Jared, known as “Elmo” to his friends, was a wonderful senior to work with and photogenic with it as well! He’s an avid and dedicated runner, spending many hours training on the trails of Shelby Farms Park in his pursuit of cross-country racing (he’s a member of the cross-country team for St. Benedict high school). So, after meeting with him to talk about his interests and learn more about his personality, it became obvious very quickly that Shelby Farms would be the ideal location in which to photograph him for his senior portraits.
The weather on the afternoon we chose for the session couldn’t have been better, the location was perfect, and Jared was very relaxed and comfortable as we made our way around the lake trail, finding interesting locations to create these portraits on the way.
Thank you to Jared and his family for allowing me the wonderful opportunity to work with them to create this set of portraits that I know will be treasured for a lifetime.
Our lives are a series of important milestones (childhood, graduation, marriage, raising a family) and we value our photographs so much because they capture memories of such happy times. But, it goes much deeper than that – we’re not only holding on to memories, but also what it felt like at the time, the emotions and love that go with those memories.
I believe being a photographer isn’t only about creating photographs – it requires empathy to truly capture those “images inspired by you”. Later, as you admire your portraits, you’ll recall the feelings of love and joy from those precious moments.
It’s tempting to put off having portraits created “until the time is right”, but our daily lives conspire to keep us distracted from the most important things. Our children will only be this age RIGHT NOW; there’s only going to be ONE wedding day; senior year is GONE before you know it; our families are ALWAYS worth celebrating…
Take time to connect with the things that inspire you – call NOW for a friendly chat about how professional portraits can enhance your life and the lives of those you love.
This week, I added a new video slideshow to the Senior Portraits page of the web site.
I had so much fun putting this together and would like to thank all the seniors we’ve photographed so far this busy season for making it a wonderful experience!
Here is a great new senior portrait that we created on the beach in Florida, early one morning. Reid accompanied our family on vacation, and we thought it would be a lot of fun to create some portraits for him while we were down there, especially as he will be a high school senior this year.
Because I create all of my portraits outside, away from the stuffy and impersonal confines of a studio, I like to include the environment of the portrait as an integral part of the photograph to help convey a sense of who the person is, their interests and their personality. In this instance, Reid enjoys skimboarding (which I can personally testify is a lot more difficult than it looks ), so I suggested we take some photographs of him at the beach enjoying his sport.
The sun rose over the water at about 6:15am and we were lucky enough to have the beach almost to ourselves. After spending time to create a great series of action photographs, we took a moment to produce this portrait of Reid with his skimboard. The rising sun provided the majority of the lighting, with some additional fill light added from an off-camera flash.
When I saw this wall in midtown Memphis, while on an urban senior portrait session, I couldn’t resist using it as a backdrop for a series of portraits of Anne, pictured here.
To a photographer, backgrounds are every bit as important as the subject, and this one was a real beauty – a work of art. Whether someone was paid to create this, or it’s simply a piece of random street art, doesn’t really matter – it provided the perfect backdrop for an urban-style street environmental portrait.
Other images from this portrait session can be found in my Seniors 2010 Album on Facebook.
We were thrilled to be able to spend time with Anne at the Windyke Country Club golf course in Germantown TN last week, where we created a series of golf-related senior portraits for her. Our thanks go out to both Anne and the Windyke Country Club for allowing us the privilege of working there.
It was a great pleasure working with Anne on these portraits and I look forward to working with her again on part 2 of her senior portraits – in an urban setting.
I am so pleased to post this latest senior portrait, of Kelsey. She was amazing to work with and the whole session was exciting and so much fun for everyone.
As with all of our senior portraits, we held the portrait session outdoors in an environment that was both familiar and important to Kelsey.
We spent almost 3 hours creating portraits in different settings and in a variety of outfits, starting out with one of her horses as a companion in the photographs. We also photographed her with her younger brother, and created some wonderful images that I know the family will be thrilled with.
Working in a relaxed manner with no time constraints really allows our subjects to be themselves, leaving them free to concentrate on having a fun time.
You can see more images from this session in my Facebook album – Seniors 2009.
To book a senior portrait session, simply call today at (901) 606-9105 or email me for more information.
Downtown Memphis provides a wealth of possible locations for portraits, especially senior portraits, and last night’s session in Harbortown was no exception. With Andrew & Buddy, both graduating seniors from Christian Brothers High School, we started out by the Mississippi river in the green belt river park. The setting sun provided an ideal backdrop on the river, with a wonderful array of delicate colors.
After the sun had gone down, we moved into the streets of Harbortown to find some other great locations, using the street lights and buldings as interesting backdrops.
Many thanks to Buddy and Andrew for making this a fun portrait session, and I am looking forward to working with you both again.
It’s senior portrait time again! NOW is the time to be scheduling your senior portrait session with us and we still have some openings for ambassadors, with a free session and discounted prints etc.
Call me today at (901) 606-9105 to chat about your senior portraits and some of the different and unique things we can offer.
Saturday, March 7th, 2009 saw the first ever public concert by the newly-formed Wolf River Chamber Orchestra at the First Congregational Church in Midtown Memphis.
I was honored to be asked by William Langley, the music director, to photograph this important event for them, and to create some portraits of Mr. Langley as well as some documentary photographs of the orchestra.
William Langley is the founder and conductor of the orchestra – a remarkable achievement for a high-school senior!
In addition to the Wolf River Chamber orchestra, Mr. Langley also founded and conducts the Christian Brothers High School Wind Ensemble, for the purpose of educational outreach at inner-city Memphis schools.
The concert itself was free to attend and a delight to listen to, and all the members fo the orchestra put on an incredible performance.
The concert featured the following pieces:
The Barber of Seville – Overture – Rossini
Octet for Winds – Beethoven
Clarinet Concerto No. 1 – Carl Maria von Weber
I look forward to hearing more performances of this great orchestra and wish them all the very best for their future success.
), so I suggested we take some photographs of him at the beach enjoying his sport.
Senior Portraits 2009 – Kelsey:
William Langley is the founder and conductor of the orchestra – a remarkable achievement for a high-school senior!
You Can Also Find Us On Facebook & Twitter: