Jill had an outstanding photo shoot and it’s always special for us when we photograph a younger sibling of one our seniors from the past. We’ve become very close with Jill’s older sister whom we photographed a couple years ago and with whom we produced some of our most memorable shots. Meanwhile we had never met Jill until our recent consultation with her to prepare for her own turn in the spotlight…
WOW! Such a beautiful, photogenic and sweetheart of a girl! First we started in the studio:
Next we went on location and got a variety of great shots, but it was at the end where the session produced a new shot for us that we LOVE – a little spontaneous hop onto a swing set that yielded such a fantastic result! Enjoy!
We proudly present to you pictures from Noah’s senior session! You’ve probably seen him in our window and on our class of ’14 brochure… Noah is one of our spokesmodels and we are happy to have him representing our studio!
The other day we posted on facebook that “happiness is photographing North Farmington Raiders” and this was one of the sessions we were referring to. Noah’s little brother even came along and jumped into one of the photos!
We had a good time and Ally saved a katydid who was hanging out right in front of a door to a parking garage (we think it may have had an injured leg). In any event we were pleased with the results with the urban setting! Enjoy!
As you can tell we are busy with seniors which makes us so happy! Danielle is no exception when it comes to the happiness level…
Danielle is a spokesmodel for us this year and so this was the second time we had the privilege of photographing her. The first time we got some great studio work done and so we focused heavily on location shooting. It was pretty hot but the lighting was perfect, and we got the standing-in-the-water shot but I wouldn’t say it was the most comfortable shot – very muddy and mucky, but Danielle rocked it anyway – a total pro!
All in all it was a great session! We love our seniors!
We planned this one for a rare evening session and we got some amazing shots as the sun went down and then when it was totally dark with a few different lighting techniques. We had so much fun with Courtney – tons of laughs and we all were feeling really inspired as we let the creativity fly…
First we actually started with a little studio work:
Then we headed out into the night and got some incredible pictures! Courtney looks fantastic in front of a camera!
We had a great time on this fantastic senior session with Blake! We had the honor of photographing his sister two years ago and we were looking forward to this. The weather was fine and the session went off without a hitch or any crazy stories unless you count the highly aggressive salesperson who came in and tried to sell me advertising despite the fact that we were obviously with a client, and then arguing with me when I said I wasn’t really interested. Ugh.
Meanwhile Blake has the style going on when it comes to the shoes and he has quite a collection. He also has a sense of humor since once you’ve seen this video it’s hard not to joke around with anyone named Blake, Denice, Jacqueline, Aaron, Timothy, or the last name of O’Shaughnessy. We were calling him “Ba-lak-ay” and his mom got in on the fun too. 🙂 Cool guy for sure and we had a lot of fun!
Our latest senior session was perfect. The light was perfect, the weather was perfect, the setting was perfect, and our senior looked stunning!
We started with a little studio work…
We then went on location where as I mentioned everything was perfect….except for the bugs… and the “threat” of bullfrogs. This girl does not enjoy bugs or bullfrogs. The bullfrogs in the area only made themselves known once or twice with a random loud croak or two, but the bees, beetles and one random flying bug decided to get involved in the session. It all worked out – the beetles on the flower we were using kept to themselves (even though they briefly scared our model), and the bees didn’t sting us or her. The one random flying bug flew right into her eye at one point but didn’t stay, and for not being a fan of bees she still looks pretty comfortable by the flowers where they were buzzing around! She’s a real sweetheart with a great sense of style – we laughed a lot and we had a really fun time together! Love these shots!
For this session we tested out a new light for an idea we had for a night time shoot. We ended up getting the shot but we almost didn’t. We needed bleachers at the end of the session and we struck out on the first two high school stadiums we went to. At the first one the lot was being resurfaced and it would have been next to impossible to get our equipment to the stadium, the second one was in use by the football team there under the lights, and the third…… was locked, and it was getting late. Luck finally turned our way when we discovered that the second entrance was unlocked and we were in! It was totally worth it…. here is the shot:
As for the rest of the session this senior totally rocked it and we had a great time! Great kid, great family, spectacular pictures. He is definitely the kind of guy you would want on your team! Enjoy!
We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again – we LOVE our seniors! Photographing seniors is one of the most enjoyable things we do. Ally and I both enjoyed high school and we attended North Farmington High School together. While we knew each other and I was only one class ahead of her, we did not date until after college (it’s actually a fun story). Because we went to high school together and only live a few minutes away from where we grew up we’ve always been able to relate to each other’s high school experience and it’s never really that far away. Maybe that’s why we enjoy high school photos so much!
We thought it would be helpful to give some details here about our process for taking senior pictures for those considering our studio, and we’ve included a fun behind-the-scenes video of a senior picking up her proofs. This can also give you some ideas for what you may want to look for in a studio for senior pictures if you don’t live in the Metro Detroit area. There are 5 main steps in our process of a senior photo session:
Consultation. We always meet ahead of time with our seniors and usually a parent so that we can get to know each other. We talk about the upcoming session and plan it out based on the senior’s vision for the pictures. We discuss style, location, clothing, colors, hair, makeup (for the girls), life, school, plans for after high school and whatever else is on their mind.
Photo session. 3 hours of anything goes – often starting with a yearbook headshot and then moving along to fire, water, trees, meadows, alleyways, buildings, pets, friends…. and almost every session has a story. From a small twister hitting the mall during a shoot to a cat hunting down a chipmunk right in front of us in a park, lots of crazy stuff can happen and often does! We have a ton of fun during our sessions – lots of laughs.
Sneak peeks. We usually post a couple images from the session on facebook (with a model release OF COURSE – be wary of photographers who will post your image for their commercial purposes without permission), sometimes a behind-the-scenes shot from the session on Instagram as well as the occasional tweet. We really enjoy seeing all the love that our seniors get from their friends with likes, favorites, comments and tweets online about the pictures from their session.
Proof pick up. This is always really exciting – lots of anticipation to see the images which depending on the season can be anywhere from 2 – 4 weeks after the session. Our seniors get a physical proof book which they get to keep and we present these to them with an in-person slide show set to music on the big screen in the studio. It’s a very special two minutes for everyone. This is the part of the process we have highlighted here in this video clip of a proof pick up!
The 5th and final step is simply to place the order – wallets for friends, wall portraits for the family room, prints for the grandparents, pictures for the office, coffee table books for the living room… Plenty of options!
All in all it’s one of the best parts of our “job” – and it certainly doesn’t feel like a job at all.
We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again – we LOVE our seniors! Photographing seniors is one of the most enjoyable things we do. Ally and I both enjoyed high school and we attended North Farmington High School together. While we knew each other and I was only one class ahead of her, we did not date until after college (it’s actually a fun story). Because we went to high school together and only live a few minutes away from where we grew up we’ve always been able to relate to each other’s high school experience and it’s never really that far away. Maybe that’s why we enjoy high school photos so much!