Casual & Natural Senior Pictures with Chloe
Downtown Cedar Rapids | Center Point, IA | Iowa Senior Photographer
Chloe and her mom reached out in May about doing her senior pictures. They were purposefully looking for someone outside of their school’s normal senior photographer and wanted to travel outside of their area so she could have some fresh locations and a different look to her senior photos! I was so excited they found and chose ME! We planned out every detail of her session, scheduled hair and makeup (always a good and FUN choice), and anxiously waited for her photoshoot day. The day of her photoshoot was a little warm (not rare for July) but breezy and ultimately, PERFECT!
While Chloe got pampered with hairstyling by Chelsea (from Acacia Salon) and makeup by Alyssa, her mom and I planned out which outfit would be used at each of the locations we picked out!
Then it was off to start the night! We parked outside of Eastbank Venue in downtown Cedar Rapids and walked around, explored, tried locations I’ve used before and loved, found locations I’ve never tried before and changed outfits MANY times! It was a blast!! Chloe’s style is more natural, casual and comfortable, so while we DID do some dressier outfits, we did also did a lot of casual, true-to-Chloe styles. Starting with her go-to sweatpants! She laughed when she asked me if we could do a few in them, but I was excited to try something new! She was nervous to start but I posed and reassured her, and the first time I showed her the back of my camera,= she KNEW that these were turning out WAY better than she imagined they would and I watched her confidence sky-rocket. It was amazing!
We stopped for a quick outfit change and did some with her dance jacket. Dance is Chloe’s main sport, and I could definitely tell throughout the rest of her session! Especially when I asked her to walk towards me like a model a few times. SOO poised and perfectly postured!
After her dance outfit, we headed to the building I’ve never been to OR photographed at before, but have been wanting to try. So she put on her more polished outfit and went for a little (long-ish) walk. The windows made it an amazing place for photos, and the road at the end was only used for a parking lot so we were able to get our road shots easily and safely. I think they turned out amazing!!
Then we headed back to our cars, hit up a parking garage and changed into Chloe’s FAVORITE outfit. I loved the grunge-y vibes I got from it, but wasn’t sure we were close by anything that matched that aesthetic. We WERE right next to a construction site but I thought to myself, “if you ask them to shoot there, they will think you’re a crazy person.” But then, Chloe’s mom asked what I thought about using it.. so it was fate! I showed Chloe the back of my camera to make sure what I was capturing was what she was looking for, and she loved them! So, I think we nailed the “unique” portion of her senior pictures!
(Behind-the-scenes photos, courtesy of Chloe’s mom!) I love show examples of “what I see vs. what you see!”
We wrapped up our urban/grunge part of Chloe’s session and headed to Center Point. I’ve been taking SO many seniors to my hometown and it’s been wonderful. The bridge is always a bit hit and something a lot of my senior ask for, which is perfectly fine with me because it photographs BEAUTIFULLY. And I think this outfit in this location was SPOT on!
And last, but certainly not least, is the continually-requested flower field! Chloe wanted white flowers, which was easy-peasy and just off the main road coming into Center Point. The sun was low enough now that it was hiding behind a building which gave us these soft, pretty colors for the last portion of Chloe’s senior pictures, perfectly matching the soft colors of her dress.
Chloe’s family loved all of her photos so much that they decided to just get them all, which is amazing because I can share them all with you guys! I hope you enjoyed a little glimpse into her gorgeous summer senior photoshoot!
Your calendar likely fills up as fast as mine does and it’s SO easy to forget to schedule photos! If you are graduating in 2023 or 2024 (or a parent of an upcoming graduate) - reach out with any questions or to start planning!! Check out my Senior Gallery or contact me for more info!