Special Effects Double Senior Session | Hannah | Alburnett High School

LIGHTS, MUSIC, ACTION!
split senior session with hannah

Paramount Theatre | Wanatee Park | Alburnett High School

A few years ago, I met Hannah and her family when I took her older brother, Zeb’s, senior pictures. You can see his blog HERE! Zeb’s senior pictures were taken in the month of November and we got pretty lucky with the weather, so Hannah’s mom reached out in October of 2020 to start planning hers! She knew that my schedule can book up fast AND both Hannah and her mom are BUSY people! (Hannah has many talents and interests, and her schedule is PACKED!)

We met for our consultation in March and did some planning. Hannah told me she wanted to showcase her extra-curriculars: singing, dancing and poms... and also wanted sunset photos in a flower field (my most popular, and my personal favorite, request)! We decided to split her senior session into 2 dates so she could have the sunset for her flower photos, but also on the football field for her poms photos which we hoped to turn into “Friday Night Light” photos like we did for her brothers!

So I scheduled her for hair and makeup with Nicole at Onyx Salon, made a reservation for us at the Paramount Theatre and planned the rest from there.

When Hannah hopped out of her mom’s car, I could tell that she LOVED her hair and makeup and was super excited. We started at the Paramount theatre for some awesome singing and performance shots. We played around with lights (shout out to Jason for all of the help), we tossed some sheet music and got creative. I mean, we even used a flashlight as a microphone for a few shots before finding a real one - thankfully! I LOVE how unique these images are!!!

(Behind the scenes photos, courtesy of Hannah’s mom)

We ran a little behind while at the Paramount, experimenting with lighting (and some of my lighting malfunctioning on me, of course) so we wrapped up and did a quick outfit change while heading to downtown Cedar Rapids. I LOVED this color on Hannah. I knew we had about 15-30 minutes of time to catch up on, so we stuck to some of my main spots in the area to save time and moved fast! Luckily Hannah is a PRO and we flew through different locations and poses. She kept telling me how fun it was, but she didn’t need to tell me - I could tell! We were ALL having a blast. And we had the perfect weather, too!

Once we wrapped up our downtown portion to Hannah’s session, we headed out to Wanatee Park for her flowers at sunset photos. Of course, the original spot I had picked out wasn’t looking as good as we’d hoped with all the rain and the flowers were pretty much non-existent. We decided to use a little spot right off the main road where a few patches of flowers were, because ALLLLL the rest were like 7 foot tall. LOL! I honestly love how they turned out. SO summery and pretty!

Hannah’s second photoshoot came up QUICK! With her and her mom’s busy schedule, we barely even had time to chat about it, but I know it always works out … and it did!! We decided to spend more time in an urban setting for this session, throw in some nature/trees since we had only down fields and flowers last time, and end our session at the football field with a “Friday Night Lights” theme similar to what we did for her brother’s senior photos. Hannah and her mom started with hair and makeup at Onyx Salon again. I wanted to use the same stylist for both of Hannah’s session and Nicole from Onyx was super sweet to help us make that happen! First stop: Newbo!

We stopped at all of my favorite spots, and threw in some extra fun and non-traditional poses along the way!

I loved the simplicity and softness of Hannah’s outfits at these locations. And I especially loved her openness to trying new poses and locations for me! LOL!

After a few outfit changes in Newbo, Hannah changed into her last minute outfit idea for our pit-stop at Wanatee Park. They have this spot with these gorgeous trees where the light filters in beautifully and I’m SO glad they let me convince them to use it. Her outfit was fun and trendy, and it was fun to try some new poses with her jean jacket! Perfect choice for fall photos, Hannah!

This park is one of the MOST popular spots for photographers, especially during the fall! So while her mom stood as the look-out for cars coming, Hannah and I did short blasts of photos in between cars while creatively working around several other people and photographers in the background. ‘Tis the season for fall family photos, ya’ll! (Even though the trees were still pretty green here!)

Then off to Alburnett High School we went! We had plenty of time before sunset so we used ALLLLL the space we could, creating some adorable images of Hannah in her POMS uniform!

Once it started to get dark, her dad showed up with his construction work lights to help us recreate some of the photos we did for her brother’s senior photos a few years ago! We were lucky enough to have someone turn on the football field lights for us and we started creating some magic. We all LOVE how fun/dramatic/gorgeous these turned out! And the colors of the sunset match her school colors - amazing!

