Senior Portraits with Miss Bailey

Some seniors come to us knowing exactly what they want from thier senior pictures and I love that!  There is nothing more exciting then being able to create with the client!  I love the creative energy that flows when two people are on the same creative page.  This was one of those times and as an artist it's sooo much fun to take someone's vision and turn it into real printed pieces of art. 

Make sure your photographer uses both natural light and flash.

Bailey from South Albany High School wanted an urban look to her senior photos.  Something with gritty texture and colors that popped.  So we simply walked out the back door of our studio and used the back alleys of Albany to create the look she was going for.  To get the look she wanted we used studio lighting gear outside.  It gives us the ability to balance independently the brightness of both the senior and the background.  This meant that I could really dial in the exact look that Bailey was going for.  Had we lit the picture using just natural light it would have required a ton of Photoshop to get the look and possibly would have ended up looking a bit fake. 

That leads me to the following soap box moment.  Make sure your photographer uses both natural light and flash.  If the photographer you're considering calls themselves a natural light photographer and refuses to use flash then you might be forced to make some creative compromises. Instead consider hiring a photographer that's able to shoot both natural light and flash.  That way no matter what look you're going for or what Mother Nature throws at you, your photographer will be able to get you exactly what you want. 

Ok, back to Miss Bailey....

After we rattled around in the alleys of downtown Albany we went in search of a giant puddle.  Why?  So we could jump in it of course!  Again this is where using studio equipment outside really made it possible to capture Bailey's ideas.  We used the flash behind her to illuminate the water so you could see it and the flash in front of her to freeze the action of her jumping.  Without the studio equipment capturing an in-focus image would have been almost impossible at that time of the day.  Having the right tools and knowing how to use them is what made it possible to take Bailey's ideas and turned them into reality.

I really enjoyed that Miss Bailey came to us with some great concepts, and I'm thrilled we could make those ideas come to life for her.
Thanks,
Daniel

---

Daniel Troutman
daniel@troutmanphoto.com
Albany, OR

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