Last month, I had the pleasure of photographing a young woman named Rebeccah at Wall Doxey state park. She particularly wanted to take her photos there because the dogwoods were in bloom. This was a casual “senior photo” session for Rebeccah, as she was graduating high school this spring (with honors!) She brought her friend, her younger sister, and her cousin along, so they got in on the photos as well!
Rebeccah, her sister Emelie, and cousin Kayla
Takes and outtakes from a recent photo shoot with my niece. Silly/serious poses.
Fuji GA645i Kodak • Portra 160NC, expired 2006
“The stories behind the photos…”
I’m a sucker for this kid. I know it. She knows it. Everybody knows it. She doesn’t like being in front of my camera very often these days, so I started giving her a little compensation when I wanted to take more than just a photo or two here and there. I told her it’s because models get paid to be photographed, and that she is my #1 model. I think I am going to start sharing this tip with all my photographer friends who have photos weary kids! Bribe them with video game money (that’s what this kid spends her modeling fees on anyway!)
Anna Marie actually initiated this photo shoot because she wanted money for a particular thing. Having her initiate the photos is fun for me, because her enthusiasm is really cute when it’s her idea to do the photos. I jokingly told her that she could just clean her room for chore money instead, but she wasn’t having it…
As a seasoned model ( đŸ˜‰ ) she has her “serious model face” down pat (not smiling, just like runway models and Kanye!) But, in this photo shoot, I got to capture her beautiful smile too. We actually laughed SO MUCH while we were taking these photos. I will have to bribe her into doing this more often!
I initially just wanted to do these photos on film, because it’s always been my preferred way to document my niece as she’s grown up. I do have a new digital camera and lens combo to test though, so I couldn’t resist taking these along with film photos!
Samsung NX300 • Samsung 30mm f/2 pancake lens
So how much did I have to pay my model for this photo shoot? The fee she requested was $6! I gave her an extra dollar and a nectarine (her new favorite fruit) as a gratuity. She was happy with that. I hope the film photos turn out well so I can share those with you too!
I posted a some Polaroid photos from my session with Jessica and Dustin a few weeks ago. Now, on to the main event!
When I do engagement photos for a couple, I like to hear a little bit about how they met, what the proposal was like, and similar details about their relationship. In my opinion, those details of Jessica and Dustin’s relationship sound like they come straight out of a rom com movie: Meeting at a drive-in movie to which they’d both been invited by a mutual friend. A proposal that was to take place at a Rockettes’ performance at Christmas – complete with Dustin’s plan nearly being foiled by unseasonably warm weather and Jessica being confused about the fact that Dustin insisted on bringing a coat along anyway (to conceal the box containing the engagement ring, of course.) Thankfully, the plan to propose was not foiled and Jessica said “yes!”
We decided to win the whole “engagement photos” thing with these photos
Just a little voguing during our session…
Trapped!
^^^More winning of teh internets/engagement photos 
I hope you can tell how much fun I had with Jessica and Dustin during their session. We laughed a lot. They’re pretty awesome*.
*Totally awesome