Back to the Blog with a Beautiful Brunette: Gustine Senior Portraits

It has been entirely too long since we last posted to this blog -- we were still shooting the Class of 2011 back then! And then we were swept into wedding season, David was off shooting the California State Parks slated for closure for his personal project over at www.70in70.com, and then suddenly school was back in session and the Class of 2012 started scheduling their shoots. And now that the senior portrait season for 2012 seniors is winding down -- only one more local school is still accepting portraits for their yearbook -- we are overdue to share some images from the wonderful seniors we had the pleasure to work with this year! We have a lot of catching up to do, so these posts are going to be heavy on images and light on words...

I am going to start off with Chelsea, a lovely senior who was looking for a natural look. Chelsea herself has a very natural and dreamy look that was well-suited to her chosen location, and she seemed very relaxed in front of the camera. Now, without further ado, here are a handful of images from Chelsea's senior session:

 

 

 

While senior season is running down for the Class of 2012 for inclusion in yearbooks, we know that there are seniors who have not yet taken their senior portraits (just guessing, based on the 3 inquiries we had this morning ;o). We still can fit in a few more seniors from Orestimba before the deadline, and we always like working with students from new schools! Check out our Pricing page for more information on packages, or give us a call at 209-351-9735 to set up your appointment!

Six Degrees: Linden Senior Portraits

Posted by David, Approved by Melody (I'm hopeless without her)

Kierstin marks a new record for Melody and I as the furthest reach for our seniors. Galt High School is some 63 miles from Turlock. Yes, that's a Galt letterman jacket. They just so happen to have the same block letter G with red and white like Gustine High. I guess they figured being 80 miles apart would keep them safe from appearing in blog posts together.

We met up with Kierstin, her mom, and even her grandmother out in Linden, CA, my home town. Our always helpful friends Bobby and Krissi provided us not only the use of their property but also golf carts. Full disclosure: I've known Bobby since grade school and his wife Krissi is related to Kierstin. Total six degrees of separation going on here.

The plan was to catch some of the last of the cherry blossoms before they hit the ground. Rain the weeks before kept us from catching them in full bloom, but luckily the skies opened up just long enough for us to pull this shoot off and, man, was it a fun shoot. We got to zip through orchards on golf carts, had an adorable model to work with, help from mom, a cheering section in the form of Krissi, mom, and grandma, and got to shoot in all sorts of character-filled locations.

I'll admit, when we started out I was worried. Kierstin was not in the best mood when she got there - heck, a shower head had dripped water on her freshly styled hair, which would be beyond frustrating, especially after having already worked a seven-hour shift on your day off from school -- and was understandably stiff in front of the camera. I mean, who doesn't freeze up when someone points a camera at them? Almost instantly, though, we sensed the thaw occurring. By the time we headed home, Melody and I were talking about how much fun we had and what a great subject Kierstin was. A couple days later her mom posted this on our Facebook wall:


What a great experience with you shooting Kierst's senior pictures :). We are so excited to see them!!!! Kierst felt like a princess...after stressing out the whole way there...lol. Thanks so much ;)

Comments like that make this all worthwhile.

Next Up: I'd like to say that it's going to be a post from the past but I can't guarantee that. With the coming of spring means the onslaught of shoots, both weddings and otherwise. But if you subscribe to this blog you'll be sure to get the notice when the next senior post goes up. Don't forget to find us on Facebook and to pass our info along to friends.

Beating the Rain: Orestimba Senior Portraits

Posted by David

Going to be light on the words for this post. We've got a wedding that still needs posting, but I wanted to get up another senior before I fall even further behind. Marcus comes our way from Orestimba High. Because Marcus is so interested in agriculture, he got us use of an old ranch that is being brought back to life. The place was filled with the kinds of backdrops that most photographers drool over. Our only problem was the encroaching rain, blistering cold winds that sent my light stand over more than once, and that really creepy basement that none of us dared venture near (especially after seeing the axe marks on the door to the crumbling water tower).

And then, just before we left I asked about getting a few more shots in front of something that wasn't dilapidated, like maybe the neighboring field filled with lush grass. Being an easy-going guy, Marcus said we didn't have to, but we insisted. It's always good to play it safe and get a few shots that you know mom would approve of. 

If you like what you see, keep in mind that there's going to be LOTS more. So if you have an account with Google, follow us through there, or if you've got Facebook (everyone has a Facebook account, yes, even my grandma) use the Networked Blogs app to stay up to date with all the new (and old) senior portrait shoots that are going to be posted.

Becca Le Grand High 2011: Merced Senior Portraits

Posted by David
The internet can be a wonderful thing at times. It connects people in ways never before imagined. It allows us to find friends that we might never have come across or even imagined reaching out to. Becca is one of those rare finds. We’d never even heard of Le Grand High School until Becca got in touch with us on Facebook.

It seems that most everyone in her area gets their senior portraits done by the same couple of places, and hence, everyone’s senior portraits look similar. She wanted something different, something natural, something with lots and lots of flowers . . . well, there’s only so much that can be done about the emergence of springtime flowers, but different and natural is what we do best.

I hopped online, found a point midway between Le Grand and the studio, et voila! Nature! Not only did we capture nature, but we also captured sides of Becca’s personality that I don’t think many people get to see too often. She’s got this Clark Kent sort of thing with her glasses. She hates to take them off, but when she does ... well, I’ll let you be the judge.

And keep in mind that during this entire shoot, our trooper of a senior was sick. She sniffled away in between each shot, but I’d dare say that you’d never know (unless of course I told you).

Many thanks to Becca and her mom for coming out. If there is even one more student from Le Grand that is even half as sweet, then it must be visited and visited often.

I absolutely love the above expression that Melody captured here. This was right in the beginning of the shoot and Becca was asking about what she should do, "That right there. I have a feeling that's you."

The trick with mixing off camera light and ambient during sundown is that the color temperatures don't match up. If you flood a scene with cool white when the sky is lit up in orange it doesn't look right. The temptation is to skip the step to match color temperatures in the hopes of saving time, but in the end you always get back to the monitor after the shoot and think, "ugh, I should have taken the time to fix that." I didn't need it for very much more than the two above shots, but I'd say the effort was well worth it.

Housekeeping: Next up, a blast from the past. We'll start looking back on some of Melody and David's class of 2011. 

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