Graduating Senior portrait session

On Tuesday I met Linsey and her dad for her senior session; she was a little nervious in front of the camera at first but warmed up quickly. I find that I like to do the generic shots first before getting to the creative stuff; that gets the subject used to being photographed and they loosen up a little. I rarely use the initial shots but they are a great warm-up. Playing music they like helps a lot, too...John Mayer is almost always a good choice! I'm learning some of his songs for my music gigs.





I have been studying a lot lately to learn more about lighting and portrait techniques and it really paid off today. I almost always try to work with natural light first and then add flash only if needed. Most of these were shot with only sunlight and a reflector.






This was the last shot of the session and I love how it turned out. I suggested that she bring along something unique to her to use as a prop. As it turns out, she loves to work with stained glass. I had her dad hold the piece behind her and I zoomed in tight; I put the sun behind her and held the reflector with one hand while shooting with my right...a little awkward but, hey, whatever it takes to get the shot!