Senior Portraits with Kate: Sunshine, Flowers & Big Laughs

Senior Portraits with Kate: Sunshine, Flowers & Big Laughs

Culver’s Greenhouse | Wanatee Park | Lake McBride | Calyx Creek Lavender

I first met Kate a few years back when I did her sister Sam’s senior pictures. Kate was just learning to drive and she got lost and it was a bit of a fiasco, if I remember right! haha! Kate doesn’t remember much from that night but she DOES remember that I brought cupcakes, and that’s a win in my book. (Cupcakes from That One Cupcake Place ARE pretty memorable, though, just sayin.’)

Kate’s mom reached out about scheduling her senior pictures later than she normally would of — Kate just really wasn’t feeling like getting senior pictures done. That happens more than you might think. The thought of having a whole photoshoot just of yourself can be a bit daunting and doesn’t sound like much fun for an introvert - I get it! Eventually Kate agreed to do the session and I was determined to make it an AMAZING experience for her.

We met for our consultation, learned a lot about Kate and her style and silly personality (and broken tongue that always falls out of her mouth as her mom would say! haha!) We planned out her photoshoot based on her interests, booked a lavender field to be a little “extra,” got rained out the first time but had the PERFECT day when we finally did it! It was so fun, we had a ton of laughs and maybe even have some inside jokes now.

We started with hair and makeup at Aurora Blush Salon with Ingrid and Lindsey. THAT got Kate feeling herself, I think. I loved how her look turned out! Then it was off to Culver’s Greenhouse.

We didn’t spend too long there, and then we headed out to Wanatee Park for trees and wildflowers. The wildflowers were sort of sparse this year, so we did a lot of mini hikes to get to our spots.

Next we headed to the Lake McBride spillway. I wasn’t sure what to expect here, I’ve only shot here a few times over the last 10 or more years. It turned out to be the PERFECT spot for what I envisioned for Kate’s water/rocks request!

Last, we headed alllll the way to Oxford for the lavender field part of the photoshoot. We got there and there wasn’t nearly as many blooms as we were imagining when we booked it, but we made do and Photoshop will do the rest but we did have the most perfect sunset golden hour vibes! Obsessed!

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 the spring or next spring (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!

Lavender Field Summer Senior Pictures | Kiera | Benton Community High School

Lavender field summer senior pictures with Kiera

Newbo District | Pine Hill Farm | Pleasant Creek State Park

Kiera got the PRETTIEST day for her senior session! Her mom reached out EARLY to get her on the books for late July, the same time of year I did her sister’s senior photos a few years ago. Her sister’s session (her blog here) is STILL the hottest session I’ve ever photographed to this date! (Or it may be tied with the wedding I photographed in Aruba (that blog here)… So dang HOT!) So we were a bit worried that it would be a crazy hot day for Kiera. We met for her consultation, came up with some ideas that we thought would fit her aesthetic, as well as a mini family photoshoot we were going to do in the middle of her session. A few days later, I was looking at her questionnaire I had her fill out and I realized her favorite color is lavender and we have a local lavender field that allows photographers to rent the field for an hour. I emailed her mom and asked if they’d be interested in doing part of her session there, including her family photos. They discussed and weighed the pros and cons, and ultimately decided to go for it. And of course I was pumped to do something unique!!

Session day came, and almost the whole fam joined us for the day (remember, family photos were also happening later on). We met up for hair with Ingrid and makeup with Lindsey and Kiera LOVED how it turned out. And yes, that’s a spray tan for Bare Tones she’s sporting! And then we headed right outside our doors to hit my favorite spots around Newbo.

We spent a lot of time at the first spot, and hurried through the rest, as is typically with photoshoots with me - ha! And then it was time for an outfit change as we headed to Fross Park in Center Point to use their easy-to-access soccer net for some quick soccer photos!

After squeezing feet into a brand new pair a shoes, a round of bug spray and some fun experimental shots, we changed and headed out to Pine Hill Farm for the lavender field. It was mosquito-crazy out there but smelled oooh so good! We used half the rental time getting some SUPER cute photos of Kiera in the lavender and then Dad arrived and it was time for everyone to change into their family photo outfits. We snapped a few quick ones of the whole family, and then just the sisters. What a beautiful family! I’m so glad they did this - it sure can be stressful to plan for, but it’s worth it to have a quick update on family photos before everyone moves away and get busy with their own lives.

Time was up, so we headed out to Pleasant Creek Park where we would spend the remainder of the night. I chose this location because it had a few things that Kiera had gotten excited about: a willow tree, beach and long grass. We started at the willow tree. This area isn’t easy to walk into. The grass is LONG and thick. And we spent a lot of time getting there, got bitten up my mosquitos and left pretty quickly. But there were some wildflowers that we got photos with, of course!

As we waited for the sun to get lower in the sky, we headed to the beach area. I honestly thought we would have more sun on this spot at this time. So I pivoted and I decided to have some fun with the lighting here. It’s not my typical go-to style but after looking at my regular lighting vs this lighting, Kiera liked the vibes and uniqueness of this so we shot the whole location this way. I love it too - it just gives an ulta-summery vibe!

And then we went to head to my long grass location and the sun was just.. gone. So we turned around and tried to chase it down the hill and it just wasn’t happening for us. I later found out that there was a lot of extra cloudiness happening from wildfires up north and that would be why our sunsets were “off” that day and a few days following. But I honestly loved the unique vibes I was getting from this spot as well. Between the wildfire smoke and the campground fire smoke, we were getting hazy mountain vibes and I just enjoyed doing something a little different again! But we were still pretty bummed that the sunset was just gone.

And just like that, Kiera’s session was done! Isn’t she just a natural?!

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 2025/2026 (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!