My Senior Portrait Experience
As a senior photographer, I pride myself on providing a one-of-a-kind senior portrait experience to every single client I work with. I make sure that your personality and style shine through in every one of your photos.
On the day of the photoshoot, all you have to do is sit back and relax. Your job is to be yourself and have fun. We begin the day with a makeover with professional hair and makeup up. Then we jump into the photoshoot but don’t worry, I’ll step you through a series of poses to make you look and feel your best.
Don’t take it from me, here is what Emma said about her senior photo experience.
Part 2 - The Photoshoot
“When picture day came I was really nervous. My stomach felt dizzy from doing somersaults, my palms were sweaty, and I could feel my body quivering. Mariela quickly helped all of my nerves fade to the background when she welcomed me into her studio and instantly made me feel comfortable. Her excitement was contagious and I was soon smiling in anticipation for my photoshoot.
Once I got settled into the studio, Mariela sat me down in a chair and introduced me to her makeup artist, Aaron Gomez, who quickly got to work on my make up. While I was getting my makeup done, Mariela alternated between doing my hair and taking photos and short clips of video for the behind the scenes compilation she was going to put together after my photoshoot.
The whole time I was getting my hair and makeup done, Mariela and Aaron played music, told me stories of past photoshoots, asked me questions, and kept the casual conversation thriving.
>>Mariela created a fun, light-hearted environment in her cozy studio that exuded so much positive energy and surrounded my entire photoshoot in enthusiasm, love, and fun<<
After that, it was time to take the pictures. I changed into my first outfit for the photoshoot, packed up my second outfit, headed out to take my first pictures on location in downtown Crystal Lake.
Mariela knew exactly where to go to get the best pictures. She turned the most unlikely places for a photoshoot into the most stunning compositions.
In downtown Crystal Lake I took pictures in alleyways, behind small shops, on worn wooden steps, and in the middle of a grassy median. At each spot, the pictures turned out better than the last. Mariela has an eye for photography that can turn even the dingiest places into a perfect background.
After taking a plethora of pictures in downtown Crystal Lake, we moved on to our second location, a gorgeous, fairytale bridge in the middle of a wooded area on a serene walking path. The trees were changing color, as they do in the fall, to create a beautiful, subtle fall background.
I sat down in the middle of the bridge and Mariela began to take more photos, which became some of my favorite photos from the whole shoot. During our consultation, when I showed Mariela my red sweater that I wore in these photos, her artist’s eye immediately connected it with this location. She was spot on too.
From that location, we moved back to Mariela’s studio. This was the part of the photoshoot where we really got to play with props that described my interests and take some more unconventional photos.
There were two things that I mentioned, reading and journalism, in my initial consultation with Mariela that really got her excited to experiment with photo techniques and props that she had not yet had the opportunity to play with. I have always loved to read, with one of my favorite book series being Harry Potter, and journalism has become a huge part of my high school career as well as one of my strongest passions.
As soon as Mariela learned this about me she knew two things. One, she wanted to incorporate both into my senior pictures, and two, she knew exactly how to do it.
The newspaper pictures were the ones that I was most excited about. Not only because the school newspaper is such a big part of my senior year, but also because I’m the news editor.
Mariela took the time to make me a custom backdrop with old newspapers and also incorporated the print editions of my school’s newspaper in some of the photos. As a personal touch to the images, she even featured the articles from the papers that I had written.
Finally, we moved onto the last pictures of my photoshoot. These were the ones that featured my love for reading, specifically Harry Potter. Mariela was super excited about these pictures because she had a creative vision and was ready to try something she had not done before.
I was slightly apprehensive about the way these photos would turn out because I could not see the end goal like Mariela. However, I trusted her and her ability to execute her vision and deliver a fantastic end result.
We took various pictures with my copies of the Harry Potter books but, the one that was really exciting was the one where, as Mariela said, we “made the magic happen.” Mariela took the time to photoshop a couple of specific images of me using my wand to levitate a book, surrounded by my Harry Potter books. The end result truly was magical.”
>>The entire photoshoot was full of fun and laughter; there was never a dull moment. I could tell Mariela was having fun taking my picture. The whole experience was comfortable and specific to me. Mariela cared about me, what I wanted, and how I wanted to be photographed the entire time<<
Don’t miss >>part 3<<, all about the reveal. You can also read how Emma prepared for her photoshoot in >>part 1<< of this series.
With Love,
Mariela