Salem Oregon Senior Pictures: Celebrating Madison's Heritage

Last year we put out a call for senior models and we chose Miss Madison to represent our studio for the 2015-16 school year.  She had amazing light brown skin  that I’d knew would photograph beautifully.  She had deep dark brown eyes and thick gorgeous waist length brown hair.  I knew the camera was simply going to love her.  So there was nothing left to do but to let her know that we picked her to be a senior model and start planning some awesome photo shoots.   During our first meeting I couldn’t help myself and I asked her about her ethnicity.  I found out that her grandfather was full blooded Native American and that Madison's mother was raised on a reservation in Oklahoma.  In fact Madison was hoping that I could do some photos for her that celebrated her family's Native American Heritage.  I jumped at the opportunity.

 

Now this is the part of the story where I give major Kudos to Madison's mother. Madison's mother loves to scout locations, source wardrobe and hunt for props.   This woman is amazing and relentless in the pursuit of making her children happy.  We could all take a lesson because her kids are priority number one, no exceptions.  So Madison’s mom worked her magic, pulled  strings and secured some amazing locations.  She also styled the wardrobe, and secured us a horse to work with.  Like I said she’s amazing.

 

Our first location for the day  was a beautiful pasture on private land that the owner let us use as long as we could prove that we were a legitimate studio and had the proper insurance.  So with a copy of our Insurance policy, a signed liability waiver and more lighting gear than you can shake a stick at, we began an epic day of shooting.   Madison looked great, her wardrobe was fabulous and even the horse cooperated.  Like I said, it was epic.

madison-outdoor-Salem, Oregon-senior-portrait-on-horse.png

Our second location for the day was the All Nations Native American Veterans Memorial in Jefferson Oregon.  This Memorial celebrates Native Americans that gave their lives in battle while fighting for our country. Because of Madison's Native American background The curators of this memorial / museum were gracious enough to allow us to shoot at their location.  Now let me back up a tad.  To just say that they were gracious would be a huge understatement.  The good folks at the All Nations Native American Veterans Memorial provided us with the use of their hand crafted leather dresses, hand beaded necklaces, an authentic Tepee and even a live wolf.  Yes I said a live wolf.  Who as it turns out is a giant marshmallow that loved to sit in my lap and lick my face as I tried to take pictures.  The folks at the All Nations Native American Veterans Memorial l really rolled out the red carpet for us and helped us create some amazing images that celebrated Madison's heritage.  I encourage anyone interested in Native American culture to visit the All Nations Native American Veterans Memorial for an incredibly hands on educational experience.  Or maybe just to see a live wolf.  Either way it’s time well spent.  Click here to learn more.

 

All in all it was a tremendous day. We met some awesome people, we created some awesome photos and a wolf licked my face!  It just doesn't get any better than that.

 

Thanks for reading and have a great day,

Daniel

More on Senior Pictures:
Senior Pictures
Senior Picture Blogs

Daniel Troutman
daniel@troutmanphoto.com
Albany, OR

Daniel Troutman started his career in 1999, is an internationally published photographer. He began as a staff travel photographer, and is now runs a retail studio in Albany, Oregon. His images have been published by some of the largest agencies in the world, such as Newsweek, VH1 Music Television, The Food Network and Best Western Hotels.

Senior PicturesDaniel Troutman