Every senior client that I work with fills out a questionnaire so that I can get to know them better. It includes questions as basic as what’s your favorite color to personal style to favorite and least favorite feature. Senior portraits come only once in a lifetime, so I want to make sure that I’m getting to know my client as well as I can while also making them as comfortable in front of the camera as possible.

Madeline is as a sweet as they come, and wanted to have both an urban and nature setting for her senior portraits, so we spent the first part of her session in midtown. I love urban settings because there’s so much variety in a small amount of space. I loved the mural that we used in the images below, and just right next to it was a small hill with marigolds planted all over.

To the other side of the mural was the back of a parking garage. I knew immediately when shooting these images that I’d be converting them to black and white. I love the contrast of the cement with the dark lines and shadows of the structure.

I also really loved the colorful shapes that adorn the side of one of the buildings. We embraced the full sun for some of these, and then had fun using open shade and reflections to catch the colors, too. I also love that Madeline chose a gorgeous, 10x10 album to hold all of these memories of her senior portraits. These albums are heirloom quality and built to last. Not only that, but they can be customized a million different ways. When Madeline said in her senior questionnaire that her favorite color is rose gold, I got to work finding an album cover choice that would be extra special for her: a rose gold metallic leather combo cover with matte metal image. Keep reading to see pictures of the front!

After our time at midtown, we headed out to Hitchcock Nature Preserve where I had scouted the week before and just knew that we had timed the fall color perfectly. The sumac was blazing red, and with the addition of a fun red hat, we got some really cute shots!

After a quick outfit change into a dress, we walked along one of the trails. Everywhere I turned, there was gorgeous fall color everywhere! Madeline could not have asked for a better fall backdrop for her senior pictures than this!

One of the things Hitchcock Nature Center is known for is the rolling Loess Hills. After we changed into some more practical tennis shoes, we made our way down one of the trails and then did a quick shoe swap once making it to the bottom! The tall, soft grass and the analogous color palette made for very soft, pretty portraits.

Getting back UP the hill was a bit of a battle and we were all a little out of breath by the time we reached the top, but after seeing these, it was WORTH IT! After giving her images an initial edit, I met with Madeline and her parents to go through them all and pick her final collection. Every session includes a final meeting in which we choose heirloom artwork customized to fit the needs of each client. After sorting out the images for her album, they also ordered some beautiful fine art gift prints to give to friends and family. Check out all of these gorgeous pieces! As graduation gets closer, we’ll also be getting her announcement cards ordered, too.

Worth more than (rose) gold - rose gold themed senior session