And how about this for a good before/after shot?! (Top left: straight out of my camera, Top right: with round of edits, Below: final image)

I can’t believe Hannah’s senior photos are officially checked off of their list! We’ve been talking about and planning them for so long!!! But I couldn’t be more pleased with how they turned out, and Hannah and her family LOVE them too!

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!

Feminine Senior Photos | Kira | Kennedy High School Senior Portrait Photographer

UNIQUE & FEMININE SENIOR SESSION WITH KIRA

Paramount Theatre | Squaw Creek | Eastern Iowa Senior Photographer

Oh, I can’t wait to share of the adventure we had on Kira’s senior session! I met with Kira and her dad at Hyvee and the excitement she felt about getting her senior pictures done just RADIATED from her. While usually I communicate with the seniors’ parents through the process, Kira had such a vision, her dad just sat back and let the two of us plan her session. The first step, though, getting her braces off! We planned her session for a few weeks after she FINALLY got her braces off - which she was PUMPED about!

Throughout the next few weeks Kira and I texted, staying in contact about her upcoming session. When she sent me a photo of her brand new smile the day she got her braces off, my heart just soared for her!!! And it made me feel AMAZING that she felt comfortable and close enough to me already to send me her super excited selfie. I LOVE my job!

We planned out Kira’s session a few days before her photoshoot, everything was “weather depending.” It had been raining and raining all week leading up to her session, including the day before, so I was a little worried about the outdoor location I had chosen be super muddy. (Spoiler alert: It was.)

Kira and her family chose my “Celebration Package” which includes lots of pampering for the senior. A few days before her session, she stopped by for the BEST spray tan at Sol Sisters in Newbo. (They really are the best! Kira even said “I am so happy with my spray tan! It’s the best one I’ve gotten!! Sol Sisters did so good!”) It happened to work out perfectly because she had Homecoming the next night. The afternoon of her session, Krysta from Make Me Up met Kira at her house and made her feel like a million bucks with her natural, classic makeup look and perfectly curled hair. She was glowing and Kira raved about how much she loved Krsyta!

I arrived at Kira’s house and while she enjoyed a quick meal of chicken nuggets, I started setting up her bedroom for the first part of her unique senior photoshoot. We catered her senior photos to all about her… Part 1 was about her obsession with FUZZY BLANKETS!

This was TOO much fun. I do feel bad about the number of feathers they probably had to clean up after the session was over. But, it was WORTH IT! Next up, Part 2… the Paramount Theatre!

Kira asked me about using the Paramount Theatre for some photos because of her love for theatre, music and performing. I told her I doubt they would let us in but I would look into it. Sure enough, they allowed us to rent it. The WHOLE thing. It was so detailed and gorgeous, but the lights throughout the building were pretty dim… it is a theatre, so that’s expected. But it forced me to get a little creative with lighting and ideas, and boy am I glad we had Kira’s mom and grandma (visiting from Florida) there to help us out!

After a few outfit changes and A LOT of stairs later, it was time to move on to Part 3 of Kira’s unique senior photos.. my backup location at Squaw Creek Park in Marion. The two other locations I had picked out for her were a muddy mess, so Squaw Creek it was! Squaw Creek is were 95.89% of the area’s local photographers go for photoshoots and it was FINALLY not raining. I knew it’d be packed out there, and it was, but Squaw Creek has so many options, I knew we would find some perfect spots.

Kira brought to special outfits that she just wanted a few photos in, because they represented her! 1. Her “Happiness” jacket from her school activities and her UNI outfit because she’s SO EXCITED to be attending UNI next fall!

Kira’s last outfit was my favorite! A classic, feminine two-piece outfit with a bit of a vintage vibe. Right up my alley!

We spend the rest of the daylight finishing up her senior photos as her mom and grandma ooo-ed and awww-ed over the gorgeous golden sky. Kira is SO. GOSH. DARN sweet and I loved spending the day with her, her mom and grandma. I feel like I hit the jackpot that they chose me. What an AMAZING girl, and what a blessing to have gotten to know her!

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 2020 or 2021, or a parent of a 2020/2021 graduate - reach out with any questions or to start planning!! Check out my Senior Gallery or contact me for more info!