Retro-Vintage Colorful Fall Senior Pictures | Stella | Liberty High School

Retro-Vintage Colorful Fall Senior Pictures with stella

Newbo | Analog Vault | Pinicon Ridge Park

This blog has been a LOOOONG time coming! Usually I write these within a month of the photoshoot, but we did Stella’s session on October 24th, and I just haven’t had two hands to type out a blog until now. Mom Life, I think! Anyway!! I’m SUPER excited to finally be sharing her session with you because it was AMAZING! Stella’s amazing, the locations were amazing, the colors were amazing, her family is amazing. You seeing the trend here?! So let’s dive in!

Stella’s mom reached out in July after a referral from her friend, the owner of Pink Umbrella Bakery! (They have DELISH cookies/treats and I did a branding photoshoot for them wayyy back when.) Originally Stella had requested a summer session, early fall at latest but I was on maternity leave until mid-October. To my surprise, they still booked! We met for our consultation, talked about ideas, outfits, etc and I found out Stella’s love for concerts and all things music, including her plans to go to Chicago after graduation to pursue a career in music. Like, what?! That was a first for me and I was INSPIRED! We talked about doing part of her session in a record shop and Stella was pumped for the idea. So the next day, I started looking. None were going to be open on her photoshoot day. (And while it may seem simple to reschedule, it’s really not. We usually have hair stylists, makeup artists, spray tans, nail salons, etc all set up with appointments already.)

I started brainstorming other ideas, and nothing felt as perfect as a record shop. So I tried Analog Vault again. It was the perfect location AND is super cute inside with nice big windows. I offered to rent it out, if they would let us. The owner graciously took time out of her day to let us rent it for 30 minutes. We were/are SO grateful!! And I could also cross “do senior photoshoot in record shop” off my list! Eek!

Fast-forward to Stella’s photoshoot day. The weather was supposed to be decent, a chance of rain for 30-ish minutes, and overcast. We decided to go for it! We started with hair and makeup at Moxie Salon. Justine from Aurora Blush styled her hair and Kasya did her makeup. It turned out perfect! Ok - it’s picture time!

First up was the Newbo District. We planned to just hop around the area until our rental time started at the record shop. Of course, we had to hit up my favorite spots!

It started to drizzle, so we swung into the bookstore nearby super quick after an outfit change. And then back out to the alleyway nearby. We had to do another outfit change before heading to the record store so we had to work FAST!! (Don’t worry, I KNEW we had to use this outfit again. It’s too cute not to!) But when I say we were moving fast, I mean it - we started pictures here at 2:03 and took the last one at 2:09!!

We hopped into Analog Vault as the rain continued. Talk about perfect timing. We met the owner, Stella changed into her CUUUUTE vintage-inspired outfit, and we had SO much fun in this cute shop!! Once our time was up, we headed back to our cars to change locations and snapped some cute photos along the way! Then it was time to change BACK into the green dress outfit - sorry girl! (Are you obsessed with these pictures at the Analog, because I AM!!)

Another side note: I decided our next location WHILE driving from the salon to Newbo. I had a spot in mind originally, but as we drove past it, I saw another location that looked even BETTER, so we decided to chance it and give it a go. I’ll let you decide if it was worth it or not…

Umm, yes. It was. These are some of their FAVORITE images of the day. We spent entirely too much time on this vine wall. hah! Oops!! Next up: Pinicon Ridge Park.

When we arrived, the gorgeous red tree that I had planned on bringing her to that was PERFECT 3 days prior… leafless. Bare sticks on the tree. Not a leaf left on it. Cue the panic. Luckily there was this amazingly orange-leafed tree right nest to us. So we used it, the long grass area next to it and headed into the park. Spoiler alert: all red leaves had fallen from the trees. (Hey! At least the rest of the colors were still there and vibrant!)

Stella even had her grandparents bring her pup, Chanel, for pictures!!! I LOVE PUPPER PICTURES!! How perfect are they?! And that fall color is gorgeous!

Of course we used the beautiful red bridge, which I LOVE for fall pictures, to wrap up Stella’s session. And what a perfect day it was!! It was so fun getting to hang with her whole family - mom, dad, brother, grandma, grandpa AND pup all joined us!!

