I love photographing high school seniors. Every session gives me the chance to create variety, capture real personality, and design magazine-style images that tell a story about what the senior loves.
Today was delivery day for one of my favorite orders of the year: Trevor’s custom senior album.
Trevor is a dedicated hurdler and javelin thrower, and we created three custom collages for his album that celebrate him and what he loves to do.
Each collage is layered with images, individually created with dramatic lighting. The images are overlayed to work together, to tell a story about Trevor. These collages are designed with the same creative approach I use in commercial magazine work, but with a complete focus on the senior and who he is.
Because Trevor is an athlete, we combined dramatic studio portraits with directional lighting that sculpts every muscle. And that angled lighting was used to accentuate his medals so they really pop. Then mixing in his strong body language and great expressions, it all came together for some amazing collages. And these art pieces can not only be used in the album, but as wall portraits too (as shown in the video).
And in addition to action shots, for senior portrait sessions we also mix in great studio images and outdoor photographs. We want a variety of images that capture the variety of Trevor’s personality – smiling, serious, thoughtful, casual, all of it. I love mixing in color, black & white, different outfits, and multiple lighting styles.
Watch the full album walkthrough in this video below. Then scroll down to see some of the finished portraits and collage details up close.
Seniors always love the high-contrast black and white close ups too. They are so interesting to look at, and add variety to the album design.
If you’re a high school senior (or a parent) who wants senior portraits that feel like magazine spreads and actually tell your story — whether you’re an athlete, musician, dancer, or anything in between — I’d love to create something this special for you.
Ready to book your own senior session? Contact me and let’s get something started.
Until next time, America.