Some things are most definitely worth the wait. As a Middletown, Delaware Senior Photographer who provides beautiful senior portrait photographer largely outdoors, I work with my clients to help select the most beautiful locations, the perfect outfits, and hope for the best weather to make their pictures as stunning as possible. Well, as you know the weather is the one variable completely out of our control.
Lexi is a senior at Appoquinimink High School in Middletown, Delaware. She and her mom contacted me over the summer to discuss senior portrait photography for her. Lexi had found me online, shared it with her mom, and both loved my work. They booked their session in August right before the start of her senior year but the weather did not cooperate and rain forced us to postpone. A few weeks later strike two as remnants of a hurricane lingered for a few days.
Fortunately, the weather was pretty mild for Lexi’s big day in early October. After having her hair and make-up professionally done (included in my Senior Experience packages), we met up at our first location for our senior photo session. We all had the best time!! We already had multiple conversations, such as the initial free phone consultation, our photo session planning discussion, and conversations around the weather postponements. So they were very familiar and comfortable with me when we finally met in person and Lexi seemed to be very relaxed since we were already familiar with her.
As I often do, I started by covering some basics of posing and hand placement, explained the basics and differences of the ambient light and the off-camera flash that I use, and took some sample pictures to show her how squaring her shoulders and facing the camera directly versus turning her body at a 45 degree angle from my lens can add depth and changes how the pictures look.
This all helps with getting my subject to better understand proper posing techniques and to start off with giving her basic ideas, but this also serves as an ice-breaker by giving some coaching and taking test pictures that “don’t count”. It helps to calm any nerves and let’s the client learn some posing and takes the pressure off by giving a shirt little test shoot. It worked beautifully – I could tell that Lexi quickly got comfortable with me and was very relaxed during her entire shoot.
She has a great sense of style and a beautiful smile that really make her pictures stand out. As a Middletown, Delaware senior photographer, I know the area well and know the best photo spots. The first location in Wilmington featured beautiful gardens on the grounds of an old estate that offers beautiful settings. Her floral sundress was perfect for the flowers and an entrance in the iron fencing that had a stone archway. Her second outfit was a dress that fit the seasonal look of homecoming and worked beautifully with the iron gates and marble pillars that the location featured.
The second site was across the street at a set of gardens adjacent to the University of Delaware’s Wilmington campus. Lexi wore white pants and a black top that was very much casual and stylistic for her age. And this outfit worked great with a variety of photo spots here. The two outfits and two locations make each set of photos look distinctive and unique, and this is why my sessions involve multiple outfits and sometimes multiple locations to capture the senior in a variety of styles and capturing different aspects of their personality.
Yes, this did take a few attempts, but as the results show it was well worth the wait. Lexi and her mom both love the senior portraits and ordered beautiful wall art to display in their home to always remember the moment. And they want to hire me again to get graduation pictures in Lexi’s cap and gown for her senior year.
I’m already looking forward to it. Let’s just hope for dry weather!
Oh, and be sure to read about the amazing opportunity to become part of my Senior Creative Team!
