salem oregon senior photographer
I love when we can incorporate a senior’s passion and/or hobbies into their session. Teddy is obviously a violinist, as well as a scout! We did his session at Minto-Brown Island Park and the fall colors, combined with the warmth of the sunset light was just dreamy.
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.
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.
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!
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!
This photo shoot was a great way to test out a lens I was renting, while I considered purchasing it. Cheyeanna happened to have a rental dress (from rent the runway) in her possession at the same time, so I think it was meant to be!
Anyway, we spent about an hour at Deepwood Museum & Gardens (yes, I shoot here a lot) on a beautiful Spring morning.
Did I purchase the lens? Despite the images turning out great, no, I did not. For my fellow photo enthusiasts, these were taken with the 85mm f/1.2. I already had the f/1.4 version and in the end, I just didn’t feel that there was enough of a difference in image quality to justify the added expsense.
Katie is absolutely adorable! A girl after my own heart, she loves reading and flowers. We did her senior portraits at Deepwood Museum & Gardens her in Salem. I love shooting here because it offers a LOT of variety, within a small area. The scenery changes, as you walk the property, but it also changes throughout the year. So, no two sessions ever look the same!
Side note: Do you see her cute dinosaur necklace?!
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!
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!
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.
Anna wore the cutest 90s inspired outfit for this shoot. It had sort of a Catholic school nun meets Wednesday Adams.
I really do love the “then vs. now” shots and Ainsley’s is no exception! She was a cute kiddo, but has certainly grown into a beautiful woman! We did Ainsley’s senior portraits in 3 parts, one of which you can see by CLICKING HERE. I’ll be sharing the rest of them soon. In the meantime, here are a few b&w shots from those sessions!
I love photographing Jackson in color because his red hair and freckles are to die for, BUT he also looks great in black and white!
Joseph loves to read and asked if we could do a few shots at The Book Bin, in downtown Salem. He got an immediate yes from me, of course!
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.
Ashton wanted an excuse to wear her prom dress again, so this worked out perfectly! Happy Sweet 16, Ash!
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!
