A high school graduate, pink petals, and library books

Melisa wore a beautiful lavender dress to start her session against our brown canvas background. In her second image she looks quite dignified while seated in an straight-backed mauve chair.  We headed outside and fought the wind and sun while at the pond.  We ended up merging two pond images--one with her mom holding the reflector and one without her mom in the scene.  Next we drove to the gully to avoid the wind and Melisa had to maneuver herself to get posed on our old stone wall at our property's edge.  We used a scrim to her left propped against the fence to keep the tree limb shade off of her face.  That image was totally worth all of Melisa's effort!  We finished off her session back at the studio against a green cloth background then back to the brown canvas with pink petals and finishing up with her senior shirt.  Because Melisa is very studious I wanted to get her with a book. I normally don't replace backgrounds, but at her mom's suggestion replaced the brown canvas with a library book scene which I had on hand.  Below we have included Melisa's favorites images from her studio and outdoor session.  Enjoy!

A graduate with a leopard theme

The Apostolic Academy graduates set up a table and decorate it for their graduation ceremony.  Aurelia chose a leopard theme.  I had a leopard print tablecloth that I have been saving for the right client.  It was big enough to clamp to my background stand and get a head and shoulder image.  Next, we posed Aurelia on a leopard rug and shot above her getting a full-body image of Aurelia in her dressy leopard skirt with red high-heeled shoes.  We used our gold painted wall with her senior shirt then finished up in the studio with her casual outfit against a white vinyl background and cap and gown against a blush background holding her Senior Year book and then brown flex background with the leopard tablecloth. I have included Aurelia's favorites from her session for your viewing pleasure!

 

Jeona's K5 Graduation Portraits

This is my favorite images of Jeona in the town of Alma against this beautiful antique door!

Jeona's adorable outfit and coordinating hat were a perfect match to the pastel tulips

We discovered this white wooden prop while walking the tulip garden and Jeona quickly ran to get in position for this pose.  I was standing afar off to get this shot so that the pink bushes would show in the background.

Jeona is such a natural poser!  I only guided her head in the correct direction so as to get her in the S-pose.

Liz mom suggested Jeona smell the tulips and what I great idea for a pose!  The tulips in here are so beautiful!  There is a fountain in the background of this image that you can barely see.

Here there was a row of gorgeous redbud trees!  Jeona has the cutest expression peeking around this tree!

Jeona looks so grown up in this image posed on a rock at the Doran Rock Garden in Gage Park!

We had to get this image quickly as Jeona kept thinking someone was going to slide down on her!  Be sure to visit Liz and Jeona's other graduation blog post.

Liz tiptoes through the tulips...

As we were driving into the small town of Alma, we noticed this rock wall and stopped for a quick image before starting our urban portrait session. (see comments below)

During our short stroll through the town of Alma, we discovered this beautiful antique door background.

Liz had to tiptoe through the tulips here to be sure she didn't hurt any of the tulips surrounding this beautiful aged tree.

The redbud trees here were beautiful and I knew at that moment that I would change Liz red blouse color to pink to match!

The colors to this playground at Doran Rock Garden went perfect with the colors Liz wore.  The two children playing here were kind enough to play out-of-sight!

A delicate-looking planting was fitting for a delicate pose.

It's hard not to stop and pose by a tree with a slanted branch and it was a plus to have pretty yellow flowers in the foreground.

Liz also had to tiptoe through the rosebushes so she could poke her head through this wooden walkway contraption.

This final favorite image of mine is Liz at the Doran Rock Garden in Gage Park.  There is a small body of water in the background.  Be sure to view Liz and Jeona's tulip post on this blog!

Liz and Jeona in Alma and Topeka, Kansas

It was touch and go on our portrait session trip to the Ted Enzley Garden in Topeka.  Finally the weather cooperated enough to travel to Topeka while the tulips were still in bloom.  On the way, we stopped at a rest stop so the graduates could change into their matching outfits before we stopped in Alma, Kansas.  We discovered some beautiful settings at the rest stop which are the first three images below. After our urban session in Alma, we spent most of the time at the Ted Ensley Garden and finished our portrait sessions at the Doran Rock Garden in Gage Park, Topeka. At the tulip garden, the geese weren't scared of humans and stayed close enough to get included in a portrait.  The graduates were such willing subjects to take off their shoes and splash in the cold water at the entry to the tulip garden.  I thoroughly enjoyed capturing the bond between these two 2015 graduates! A lot more tulips images are included in Liz and Jeona's separate blog posts to follow.

Melisa's Cap and Gown Portrait Session

We used our brown flex and gold backgrounds for Melisa's cap and gown portraits, along with our popular gold-colored chair.  It is usually challenging to get decent full-size images of graduates in their cap and gown; however, I think Melisa posed very beautifully in her graduation attire.  It was a quick cap and gown session since we reserved her remaining session balance for her dressy and causal outfits.  Be looking for her next session will be published shortly!

Chanté’s Outdoor HS Senior Session

It was a perfect spring day and the white puffy bushes were at their best!  I googled the bushes to see what they were called and it looks like they are  bridalwreath spiraea.  They went beautifully with the mirror image below that Chanté’s mom had in mind.  Our next spot was in green winter wheat where I took my favorite image of Chanté as she is looking off in the distance.  I like how the wind blew her skirt to give balance to the image!  The tulips in my yard were also in bloom and we used a parasol in the tulip pose to keep the sun out of her face; Chanté is actually laying on a reflector to bounce light into her eyes.  Since Chanté loves to read we ended the outdoor session with her posed with a book.  I learned during this session that if you have the book opened to a white page, it acts as a reflector on the face. We finished off her session inside the studio with her cap and gown.  Chanté and I had three sessions together and I really enjoyed the time I spent creating her high school senior portraits!  Below I have included the clients' favorite images from this last session.  Enjoy!