Want to know what I love most about senior portrait photography? I'll try my best to give you the short answer because there are so many things I love about all of it! I'll start with just one:
One of my favorite parts of the job is to plan and execute personalized and styled themed photo shoots. Now that I'm living in the Orange County, California area, specifically Irvine, I have a whole new outdoor canvas to work with and be inspired by, every week! As an artist I get easily inspired by just about anything around me: colors, blooms, a season, a place, architecture, and ESPECIALLY by an individual's fashion and style, combined with all these things.
I feel that getting to know each senior portrait client before our session is one of the key reasons our shoots are so diverse, fun, and focused! We schedule a one on one consult with each senior and their parent. By asking them questions about what they love to do, wear, play, and listen to, inspires me and helps me tie all of these things together to design the perfect sets for them to be photographed authentically and have the best experience.
When I met class of 2019 senior, Annie, and her best friend Anika, and they told me they are theatre students at Aliso Niguel high school, I knew right away they were down for some theatrical dress-up fun! Annie says she never says no to a new adventure. They both love to sing and love musical theatre more than anything.
So, when Annie said she loves to roller skate, I instantly had this early 80's roller boogie theme pop into my head. Having grown up in the 80's myself, I was probably on 8 wheels more than I was on two feet! Annie also made me the happiest photographer in SoCal by saying YES to sequins! I was even happier when she confessed that she owns a pair of bell-bottoms that would go perfectly with my recent purchases of sequin tube tops for the studio style closet!
Our seasonal model calls are always a bit different from our full Gold and Platinum sessions. These quick mini sessions, pictured here (under one hour), are done with very little planning and only one or two outfits. They are a great way to introduce ourselves to the community and the next graduating class and their parents. Even in small doses, they are a always a blast because anytime I'm working behind the camera making art with these kids, I'm a happy girl!
For Anika I new immediately we needed to put some beautiful bright colors on her to show off her gorgeous dark skin-tone and sparkling smile! She came up with a cute pair of 80's style applique' cut-offs and paired them with a cute bright yellow off-shoulder top from our style closet.
Now as you can see from this exuberant gallery, we LOVE COLOR! We LOVE SEQUINS! and we LOVE RETRO style! These young actresses also gave a stellar performance, too, because during our session, it was 60 degrees with 10-15 mph wind gusts. You would never know it, because we were having a blast! We even went totally retro with some fun polaroid snaps; Something I will be offering soon as an add-on feature to both Gold and Platinum bookings. Be sure to scroll all the way to the end of the post to see our fun retro video clips!
I was beyond thrilled that Annie's best friend, Anika, was able to accompany her for this photoshoot! Two of the reasons I love for besties to come along is because having your ride-or-die there, alongside you, to share in an experience like this makes it even MORE memorable and besties are allowed to attend all my sessions because they are the BEST cheerleaders and helpers! Even better, they can jump in and have some unforgettable portraits together during one of their sets. Nothing better than someone telling you how you Slay All Day, literally ALL. DAY. LONG. Aren't they the cutest?
That said, as we finish up the last of the class of 2019 model calls, we have launched the application for our Class of 2020 (current Juniors) Spring model call! The form to sign up as well as all the information you and your parents need to know, can be found HERE! Our class of 2020 model call photoshoots will take place this Spring 2019 in the months of February and March in preparation for your up and coming senior year!
The sign up for the Spring marketing model call closes at the end of February, but we still offer seasonal model calls occasionally, throughout the year. If you would like to participate and get some fun new social media files - these little mini shoots are a blast! If you are considering booking the Full Experience Gold or Platinum sessions with hair and makeup and senior film, it's a great way to get to know us and add some extra senior pictures to your gallery!
2 Comments
Feb 2, 2019, 2:06:44 PM
Chele Jones - Thank you! We had a blast! I love colorful shoots and I love retro themes. All the good feels <3
Feb 2, 2019, 1:22:53 PM
Jamie - These are soooo fun!