oregon senior photographer

Salem Senior Portrait Photographer - Mollia and her adorable family!

This was a first and I thought it was just the SWEETEST thing ever! Mollia really wanted to include her immediate family (including her little sisters, for whom she is a role model), as well as the matriarchs of her family (grandmas and aunt). We shot these in the studio I use in downtown Salem, which was really because it had plenty of room and air conditioning (it was a HOT day)! Don’t worry, we got other shots too (both in the studio and at a park)!

Salem Oregon Senior Portrait Photographer - Myrick, Class of 2025

Yes, this is a high school senior (not a 30yr old country music singer). Myrick is a great kid, with a good head on his shoulders, and I’m excited for his future. His Mom, who I have known for over 40 yr, taught him how to hunt and brought him to his session, so it seemed fitting that we do a photo with his rifle .

Good luck in the real world, Myrick, and good job, Katie, for raising such a great kid!

Salem Oregon Senior Portrait Photographer - congrats, Ember!

Yes, these are from three freaking years ago, but I’m just going to go ahead and congratulate her again! Ember finished high school and cosmetology school the same week, so we incorporated that into her cap & gown session. Her sister (who is married to my son) and her mom joined her for a few shots as well.

Salem Oregon Senior Portrait Photographer - Bo, in black & white

I always try to include at least a few black and white shots when doing senior portraits, as they’re simply timeless. I also thought B&W worked well for Bo, as his expressions tend to lean more towards the serious side.

Salem Oregon Senior Portrait Photographer - b&w senior session at the Oregon coast!

River (pronounced like Rye-ver) was so great to work with! He was willing to get up ridiculously early for one of his sessions (we shot these on 2 different days) and actually smiled, which is rare for a senior boy. ;) In fact, we even got some laughing shots and outtakes (towards the end of the post). Anyway, his morning session was at one of his favorite beaches in Gearhart while his evening session was done at his house and a family friend’s house.

I took mostly color shots, but wanted to share some b&w images since I love how they turned out!

Salem Oregon Senior Photographer - portraits with Parker in downtown Salem!

Parker was so easy to work with during his senior portrait session! He was pretty quiet, but easy going and happily did whatever I asked of him. I love photographing read heads, especially on summer evenings with the warm glow of sunset light. The red hair and freckles add some contrast and dimension to each photo and I have fun looking for complimentary backdrops (hello, turquoise walls!).

As usual, I’m way behind on blogging, so Parker actually graduated in 2024!

Salem Oregon Senior Portrait Photographer - Longing for Summertime!

As I sit here, listening to the winter rain outside, I can’t help but wish for some summer warmth and sunshine (even though I hate the heat and will regret saying this in a few months). Ainsley knew she wanted to do part of her session in this type of grass, wearing her cowgirl boots and sundress, and I knew just the spot! So, we met up shortly before sunset to get these fun shots!

Salem Oregon Senior Portrait Photographer - John & Daniel

It may not be obvious, but these two are TWINS! Daniel (cowboy hat) and John (baseball hat) made up half of the mutli-senior session I did with two other guys (You can see ETHAN’S session HERE and you can see KIERNAN’S session HERE). It was chaos, but the best kind!

Salem Oregon Senior Portrait Photographer - Ethan, Class of 2024

One of the things I encourage seniors to do is dress in something that is comfortable and makes them feel like themselves, BUT to also bring something a little nicer than what you’d wear on a day-to-day basis. Ethan did just that! Want to wear a hat for your session? Fine by me! I’ll just insist that we do ONE without it, so we can meet the yearbook guidelines, but other than that wear what you want!

Salem Oregon Senior Photographer - Noah in black & white

In case you missed my earlier blog post, featuring some of my favorite color images from Noah’s senior session, CLICK HERE to view it. Anyway, here are some of my favorite B&W images from his shoot, including a THEN vs. NOW comparison (first photo). I have older photos of Noah, but I loved his long hair era, so I chose one of those shots.

Salem Oregon Senior Portrait Photographer | four goofballs, one session

This session was total chaos, but an absolute blast! These four guys grew up together and wanted to do their senior portraits together, so we made it happen! We met up one evening at Riverview Park in Independence, as it was a place they’d spent a lot of time together. In the end, they each got their own mini session, as well as a few fun group shots, some of which can be seen below. I will be sharing their individual sessions soon.

Lake Oswego Senior Portrait Photographer - Noah at George Rogers Park

This was my first (and so far only) time shooting at this location and I loved it! I love shooting in new places and George Rogers Park was no exception as it was beautiful! There is so much variety and I really liked all of the hidden little gems for photo spots.

As usual, I’m ridiculously behind on blogging, and Noah actually just finished his freshman year at the University of Oregon. So, these were actually taken almost 2 yrs ago!

Salem Oregon Senior Portrait Photographer - kyle & his smile

I' met Kyle when he was a pre-schooler, so it was an absolute honor to do his senior portraits all these years later! One of my favorite things to do with seniors that I’ve been photographing for a long time, is to do a side-by-side comparison with an old photo next to a current one. As you can see, Kyle still has the BEST smile! You may also notice that he practically looks like a different person when he’s doing his serious face. He is a football player, so I guess he Must look tough occasionally.

Salem Oregon Senior Portrait Photographer - sunset session in downtown Salem

We met up at Riverfront Park in downtown Salem for this session. Ember wore what she calls her “Strawberry Shortcake” dress and I love it! The color matched perfectly with her vibrant hair and also provided some contrast against the green background.

Silverton Oregon Photographer - senior portraits with Jackson!

I’ve been photographing this kid since he was little, so it was really awesome to get to do his senior portraits. Instead of doing all of his photos in the fall, we did split his session up, also doing some in the Spring, right around the time he graduated high school. So, these photos really mark both the beginning and the end of his senior year. Anytime I’ve done this for senior boys, the change is quite noticeable! Not only do they change physically, but you can see the difference in their confidence.

Salem Oregon Senior Photographer - theater, coffee, and a great smile!

Sam’s senior portrait session was so much fun. We did the entire shoot in downtown Salem on a warm August evening. Sam is an actor and was rehearsing for a performance at The Grand Theater all day, so starting there made perfect sense! For the remainder of the evening, we just wandered around the streets and alleyways downtown. Our final stop was Archive Coffee & Bar, so Sam could order his favorite drink. All in all, I think we captured Sam’s personality with this casual urban session!

Oregon Coast Senior Portrait Photographer - cannon beach session, in b&w!

This is one of my favorite spots to do senior portraits at the Oregon Coast. Yes, this location looks stunning in color, but I love these dramatic black & white images too.