My Approach to Natural and Artistic Senior Portraits
Still catching up on posting the shoots I did this past fall, and I just had to make sure I found the time to share this one with Meara 🌟
When Meara and her parents sent me their initial reaction to the photo gallery, I was reminded of the very real impact of seeing yourself in a fresh, positive (sometimes even magical) light.
“Having had the pleasure of being in the background during the shoot, I’m all the more impressed by your approach and how calm, easy-going, and unassuming the vibe was. I know this helped Meara to immediately feel at ease. You were able to encourage Meara to just be herself.”
~ Brenda (Meara’s mom)
In the 7-8 years that I’ve been working with seniors, I’ve learned that there’s a graceful balance between observation, creative direction, and play.
If you want the results to feel genuine, you can’t apply the same formula to every person you work with. Sure, there are techniques you revisit that ultimately add up to your signature style, but I like to believe there are compositions and “happy accidents” that simply fall into place when you work with a person. Their character, body language, the conversations you share in between photos, and the unpredictability of nature & light serve as guides when you grant them the attention they deserve. Medfield State Hospital is one of those locations I’ve shot at hundreds of times, and yet there’s never a shortage of perspectives to discover — as long as I open myself up to the overlooked and unplanned.
Feeling very lucky that my work draws in people who want something that feels painterly yet true to themselves 💛
