Sunset in the Wildflowers Senior Pictures with Olivia
Newbo | Wanatee Park | Iowa Senior Photographer
Olivia’s mom reached out to me and I was so excited!! I had photographed her older sister’s senior pictures a few years ago (see her blog here) and enjoyed their family SO much. I have a younger sister so I KNEW not to expect the sisters to be exactly alike. While they’re both super-duper cute (obviously), Olivia seemed a bit more extroverted than her older sis and seemed excited to be in front of the camera… and felt comfortable doing her own thing!
After we met for our consultation, Olivia expressed interested in doing something a little more unique and fun. So I planned out our locations and threw a sprinkle of fun into the mix… literally! We stopped at Almost Famous Popcorn for some ice cream halfway through. But I’m getting off track - let’s start from the beginning.
We started off our day with hair and makeup. Since Olivia lives out of town, we decided to get ready at the makeup artists and we all ooh-ed and ahhh-ed over her home and beautiful photos on the wall. With Chelsea on hair and Lindsey on makeup, I knew she would look perfectly natural and fresh-faced! Isn’t she a stunner!?
Our first stop was exploring the Newbo area. We stopped at all my favorite go-to spots and discovered some fun, gorgeous spots along the way. Right away, before we started taking any photos, I told Olivia to not worry about “holding a pose” and keeping still - to feel free to keep moving a little if she felt like it. And she immediately went into model mode and I LOVED it! Do you love this green as much as I do??!
(Behind-the-scenes photos, courtesy of Olivia’s mom!) I love show examples of “what I see vs. what you see!”
And look at that ADORABLE ice cream picture!!
After ice cream, we changed outfits and discovered JUST how dang windy it was that day. Or maybe it had just picked up at this point. I don’t know, but I DO know that it was a struuuuuggle to get Olivia’s hair to stay where we wanted it. But you’d never know looking at her pictures!
I had to keep the next image just because it was too funny not to! I was snapping photos of Olivia and her mom got curious about the grape vine behind her and went to check it out, without knowing she was directly in the shot. Of course I snapped this photo and included it in her slideshow during their ordering session (when I come to their home and show them their photos for the first time). There was definitely some laughs!
Have you noticed how GORGEOUS her eyes are yet?!
We were struggling with the wind but ended up getting some good shots just in time to leave. And off to Wanatee Park we went! We tried some new spots, and wrapped up with my favorite go-to locations. It was hot and sweaty but that lighting was perfect! And how cute does she look in that color??
My seniors LOVE the tree-lined roads out at Wanatee. I mean, I do too! So after an outfit change, we did some quick pictures in the road (you have to be quick here, because even though the cars go slow, the park is always busy).
And the last thing we had planned for Wanatee - the reason we were there - was the flowers!! Out at Wanatee, the sun seems to sink below the horizon faster than any other place. So to save time, we just jumped across the street to the little patch of flowers next to the road. And honestly, I actually LOVE how the sun looks filtering through the trees. Magical!
We actually had one more stop planned for Olivia’s day. We rushed out there as the sun was setting, but in the end, she just didn’t LOVE that location/outfit as much as these and we veto-ed them to keep these ones! So none of those are shared here, but it was worth it just for the crazy adventure.
Your calendar likely fills up as fast as mine does and it’s SO easy to forget to schedule photos! If you are graduating in 2023 or 2024 (or a parent of an upcoming graduate) - reach out with any questions or to start planning!! Check out my Senior Gallery or contact me for more info!