This summer’s first 2009 Senior!

This Kaitlin Jinnings, a 2009 senior at Carroll High School and our first ‘09 senior of the summer.  Kaitlin’s family knew they wanted to come to us because we did her older siblings’ senior pictures.  She’s a swimmer, and really wanted some cool shots with her swim gear and awards.  Her sister was a swimmer, too, though, and she wanted to make sure her pictures were different.  She came in with lots of ideas and samples of things she liked, which was great because it helped us know exactly what she was looking for.  She originally scheduled for five outfits, but ended up buying time for a sixth.  Her session went a little over the time slot, but that’s OKAY!  We will never push you out the door.  She was having a good time, Michael was having a good time, and we wanted to make sure we covered everything she wanted.  Below are some highlights of her session. I tried to pick a variety of the best, but left some out because I want to leave some happy surprises for when she shows them to friends and family!

    

Scheduling a Senior Session: Times

Generally, our time slots we use for seniors–especially during the summer–are 9:30 or 10:00 AM, 2:00 PM, and 4:00 PM.  We frequently get calls from seniors who want a 12:00 or 1:00 appointment because they don’t want to get up early (they don’t always tell us that…but we’ve been doing this for a looonnng time!  We know!).  BUT, we don’t select those times arbitrarily.  Here are some things to think about:

Between about 11:30 AM and 2:00 PM, the sun is peaking and its light is harsh.  Contrary to popular belief, glaring bright sunlight is not the ideal light for portraits, particularly when it’s coming from directly above you: skin–especially light skin–gets blown out, you have a tendency to squint, and harsh light from above can produce some not-so-flattering shadows.  Plus, in the summer the morning times are much cooler.  It’s hard to stand out in bright sun and sweltering weather trying to look good for pictures (and its not all that  comfortable for the photographer, either).  Girls’ makeup also tends to look freshest in the morning.

Later in the afternoon you’ll also have better light and perhaps milder temperatures.  Particularly later in the summer and early in the fall, our 4:00 appointments can get some really beautiful light.

As I mentioned above, we do have a 2:00 appointment, so we’re not discouraging you from taking that one.  We do have some canopies to help us out if the sun is bright and the day is hot.  We also try to do outdoor pictures toward the end of the appointment, unless our schedule or client requires otherwise, closer to 3:00 or 3:30.

Of course, we will do everything we can to accommodate your scheduling needs, whether you need one of our three main senior times or you need something totally different.

Call the studio if you want to set something up or have questions at (260) 482-2660, or you can email Marta at marta@michaels-photography.com

2009 Senior Sessions/Mailing List

As of right now, we only have about 26 slots left open for our gas card special, so don’t wait too long!

Also, if you are or your child is a 2009 senior and you would like to be on our mailing list, you can contact Marta or Michael at the studio at (260) 482-2660 or email Marta at marta@michaels-photography.com with the senior’s name, school, and address.  And if you’d like, a phone number and idea of how you heard of us always help us to stay up to speed with our prospective clientele.  Thanks!

New outdoor backgrounds and sets

Last week and over the weekend we were working hard on some new backgrounds and sets for our outdoor enclosure at the studio.  We’re really excited about it–there’s a lot more to work with now.  One set is an outdoorsy, beachy theme with a bamboo background, plants, and sand, and the other is a brightly colored set with a Caribbean feel.  You’d never guess it by looking at it, but the small area full of sand actually took 26 big bags of sand.  Here’s a look at the new sets, along with a peek at the first pictures we did with them: Dominik Files, an Ombudsman ‘08 senior.