Vintage Vibes: Isabella’s Senior Session
A cool senior session trend I’ve seen this year is wearing family heirlooms. Jewelry, shoes, dresses, you name it! I wish that had been a trend when I had my own senior photos taken. How neat is it to get to wear something that’s been passed down from generation to generation?! Color me obsessed!
Art and coffee go hand in hand.
As a lover of both art and coffee, I can attest to this statement. I’ve loved art since the first time I watched my mom paint, long before I could hold a brush with my chubby child fingers. If there is any gift that my beautiful mother has given me that I’m most thankful for, it’s the ability to see beauty everywhere I look (and of course her love for coffee!).
When Isabella first reached out, she mentioned that she loves anything involving art and drawing. Immediately, my mind started spinning, trying to come up with the perfect location to show off her talent. I love to use local businesses as backdrops for my photography, and one of the first places I thought of was Sacred Grounds Cafe. An exposed brick wall and a local artist’s work displayed everywhere you look? Total art vibes!!
“If you ask me what I came to do in this world, I, an artist, will answer you: I am here to live out loud.”
Speaking of vintage…
This fur hat is the stuff my dreams are made of! It’s cozy and fun, with a winter-is-coming aesthetic that I can’t get over. If you need to find me, I’ll be in the nearest thrift store combing through the accessories in search of this exquisite piece.
There are some many things I love about Isabella’s senior photography session, but this next part is up there on the list. I don’t know how we go so lucky to catch the sun at the perfect moment. The hazy light, her monochromatic outfit. So many things to love!
Then we headed to a tried and true spot.
The Gardens at SIUE is a regular haunt. I love the multitudinous backdrop options. It doesn’t even matter what time of year you visit. You’ll always find something beautiful.
We’re coming full circle here with yet another beautiful vintage piece. Few things get me as excited as this blue fur coat does! (Okay, okay. That’s not entirely true. I’m fairly excitable most days (maybe it’s all the coffee!), but clothes are kind of my thing. Give me something unique and fashionable to photograph and my inner 5th grader who dreamed of being a fashion photographer comes out!)
Above all, on every photoshoot, I like to have fun.
Great photos are wonderful, but a great experience is even better. Many photo sessions mark a change. A new baby, an engagement, a graduation. You hire a professional photographer to capture that moment of change, and those photos become part of your memories. I want you to remember laughter and playfulness and kindness. I want you to feel beautiful (or handsome) and I want you to feel like yourself when you look at your photos. Insert my favorite quote of all time—one I discovered when I was a graduating senior—and it’s stuck with me ever since.
“Look, I don’t want to wax philosophic, but I will say that if you’re alive you’ve got to flap your arms and legs, you’ve got to jump around a lot, for life is the very opposite of death, and therefore you must at very least think noisy and colorfully, or you’re not alive.”