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 (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!

Trendy and Unique Urban Senior Portraits | Lydia | Iowa City

Trendy and Unique Urban Senior Portraits with Lydia

Downtown Cedar Rapids | Penningroth Barn

I have to be honest. When Lydia first reached out to me, it was through my non-business email address and I assumed it was probably a spam emailer. (I get a lot of those - lol!) But I responded anyway and realized I was talking to Lydia, the senior, and not her mom. Which happens from time-to-time, but not often. And usually my emails get lost in their junk mail, forgotten about, etc etc. To my surprise, she responded and I scheduled a phone call to chat with her mom! And the rest is history as they say.

We scheduled Lydia’s session date and I met up with them for their consultation. I learned so much about Lydia - she’s so open and inviting! We chatted about all her ideas for her session, and came up with a game plan. Her first stop - professional outfit styling with Radiant Boutique by Rhi! Lydia was SO excited about this service and I’m SO glad, too! Rhi and I started collaborating a couple months ago (when I found out she existed) and what a PERFECT service for my seniors. Lydia ended up getting ALL her outfits from Rhi. And as you’ll see, she looked AMAZING!

Fast forward to senior picture day! Lydia’s mom decided to get a quick family photo taken at the beginning of her session (it’s an add-on I offer) so she dropped off Lydia at Moxie Salon and took her sister to go find a last minute outfit during Lydia’s hair and makeup. I had Lindsey on makeup and Justine on hairstyling, and we just had a blast chatting with Lydia!

We met Lydia’s mom and sister (who was the SWEETEST by the way) back at the salon, changed outfits and off we went. We got to our first location, snapped some family pictures and they realized they had left a cell phone in the bathroom at the salon. So while mom went back to the get the phone, Lydia, her sister and I started in on Lydia’s photoshoot day!

And she was SOAKING IT UUUP!!!!

I knew she would be a model and comfortable in front of the camera for me!

We took SO many gorgeous photos! And riiiiight about here is when mom returned. Right in time for an outfit change. And we ventured further into Newbo!

This outfit on these stairs was my FAVORITE combination! STUNNING!

We were moving pretty quickly, because we were running a tiny bit behind, per usual. (ha!) But I knew from our previous conversations that Lydia’s really wanted some really good pictures showing off her pretty blue eyes. As we were heading back to the cars to head to our next stop, I spotted this door and HAD to stop. I knew it would really make her eyes pop!! So gorgeous!

Next stop was the old barn out at Indian Creek Nature Center. Our FAVORITE outfit was next and were were about to spend a good amount of time exploring this spot!

This hat was part of the styling that Rhi at Radiant Boutique styled her in and it was the PERFECT mix of trendy and natural!

I LOVE these yellow stairs! I don’t know why! Next up was the bridge - the specific reason we chose this location.

Can you tell we loved that spot!?! SO pretty!! Then off to the flower field that Lydia picked (with a pit-stop in the trees that was too nature-y for her, so we only took a few lol!!)

! I haven’t photographed this kind of flower field before so it was fun to try something new.

Can you tell we didn’t spend ANY time at this location or LOVE this outfit at alllll!?! (sarcasm, just in case you couldn’t read that through text lol.)

Our last stop and outfit was one I was really excited for because I had always wanted to try this location. And her outfit was perfect for this spot!

Since we were at such a high point in the city, the sun set more slowly and we were able to get creative and shoot a little longer. But Lydia was definitely getting tired out and we were all ready to wrap it up! What a great end to a stunning photoshoot!

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!

Downtown & Beachy Vibes Senior Pictures | Grasie | Center Point-Urbana High School

Downtown & Beachy Vibes Senior Pictures with Grasie

Downtown Cedar Rapids | Pleasant Creek State Park | CPU High School

Grasie’s session was one I was looking forward to a little extra! I had met her (kinda-sorta) when I did her brother’s senior pictures a few years ago and so when her mom reached out again, I was SO excited! (It’s such a compliment to have client’s who return back to me!) I met with Grasie and her mom and learned that Grasie was really up for whatever I wanted to do for her session, which was SO nice, honestly! I DO love hearing and coming up with the PERFECT senior session for my seniors, but sometimes it can be a big struggle to fit it all in and time it all out perfectly. So when Grasie told me I could just pick what we did, I felt like I had ALL the options in the world to choose what inspired ME! Like, where do I begin. In the end, I decided to keep it simple so her photoshoot day was low-key and fun!

