When we talked about a location for this high school senior’s portrait session, his love for the outdoors led to me suggesting one of my favorite parks in the Pittsburgh region. And you’ll find a lot from this park on my website, because it is good for just about any kind of session, just about all year round. McConnells Mill State Park is pretty awesome and so is this high school senior.
This Saturday morning senior portrait was an awesome way to start the day. You may have noticed that I shared this senior’s family portrait session earlier this week. And it was so much fun as a photographer to do two sessions with this family in one day, both at McConnell’s Mill State Park. We started at 8 a.m. for the senior session and then came back again for the family session at 4:30 for the best lighting.
This recent session with a high school senior was a fun departure from photographing babies and weddings. We met on the South Side and walked along the river and back up East Carson Street, stopping along the way when we saw something interesting and there are lots of great spots on the South Side.
This guy fits well in any setting so why not pose by the brown waters of the Monongahela?? I once swam in that river, so I can say that!
I love walking shots for all kinds of portraits. It’s comfortable and a natural way to show confidence.
He did a quick wardrobe change to show some school pride for his college of choice.
And as the sun was setting, we squeezed in a few last shots at this mural. Fun!
Best wishes for a bright future to this high school graduate!
I love photographing high school seniors. There are no two seniors alike and it’s fun to see what happens when the focus is all on them. For some, it takes a little while to ease into the session before they let their personality shine through, and others are seem to soak up every minute of their time in the spotlight. My approach to senior portraits is unique in Pittsburgh. I’m not big on props or maintaining a large selection of backdrops. I like to keep it simple and focus on making the students comfortable so that their portraits really reveal their character. I enjoy getting to know the students over the course of their session and I don’t like tight time constraints. A 30-minute session would never work with my approach. In some cases, it takes that much time to really get comfortable in front of the camera. It’s more about the experience. Senior portraits are an important milestone in a student’s life and it should be an enjoyable experience.
Here’s a slide show of some of the students I’ve had the pleasure of photographing over the past year. They’re all so different and that is a beautiful thing.
Amy comes from a large family and sings on the praise team at church.
Captivating Imagery