Good afternoon everyone! Today we want to share with you a recent outdoor senior session we had with our good friends, the Shew family. Their middle son, Nathan, will be graduating from High School next year, and needed his senior pictures taken. We were more than happy to oblige. If you’re ready to see what we can do with beautiful sunlight, a little bit of flash, and a wooded lot with some fall colors here and there, then continue reading for a real treat!
The coolest thing about this session, is that the photos were taken literally in Nathan’s backyard. You see, he and his family live near Whitmore Lake, on a beautiful wooded lot. They have trees galore and Jeff and I were beyond excited when we arrived. The light was starting to get a little softer, while we set up inside of their home, for the yearbook photos with a blue backdrop. Thankfully, the yearbook portraits didn’t take too long to complete, as we already had a very specific vision in mind for them. Our real adventure begins after these quick portraits were taken.
After the yearbook photos were taken, that is when we started to venture outside. Our first task, was to capture some photos of Nathan with his older brother, Max, for an alumni picture together. I forget what they said happens if they submit this photo, but either way, it was a lot of fun for us to capture some portraits of these two handsome young men together.
Next, we began to explore their wooded property a bit, before deciding to have Nathan stand in the sunlight that was filling a small area. We had him face us, with his back to the sun, which created a beautiful and natural glow around him for some of the portraits you are about to see. We of course, had to use a little bit of off-camera flash, to ensure that we could see his face while editing the portraits. However, these were all relaxed portraits, with a lot of banter and laughter throughout. Nathan is a good sport about pictures, and seemed to be having a lot of fun.
Once we exhausted this particular spot on their property, Nathan asked us if we could capture him up in one of the trees. It was something he had wanted since he knew he was getting his senior pictures on his property. We of course, had no problem with this. He climbed, quite effortlessly, into a specific tree, and we started clicking away. The angle was a little weird, but it was still fun. After his foray into the tree, he climbed down and we had a nice bit of light near some felled logs, along their pathway. (The pathway is a work in progress, otherwise we would have used that for some pictures too.)
After the felled log was also exhausted, we had Nathan stand in front of an area that was filled with sunlight again, near a small pond. We love bright and cheerful pictures, and this spot spoke to us for those types of portraits. We were not disappointed.
Next, we wanted something a little more moody, to really give Nathan something different to enjoy. We found a spot that wasn’t receiving nearly as much light as the rest of the woods, which suited our purpose beautifully. We took a few portraits of him here, and even got flipped off for the effort, lol! (And it was all in good fun, by the way.)
Nathan then wanted some pictures with some of his weapons he has acquired in these past few years. One was an axe, that he worked hard for all summer, and bought at the Renaissance Festival here in Holly, Michigan. This axe is amazing! It is a real axe, it is heavy, and it is impressive. He said it cost him around $700, which isn’t too bad for a custom made axe, in my humble opinion. He also wanted a few pictures with his sword, that he got from Amazon for roughly $50 or less. (The difference in quality was astounding, by the way.)
After a few pictures with his weapons of choice, his brother Max joined us for some epic scenes. The light was perfect and still strong enough for these pictures, and we had a lot of fun creating them. Now, I must mention, that Nathan had asked for some other portraits, but they were a bit too dangerous for us and for his mother, and so we all had to decline. However, with Max holding the axe, and Nathan holding the sword, we took a portrait where it appears they are fighting. They are not, and they promised us they wouldn’t even swing the weapons. They held their ground against one another as we tried to get the perfect shot. After we got it, we had them switch weapons, so we could capture a cool silhouette type of shot with them both standing, as if ready for battle.
Phew, you must think we are done, right? Well, we aren’t! After the above photos, we asked their family if we could take some of all of them together, and thankfully, they agreed. Even their dog, Quigley, joined in for a quick snap. (And a good things too. We found out yesterday that he might have cancer. Please say a prayer for him and his human family.)
Lastly, we quickly took two more photos of Nathan with his dagger, which we all almost forgot about. Doesn’t he look ready for battle?
Whew! What an adventure with our friends, the Shew Family! We had perfect sunlight, perfect temperature, and a perfect setting to bring everything together for an amazing outdoor senior session. Thank you all, for reading about our adventure, and stay tuned for their slideshow, just below. We showed them this slideshow yesterday, when we revealed all of their portraits to them. They loved them, and we loved taking them. We can’t thank them enough for trusting us for their senior portraits for Nathan to enjoy for the rest of his life.
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And that is it! Thank you for reading this far. Please leave a comment below if you think that this was a cool and unique photo session, or if you want to support the family through their tough decisions ahead with their dog, Quigley. And of course, if you need your portraits taken, please don’t hesitate to reach out! We love our job, and we love the adventures we are able to go on with our clients. Thanks again, and see you next time!
xoxo,
Jess