We were SO close to doing a sunflower field but there weren’t any close by us that were ready. So we veto-ed that idea. My goal was to find STUNNING backgrounds for her and somewhere she could get her feet wet, but also incorporate some downtown city looks and we nailed it - and then some!

We started with hair and makeup at my house with Chelsea on hair and Angie on makeup, then headed into Cedar Rapids. We decided to meet at Green Square Park so we could explore the areas I had picked for us! Once I saw her outfits, I knew the locations I wanted to try. As we were parking, I drove by one of the locations and it was gone - demolished - and a new building was being put up. So I had Grasie and her mom park while I took another drive around the block and found a NEW but perfect spot to try for her first outfit. I LOVED how the aesthetic worked for this outfit. And it was low-key without many people around so it gave us a chance to warm up.

We knew her Coe College outfit would be a quick one, but I LOVED it on her! She was already ROCKING her shoot and I knew it was going to be a fun, easy night. We changed outfits in my crazy pop-up tent and started venturing towards the “pretty” city look before we did the more “grunge” city look. I know there has to be better words to describe it, but oh well! hah! First stop was the Cedar Rapids Public Library. Which was the PERFECT location for this gorgeous dress!

Then we did a little more venturing, stopping at some of my fave spots! (They’re my faves for a reason, doesn’t she look gorgeous!?)

Grasie changed outfits again and I LOVED this outfit! I thought it was shorts when she had showed them to me, but this skirt was the best with her boots!!! Obessed!

We used this outfit as our “transition outfit” and headed to Pleasant Creek State Park after wrapping up downtown. I knew with the boots, it had a city vibe and without boots it would look perfect in a nature setting. Adding a cute yellow flower was the perfect touch and pop of color!

And then not unlike me at all - but I totally forgot that Grasie’s mom had told me she wanted a special picture of Grasie holding up her baby picture in the BLUE dress that we had already changed out of (we did this with her brother, too, so it’s really special and adorable!) so Grasie changed quick into her blue dress again for a quick few shots - sorry girl!

And then one last outfit for the night! With a cloudless sunset, this willow tree is AMAZING but of course the sun didn’t want to cooperate (hey - we’re not complaining, it wasn’t raining or overcast). I had stressed about the dang weather for Grasie’s session for a week. It was set to be overcast/cloudy and I probably asked her 12x if that was ok with her, because so many of my seniors REALLY want that golden sunset light that my photos are known for. She told me over and over again that she’s totally ok with it being cloudy. But the day of, everything cleared out! Hallelujah. Until the ONE moment I wanted that sunlight behind the willow tree - the clouds moved it. They turned out gorgeous still, and honestly made it WAY less of a hike through the weeds for us!

The clouds seemed like they were going to stay the rest of the night, which is ok - it’s what we had planned on anyway. I asked Grasie if she wanted a rock-water vibe or a beachy vibe (secretly hoping for beachy because I haven’t gotten to do beach photos in years) and she chose beach!! YAY! So we headed out and played in the water, fully expecting to end our night there early because of the lack of sun. We were splashing and taking some gorgeous beachy shots when the sun started popping out. We RAN to utilize the parts of the beach that were lit up!

We were wrapping up the session and the sun was still out. I asked them if they wanted to go try and capture more of the golden light in another area or just call it a night. They said we might as well go give it a try! We were already there. Oh my gosh, I’m SO thankful we did! As I showed them picture after picture of that magical lighting and how amazing Grasie was doing, they quickly realized my obsession with golden, cloudless sunsets and agreed that it was totally worth it!

Literally - how perfect is Grasie! She’s so dang cute, down-to-earth and I just LOVE her full laughing pictures the most! And I can’t believe this is the last picture of the night!!!

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!