Senior pictures are all about celebrating a high school senior’s unique qualities and to celebrate a huge milestone in life. It’s one thing that I absolutely love about senior portraits - getting to learn about what seniors love and then translating that into a custom portrait session that will reflect exactly that. And I think we accomplished that for this Elkhorn South High School senior ;)

Let me back up to the beginning - because it didn’t start the day I met Teagan in Omaha’s Old Market for his first portrait session. In order to get to know all of my senior clients, I start with a consultation and a questionnaire. That questionnaire has questions from: how do you want me to communicate with you to what’s your favorite store, to what’s the song that’s currently on repeat? And several others. But the point is, I want to get to know YOU. Because with every senior session, I start at square one and create an experience that is completely customized to what you love and want for your session. There are no cookie cutter locations or wardrobe suggestions. No two people are the same and neither should two senior portraits be the same!

A sneak peek at what a personalized client portal looks like, including the color and styling ideas I send to each client.

So, back to the beginning with Teagan. Favorite color: blue. Check. Interests or hobbies: skateboards and cars. Check. Favorite places to shop: Silo. Check, check and check. This is how I start building your session. Admittedly, I know very little about skateboarding aside from the short time my young son took lessons. But with a little research and a trip down to the Old Market in Omaha, I checked out Teagan’s favorite store and then asked if we could take some portraits there. With a confirmed yes, and a walk around to get some other ideas for portrait locations, I start to build a plan for Teagan’s first session.

After sending him and his parents a welcome guide and style guide, the next step is to pick outfits that go with the locations for his session. I put together some style ideas with pictures of clothes from his favorite store and send them over, and Teagan and his parents pull some outfits and text them to me, and then we have a quick phone call to talk through what would look best where, and I am off and running with color palettes and styling suggestions for his portraits. This all gets added to a personal client portal that they can refer back to throughout the entire process. I include color swatch cards with ideas for each location, as well as pictures of his clothing with each location so that we have a game plan.

Skateboards at Silo - Old Market

And then finally, the day of Teagan’s first session arrives. The weather is beautiful. The sun is gorgeous. The store isn’t too busy. We start there and I absolutely love the wall full of skateboards. Then we move to the store front window and as soon as I know it, I’ve been clicking away and it’s time to move to the next location!

One of the things I loved about Teagan’s session was getting a little creative with overlays - and they loved it! In both images above, I blended two images together to make them more interesting and also to minimize the reflection of a car in the window that was distracting to the image.

The Yearbook Portrait

A quick change into his suit and we were headed to our next location, an ivy-filled alley way with cool brick and graffiti features. With a yearbook deadline approaching, we knew we wanted to get some specific shots for the yearbook and after clicking several options, another quick outfit change for some more casual pictures before heading to the last spot of the night where Teagan can really show off his skateboarding skills.

Time to skate

We end the evening at a spot with a walkway with a cool pattern. We all stand and watch Teagan do his thing on his skateboard. And I keep saying…can you do that one more time? (Thank you, Teagan, for being so willing and patient with me! ;). But, it’s worth it. I just love how the lines of the sidewalk, the color of his skateboard, the action of his jumps all work together to create these really fun images!

Next up: fall colors and his favorite car

Knowing that Teagan wanted some outdoor fall colors and some pictures with his car, we decided to split his 2 hour session up and did the second half on another day when colors would be at their peak. Check out Part 2 here!

Elkhorn senior pictures - portrait session designed for Elkhorn skateboarder

Skateboards at Silo - Old Market

The Yearbook Portrait

Time to skate

Next up: fall colors and his favorite car