When I think of fun, vibrant colors and amazing fashion, there is one person that comes to mind…Angie Monson!  She is an amazing photographer in Utah, and she photographs seniors in addition to families, kids and newborns!  Her work jumps off the screen and really inspires me as a photographer!  I am sure she will inspire you too!

Here is what Angie had to say about this photo shoot…

My friend Jael came out from TX (and another friend from California, Lisa) to take her daughter and her daughter’s friends senior photos. We just wanted a bunch of locations and tons of clothing options… the more the better!

Salt Lake City and surrounding towns.

Jael DeYoung did most of the styling and brought suitcases of clothing. I just helped pick out a few things and accessories, there was so much to choose from and such amazing stuff that it gets overwhelming but it was so much fun (even though I just found out I was pregnant and felt so sick!)

Some of it was vintage old dresses that she borrowed from a friend and the rest was JCREW and a few other lines that I cannot even remember, it’s been a while!

I used my Nikon D700 and mostly my 85mm 1.4 & 70-200 2.8

Evening… we started around 2 hours before sunset on 2 different days.

I used a few vintage actions on some of the country settings but mostly just my own recipe and edits. I usually just run a soft light layer and then saturate and add contrast. I focus a lot on skin tones and eyes to make the photo feel painted and/or dreamy.

I really love the country setting we found, it was this amazing abandoned old home in the middle of nowhere. I just loved that location and everything we were able to accomplish there. I love the crown photos and the bicycle photos as well… they are really more than what I envisioned for the shoot. The girls were just so fun to work with and we were just laughing the entire time.

Tell the seniors to NOT bring their mom! haha. Really though, mom can really hinder the session because it makes the senior feel like every move they are making is being watched and they just get insecure. When it’s just you and the senior they open up more and go to a place where they can let down their walls and just be someone they want to be for that moment. It’s a bit hard to explain but once you have been shooting for a while, you will understand. I just always tell the mom that it’s much more exciting to see the photos for the first time and be surprised!