I’m excited to share with you Kaylee’s Hawley High School senior pictures! Hawley High School (or HHS as we call it) just happens to be my hometown school. It is always such an honor to get to connect with my hometown by photographing some of the current year’s seniors.
Senior Session Location
Kaylee’s session took place at her family’s beautiful country home. They had such stunning locations to choose from. We took pictures by the nearby pond, their lake, some gorgeous oak trees, and even a field of flowers!
Pairing Locations and Outfits
We started the session in this open clearing near the lake. It gave us some nice filtered light while the sun was still relatively high in the sky. For this location, we paired Kaylee’s jeans and floral top. The bright color and pattern of this top worked well with the greens and natural scenery we had here.
Using the Location, Facial Expressions and Light to Bring Kaylee’s Vision to Life
I knew from Kaylee’s questionnaire that she wanted bright, fun pictures. While I can never resist a good serious face, we focused on capturing her gorgeous smile and laugh in well lit, bright and airy locations. You will also notice how we got a variety of images here without even moving by simply mixing up our angles and the crop.
The Pre-Session Style Recap Planning
At the beginning of the session we went through Kaylee’s outfits and I got a quick tour of the locations they had in mind. We decided to pair this dress with this pond and it turned out even better than I hoped. The fun pattern of this dress complimented how the sun bounced off the water in the evening light. And as you scroll down a bit, you can also see how well it paired with the ditch flowers.
Using Unconventional Locations
Why yes, I did have Kaylee sit in the ditch flowers. It might not seem like a logical place to take pictures but it ended up being perfect! The line of the road created a nice leading line through the image, wildflowers are well gorgeous as always and we captured a little bit of the lake in the background.
Posing for Maximum Variety
When possible I like to get both sitting and standing images in each outfit for maximum variety. Sitting on the ground is not an intuitive position with a dress. This is where my ‘princess sit’ posing trick comes in super handy! I have my model kick her legs off to the side with a light ankle cross to create an elegant seated pose while making sure we don’t end up with any awkward angles with the dress. Without this seated pose we would not have been able to fully capture these flowers without going in for an outfit change.
Adding Movement to Your Senior Pictures
Movement is such an important part of my high school senior sessions. While we do focus on well-posted portraits, we add movement whenever we can. Walking from location to location is the perfect opportunity to capture fun images while also making good use of our time.
Planning for Sunset by the Lake
It may have been a crazy hot day and we were feeling it towards the end of Kaylee’s 2.5-hour senior session, but these sunset lake portraits were 100% worth the wait! I mean ugh, we had the perfect evening glow. And how it reflected off the surface of the lake was simply dreamy. I will rarely pass up the opportunity to capture lakeside sunset portraits and these did not disappoint.
Why Planning for Lighting is as Important as Planning Locations
I think this may have been the first outfit we nailed down during the pre-session style recap. Before starting a senior session we create a rough outline for what outfits will look best at what location AND at what point in the session. While Kaylee did have the longer session option with 2.5 hours, even with the 90-minute senior session, the light will change quite a bit during our session time. By strategically picking locations for how they will look at different points of the sunset, we can optimize your session for the best-looking photos.
And of course, we finished the session off with some photos with the pups!!
I had so much fun working with Kaylee on her Hawley High School senior pictures and am looking forward to this next season of senior portraits. If you have any questions or would like to chat about your senior session plans, do not hesitate to reach out!
