Having your senior photos done can be scary. I totally get it. When I met Megan, she had already done photos with another photographer. But she wasn’t exactly happy with them!
In my opinion, the photographer did a decent job, but she wanted something better. She wanted to really showcase who she is.
This is why it’s so important to get to know your photographer and for me, as a photographer, to get to know you.
I want to know, what do you love to do? What are your hobbies? What is your aesthetic on a daily basis? Do you have an alter ego that you like to dress up as sometimes?
In the getting-to-know-you process, I love to bounce ideas back and forth with my clients. With some of my past clients, I have taken pictures of dungeons and dragons, art supplies, musical instruments, and the list goes on and on. Even with Megan, she’s a car enthusiast. She likes to take pictures of cars, so I encouraged her to bring her camera so we could get some pictures of her with her camera. She forgot, but that’s OK because we still got some epic images.
It’s all about showcasing who you are, and that has some very important steps that have to happen first:
1) Getting to know your personality.
2) What type of background or backdrop helps elevate the story of who you are.
3) Your clothing. Making sure that it’s flattering yet really on point for your session.
With all of my clients, I’d like to get them on the phone because it’s important for them to understand who I am. I am not your average photographer. I would say I’m a free spirit.
I don’t do what typical photographers do all the time. Sometimes I’m goofy and wild, and I would say some seniors look at me a little silly if they’re not prepared for it. If I can get you to laugh because I’m being silly, that is a real organic and authentic expression and emotion that I get to capture because I’m just being me.
Another really important thing for my clients to understand is this is not a performance. This is capturing a moment in time. This is a timepiece that you’re going to look back at and remember this was me and my senior year. These are the things that I loved. This is who I was, and what an honor to capture this space and moment in time. Truly, it’s an honor.
There was a time when I was younger, where I wanted to fit in. Where I wanted to fit perfectly in this little square box of what society told me I needed to be. Being ordinary and not standing out.
But being ordinary is boring for me, and I can’t be in alignment with who I am if I am boring and ordinary. I am a photographer that’s going to run with you. I am a photographer that will make silly faces and make you think there’s no way that photo is going to turn out. But then my favorite part of the session with all my sessions is the sneak peek.
That’s when I’ve taken this jaw-dropping amazing photo, I show you the back of the camera so you can see for yourself how incredible you are.
Just like with all my sessions, it’s not about me. It’s about you. It’s about showing you that you are beautiful. It’s about showing you that you are worthy. It’s about showing you you can be whatever you desire to be, and I’m going to capture the highest and best version of that.
With Megan, she told me two really important things. She absolutely loves tulips, and she is a car enthusiast. So I went to work digging.
She reached out in great timing because tulips bloom in April. So I knew the exact spot that I wanted to go to. The Myriad Gardens have the most beautiful display of tulips in my opinion. We aimed for catching that beautiful golden hour light.
The Myriad Gardens is one of my personal favorite places to shoot at, but we can’t shoot here on weekends. OK, we can, but I choose not to. This is such a huge place for photographers that are trying to capture their own clients that sometimes it’s really hard to actually find the place you want to get to.
Luckily, this was the very last day of the tulip festival, and we didn’t have to fight too hard for our spot in front of the tulips. But we did have to wait.
We were able to do some really beautiful pictures in front of and behind the tulips of all kinds of colors.
I asked Megan what her favorite color was, and she said blue. Well, we couldn’t find any blue tulips, but we did find nearly every other color. My personal favorite was the black tulips. They were mixed in with white ones as well, and it was a beautiful edgy and moody vibe for a floral backdrop.
Next, I had the job of trying to find a location that would showcase her love of cars. Just so happens that I know a private owner who has incredibly unique cars. So we rented the garage for an hour, and man, did we have the most epic time?
When I say they had some of the most epic cars, I mean, they had a Lamborghini, Aston Martins, you name it! This was the most exquisite location because it had great window lighting, but also such a great edge for my moody side to come out.
To be respectful to the owner of these very expensive cars, we did not touch any of the vehicles or get in any of them. But that did not stop us from getting some of the most epic angles. I mean, how often do you get to go into a very private garage with around 15 INCREDIBLE cars?
Everything was on our side! The timing was perfect. The lighting was perfect, and I had the most perfect client ever.
I got to take a pause here and thank her mom though. She is the one who reached out to me and trusted me with such a beautiful experience. I have booked a shoot with her mom and allowed her to see herself and such a beautiful light that she allowed me to do the same thing for her daughter.
The most important thing for me is making sure my client is having fun and really feeling joy as well as getting them to show their true emotions! This is something you have to evoke with them. It’s not something that you can just make them do. It is always my pleasure to work with clients and help evoke true authentic emotion!
Sending you Love and Light on your Journey
Ashley St.Clair
