The senior session below shows off both a vintage school vibe and a downtown vibe and I love that this senior has the variety of looks for her senior session!

Amber Fox of Amber Fox Photography used both natural light and backlighting at this session and I love the look of both!  Check out the session below and be sure to check out more of Amber’s work here.

What was your inspiration for the photo shoot?  Pia is about to graduate from the very prestigious art school Orange County School of the Arts. She is brilliant, musically talented and a prolific writer. When she inquired about a possible shoot, I could tell immediately that she stood apart from most of my clients because of her eloquent emails. That provided inspiration for the desk and books, and we added the vintage flair for kicks.

Where did this photo shoot take place?  I shot in Downtown Fullerton and the hiking trail known as the Fullerton Loop.

Did you collaborate with this senior to come up with the clothing and/or concept for this shoot?  As with all my clients, Pia filled out an online questionnaire, which was followed up by a phone conversation about the shoot. I discovered that Pia loved to read the classics and also loved to write, so we thought it would be fun to have a portion of the shoot be around the theme of books and her love of learning. Pia also told me that she loved vintage things and longed for the nostalgic era of the ‘50s. With that in mind, a vintage café and a historic train station were chosen for our additional locations.

Once I told her the colors of the props and created a storyboard of the locations, she chose her own outfits. She’s an art student, and had a good understanding of how colors work together, so she chose wonderful combinations like the blue dress to go along with the orange desk.

What camera, lens and equipment were used for this shoot?  I used my 5D MarkII, 50 mm 1.4, 85 mm 1.8 and 16-35 mm 2.8. And for the awesome light, my assistant worked my 5-1 reflector.

What time of day were these taken?  We started our shoot around 3:30 and shot till a little after 6, once the light disappeared. Golden hour!

Can you share any post-processing techniques used when editing this session?  I edited all these photos in Lightroom and Photoshop. I didn’t really have to do much to these photos, besides pump up the blacks and put in some fill light. As for her skin, I always do a quick brush-over using Totally Rad’s Lightroom brushes. 

What is your favorite thing about this session?  I loved everything about this session. Pia was so much fun to work with, as she took direction really well and had so much fun with posing. But I think I had the most fun using the desk and books for the last part of our shoot. The light was spectacular, the location perfect and her posing spot on. I think this was her favorite part too.

What do you want this session to convey about this senior and about your senior photography style?  This shoot is very much in line with my photographic style, but the use of the props was new for me. Since then, I have done a few more theme based shoots and it’s super fun for me, as it challenges me to go outside my normal shooting practice.

What is one tip you can share with other photographers regarding photographing seniors?  Don’t be scared of them! I think a lot of photographers are scared of working with this age group. As a high school photography teacher myself, I have worked with this age group for the past 11 years and I LOVE them! Being a senior is a special time, with so much ahead of them and so much to be proud of. Even beyond that, they are pretty much adults and once you start talking to them, you will find they are not that hard to talk to.