Studio Senior Portrait Session

Abby Sholar (Instagram: @abbysholarphoto) is a photographer who reached out to me for her University Graduation Portraits. It was so incredible working with another photographer on a shoot. Abby communicated so well with what she wanted and shared a mood board via Pinterest with a bunch of ideas she had.

We decided to have all three looks in the studio. The day of the shoot was beautiful and we were able to achieve perfect natural lighting. I had Mira Gonzales (Instagram: themuamira) come to the studio for makeup and she did an amazing natural look that would work for all three looks we were doing.

Our first look was with a blue background and a casual, summery outfit. I wanted to show her personality through these without any distractions. The blue backdrop made her blue eyes pop!

The next look we did was one I had, probably, over prepared for. Abby had told me she wanted a Bohemian styled look and gave me some inspiration. What popped out to me in those inspiration photos was the foliage involved, so I decided to DIY! I drove to a parking lot under a forest of trees near my house and picked up some stray sticks. That night, I watched a movie and painted every one white. It was such a fun project and I think the final look is so cute! With the various vases, the pillows I brought from my house, and the white sticks everything came together so well. When you have an idea, I do everything I can to make that into a reality!

The final look was one of my favorites because it incorporated my favorite lighting technique of back lighting! When I had started photography, I was so comfortable with diffused natural light or direct light (both of which I still love). However, back-lighting always seemed scary to me. Little did I know it was actually, in my own opinion, the prettiest lighting when it comes to natural light. I love how the light glows behind a subject and illuminated their hair. I love how soft the photos feel and how warm the lighting seems.

Thank you Abby and Mira for such a fun shoot!