client right next door means you get to drag her out of bed for top secret shoots before school!
Jesse got some fun new colour in her hair to kick off her senior year. Her mom had planned on it being gone before we did her senior session but Jesse loved it and wanted some photos with it still in! I agreed that this fun & funky look should definitely be part of her album! So to get the best of both worlds, I suggested we do a mini shoot before they had the colour changed back.
Kids in our area spend almost an hour each way traveling into the city for school each day. This will be her seventh year on this bus run with the same driver. I thought it would be neat and a little different to incorporate that into some photos. The only problem with that is the bus is on its own schedule and doesn’t stop and pose for you.
We got out there at 7:15, got a few test shots with the light and then the bus was barrelling down the hill towards us! It was an exhilarating 30 second shoot and we got her shot! We managed to keep the whole escapade under wraps until we showed the images at the ordering session. Mom & Dad were surprised when the images popped up in the slideshow for the first time but loved them!
Side note: Jesse’s blue is still going, it has muted somewhat but definitely not gone. Stylist is impressed with the unexpected longevity of the product. Mom… not so much. haha!
Two years ago I met this family when they hired me for Madison’s senior photos. She was wonderful to work with and her session was awesome! At the end of the ordering session, her mom told me how happy she was with the results and commented “I hope you’re still doing this when it’s Emily’s turn!” Seriously, there is no higher praise for a photographer than sending them your friends and family.
Well now it’s Emily’s senior year! Since they had me on hand, they decided to update their family portraits at the same time and got some great images for their wall display! We did this at the beginning and then their parents headed off to other business and left us to do our thing! Madison stayed on to be my lovely assistant which is always a bonus!
Another great session and Emily gave me so much great material! We traipsed around and twirled and laughed and climbed hills and even borrowed furniture from a neighbour in the area of her favourite place! Then before she had to go to work we hit the walking bridge to finish things off.
Repeat clients are the best and I truly appreciate the opportunity to work with you all again. I’m looking forward to following along for Emily’s grad year! With any luck we’ll get her BFF shoot done soon!
Trying new things is scary. I tend to lean on the side of caution and stick with what I know works. But, I had this little idea and it wouldn’t let go. My photog friends in the States do lots of special shoots for their senior models all year, surely I could try one of my own and see how it goes?
Every year at prom time I catch glimpses of my grads on social media and think “oh I wish I could get a photo of them!”. However prom time has always fallen on, the night before or the day after my triplets’ birthday so I’ve never been able to go to the grand entrance or see them gather at the park for pictures.
The thing that held me back the longest was “what if no one comes and it’s a total failure!??!!?” Finally the desire to get a chance to spend one more evening with them (they’re really great kids!!!) and give them nice portraits in their dresses pushed me into the “it’s worth a shot” camp. Surely someone would be tempted??? I’ll even feed them to tip the scales in my favour!
It turned out even more fabulously than I could have hoped for. 100% turn out. Moms came. One even cried seeing the girls all dressed up. I forgot the Bluetooth speaker so they could play their music. No one cared. I couldn’t reach the ceiling to hang up the decorations I’d planned. No one cared. We chatted and laughed and sashayed and posed and shot and shot! I was setting them up for a group shot and I couldn’t have been happier when they made sure there was a spot I could go to be in their photo with them!
I had so much fun with all of you Friday night. It was exciting to plan it with you and see your enthusiasm and get your messages! I was so excited to put this together for you. You have been absolutely wonderful to me this year and I am so excited to see where your plans and studies take you after graduation!
Some of the girls are keeping their dresses under wraps until the big reveal on prom night and I promised not to release the images until prom. There are some spectacular ones in there that I’m dying to show! My daughter was in the room while I was downloading and when she saw the first girl in her blue gown, she gasped and said “Mom! She looks like she’s from DISNEY!!!” However, one of the girls didn’t mind hers going public early so I can share a bit! Here is the very kind, thoughtful, skilled and completely lovely Miss M! I LOVE THESE SHOTS!!! (no pressure haha! Kxo)
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