Summer, Fall & Winter Triple Senior Session with Makenna
Wapsie Valley High School | Iowa Senior Photographer
Last December, Makenna’s aunt Dorothy reached out to me to set up a plan for her upcoming senior session. Dorothy is a friend of mine, so she knew she needed to reach out early to start planning AND she wanted to gift her a session. (I was so surprised and excited for Makenna! What a sweet idea!) Dorothy let me know that they wanted to do a three-season photoshoot: summer, fall and winter. I was SO excited!! I had met Makenna briefly last summer when I did an extended family photoshoot for her and her family, so I knew we were going to have some fun! After Makenna wrapped up her junior year, I met with her and her grandma (who arranged the previous year’s family photos with me) and we chatted about what ideas she had for all three of her photoshoots. And after mentioning she liked colorful walls, willow trees, long grass, water and rocks, I came up with a game plan for her summer session! So let’s start there!
Part 1: SUMMER
Newbo District | Pleasant Creek State Park
Makenna reached out to Nicole at Onyx Salon and set up hair and makeup, who her family had worked with in the past and started her photoshoot day off getting pampered (which turned out PERFECTLY by the way). We met at the Newbo City Market and I learned quickly that Makenna had brought a fan club! Her grandma, her cousin, and her bestie all joined her and I KNEW it was going to be a party! (Senior photo tip: bringing your bestie is a GUARANTEED good time.) We explored some of my favorite spots in the area, and I could tell after showing Makenna the back of my camera that she was feeling. her.self! She was ROCKING it! Of course, the excitement coming from her best friend Chris, definitely helped too!
I knew I wanted check out (or “Czech” out?! See what I did there?!) the Czech Village in Cedar Rapids because of their colorful mural walls. So we hopped over there, changed outfits (I ADORE this color on Makenna) and found some really fun, unique spots.
Next stop: Pleasant Creek State Park in Palo. We took the trek out there and found one of the last remaining willow trees post-derecho. We tried some cool angles with the willow tree branches, found the perfect path through a wildflower field (a fun surprise) and then changed outfits one last time!
This is one of my favorite spots out at the park, because it’s so high up that you get to see the water behind it. And the long grass was super summer and pretty, and had pops of little wildflowers too! We were snapping away (and sweating away, as usual for me) and who shows up?! Aunt Dorothy who had reached out to book Makenna’s session from the beginning. What an exciting surprise!!
By the end, Makenna was a pro and I already knew the next 2 sessions were going to be SO easy and fun for her!!
Part 2: FALL
Downtown Cedar Rapids | Palisades-Kepler State Park
The day we had chosen for Makenna’s fall session ended up being a little dark and overcast, but after some deliberation about rescheduling we decided to just go for it anyway! She had scheduled hair/makeup with Nicole at Onyx Salon right after her first session to get our date/time locked in. I LOVED how “fall” her look was this round!! We decided a location pretty far in advance but the day before her photoshoot I had scoped the Palisades out for another upcoming session and had a feeling she’d LOVE all the fall colors happening here! So the day before her shoot, I changed up our game plan! We met by the Cedar Rapids Museum of Art and used that area, but moved QUICKLY! It was windy and cold, and Makenna had chosen super-cute fall outfits that didn’t happen to be ideal for cold weather. So we just kept the car running nearby and didn’t stay in one place too long!
After a few photos there, we drove down the road to White Star Ale House for their famous vine wall and then hit flew to our last stop in Cedar Rapids: the parking garage across from Eastbank Venue! I love this spot and Makenna wanted more of a city-look for this round of photos. We moved fast enough that we were even able to do an outfit change and get some photos of her in her second outfit here as well!
Then off to the Palisades…one of the photography HOT SPOTS, especially during the fall! It’s been a few years since I had done a photoshoot there so I was excited to try it out again!!
Aren’t the fall colors perfect!?
We drove to another spot closer to the river for some long grass and more fall colors! I LOVE how this whole combo came together. Isn’t Makenna so darn beautiful!? This was my favorite of her fall outfits. I just love that skirt color!!!
Then after picking off all of the burrs (lol) we changed outfits and headed to the famous beaches of the Palisades! We did some leaf-tossing, rock-climbing and dog-wrangling and were able to capture some amazing and fun shots!! The ones with Makenna and her beloved dogs are definitely my FAVE!
After wrapping up adorable puppy photos, we were able to just explore the area and get creative with posing. We had a few windy Pocahontas moments, but Makenna is such a natural in front of the camera and made my job so easy! I was already SOOO looking forward to her most unique session: in the snow!!!
Part 3: WINTER
Wanatee Park
For Makenna’s final senior session, we planned for snow, pine trees and all things beautiful about winter! This is SO hard to plan, because…. well, Iowa weather is known for being unpredictable. ESPECIALLY hard to coordinate and plan when you’re scheduling hair and makeup to be done beforehand. We chose a Wednesday the first week in February when we knew Makenna didn’t have school and crossed our fingers for snow and non-dangerous wind chills. She scheduled hair and makeup with Nicole at Onyx Salon and we waited for the day.
Meanwhile, I planned on leaving for vacation the next day but the flights weren’t lining up in our favor. So we ended up having to change our itinerary to fly out of Des Moines VERY early the next day, which meant we would need to leave the night before to stay in a hotel in Des Moines. Meaning RIGHT after Makenna’s session, I would be leaving for vacation. Talk about a whirl-wind! But as always, it worked it perfectly. I scoped out our location a few days beforehand. My criteria: snow, a spot without buildings in the background but somewhere with an outdoor plug to use my beloved snow machine to make some magic happen. I came upon a lodge out at Wanatee that would work for us! (I LOVE Wanatee for it’s many different backdrops it provides within a small park.)
Makenna, her grandma and her bestie Chris showed up that day ready to make this the fastest photoshoot yet. Sure, it wasn’t dangerously cold but it was PRETTY dang chilly. Most of her outfits were chosen with the cold in mind, but the last was a special idea (that I was pumped about) and would require A LOT of help and fast movements.
We started with Makenna’s photos with Chris! We planned on including him in a few photos from the start, but settled on the winter ones with him. Grandma came up with the idea of the amazing, gold “2022” balloons and bringing sleds. Oh! And the fun senior-year piñata Makenna and Chris made for class. To say we had a blast is an understatement!!
After a quick outfit change into her beautiful green jacket, we hit a different spot in the park for those rich dark greens we were after. I LOVE how this outfit compliments her eyes, skin and hair color. And that she brought her Honor Society metal to show off!!
And the last part of the session that was supposed to be the quickest. While Makenna got dressed in the warmth of her vehicle, Chris and I set up and test the snow machine. We wrap Makenna in a blanket and get her perfectly placed.. suddenly the snow machine won’t work. We LITERALLY just had it tested. After a minute of freezing and frustration, I sent Makenna back to the car to keep warm and Chris and I brainstormed. We decided to try to warm it up in the car and try again. After a bit, we set the blanket-wrapped Makenna back up in the perfect spot and the snow machine started working!! While keeping a blanket nearby, Grandma and Chris alternated on wrapping her up when needed and blasting her with the snow machine (one of them literally blasted Makenna directly onto Makenna that we had to pause to de-snow her… I won’t say who LOL).
When we wrapped up, all frozen, Makenna was SO excited from how much fun she had!! She hugged and thanked me and ran to the car to warm up… and I was off to start my vacation!
Multiple senior sessions are SO fun and we get so close that it’s sad when it’s all done. How amazing is it that you get to have different makeup and hair styles and SOO many different looks?! Totally worth it, I think!!!
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.
