As a senior and teens photographer I’ve chosen to go against the grain and to take an editorial approach to senior pictures. It requires more thought and time than a quick session but it is sooooo worth it. It’s transformative.

This editorial photoshoot happened in January and here it is almost June that I’m posting a winter photoshoot! It’s the perfect example though, of how I create (published) editorial photoshoots that can very easily be senior photoshoots.

Concept: Winter Whites

I’m one of those people who like the winter. I think soft winter light is beautiful, love to ice skate, ski and cozy sweaters are my jam. You can only imagine that finding clients who want an outdoor photoshoot during winter months is a challenge. SO! It was the perfect time of year to create an editorial photoshoot based on winter whites, not only with clothing but all the tones of whites outside as well.

Model

Mya absolutely loved her senior photoshoot and I wanted to give her another experience in front of my camera. She isn’t a model. I can say it until I’m blue in the face but you do not need to be a model to look like you belong in a magazine! This photoshoot experience is editorial in nature, meaning multiple outfits and multiple locations, direction in how to move and creating an overall look and theme to the photoshoot.

Location

Living at a lake and being surrounded by fields has its advantages. Since this winter was really cold the lake froze and there was snow on the ground. Both locations were wintery in look and feel but also had the warm golden tones to them that I love.

Styling

I wanted a tonal look playing into the winter whites. It means tone on tone on tone. It also requires mixing textures. Grab my 3 Secrets to Styling if you want more details on this. There’s a science to creating interesting outfits using one color group but get it right and it’s beautiful.

Photoshoot Day

Big surprise…it was cold. I mean really cold! Originally, I thought the day was going to be overcast but the sun peeked out. I tucked foot warmers into Mya’s boots and for a lot of the shoot you’ll notice her hands are tucked into her sweater. What you don’t see is that she’s holding hand warmers too! She was a trooper. The key is to keep moving and quite honestly we both forgot about the cold after a bit.

Submission

Mya’s images were stunning and I submitted them to a magazine. I’ve always thought about submitting my images but there are deadlines and restrictions stating that images can’t be posted or used prior to publication. We agreed to keep this to ourselves and see if they’d be published. You can see the full spread in February’s publication of Teen Vous here.

The only way that this photoshoot differs from a “typical” senior photoshoot is developing a concept. It doesn’t mean we can’t create a concept for your senior pictures. If that’s what you want let’s talk about it! An editorial approach to senior pictures is an experience you will never, ever forget and yes, you’ll have images that are magazine worthy.

For more information on a photoshoot experience go here.