Fall is back to school time and I’d like to share some tips on shooting senior guy portraits.  Previously, I had posted the August Photography Assignment for our SOAR! ladies!  It was all about using Textures to enhance Senior Portrait shoots.  Have you checked out the results from our three SOAR! Recipients?!  They are amazing!  And to my surprise, they ALL ended up working with guys!  Lots of photographers feel like working with guys can be harder than working with girls, but wow, this didn’t stop our SOAR! gals!  This week of SOAR! blogs are the BEST pool of ideas for shooting senior guy portraits.  I’m so excited!

Below is Linsday’s!  She ROCKED the idea of using textures to enhance a portrait shoot!  But seriously, all three of these ladies results are a “must see”!   You can see the locations around Linda’s home, a 30-minute drive away from the best drug treatment centers in Sacramento and how she integrated the textures for her shoot, and then check out the awesome results Jennifer captured while working with another graduate and an Engagement Shoot too!

Enjoy my friends!  (And to the SOAR! Recipient ladies, you hit this assignment of shooting senior guy portraits out of the park this month!  Great job!  So PROUD OF YOU THREE!)

xoxo, Me Ra

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I love Texture so much I should have Married It!  (shhhhh….)

by SOAR! Recipient, Lindsay Baumgartner

Call me weird or call me Lindsay, but I adore texture.  Seriously though until this week I don’t think that I could have articulated that.  Scary right ; )!!  I am borderline obsessed with them.  Everywhere my husband and I drive I ohhhhh and ahhhhh over the scenery declaring that each one would be an amazing place to take pictures.

(So this handsome young man is named Drew.  I had the pleasure of shooting Drew and his cousin Tyler in the same session.  They were a hoot fixing their hair and discussing wardrobe changes.  Drew was drafted by the Florida Marlins this spring and will undoubtedly have a great career.  It was an incredible honor and pleasure to take pictures of these sweet and charming young man, and ohhh what a “trooper” he was.  I drug them into a heavily wooded area down a steep hill all so that I could check out the possibilities of this tree.)

(Let me tell you it did not disappoint!!  This incredible hollow tree was incredible!!  It took a couple smiles and perhaps one please to convince Drew to climb into the tree.  Rest assured he looked thoroughly for any spiders or bugs that might attack him mid image ; ), haha I just love it!!)

I’ve been told many times I think outside of the box.  I have been told I see the potential in what the average person might not see.  To me this has always seemed so funny.  Doesn’t everyone see what I do?

(You might recognize this girl.  She was in Me Ra’s blog as well.  She was a model Senior for us at our May workshop.  She and her friend were absolutely amazing and I fell in love with them instantly!!)

(I eagerly asked them if they were interested in walking down a ways to this interesting wood structure that was lying on the side of the train tracks.  It looked like a 3D Star of David, and I was instantly transfixed.  These two girls rocked it…ahhhh to have the confidence they have!!)

I must confess that on a trip to Las Vegas I had a couple of drinks (and by couple I mean one, I am an absolute and utter light weight) and tried to convince my husband, and best friend that I could make something spectacular out of our hotel garbage can.  They laughed at me and continued on…I stopped in my tracks and pleaded with them that I really could.  To which they said…of course you could…but do you need to?

My husband is constantly cursed with this as I bring home all kinds of treasures (not to him) that I can transform into something amazing.  For example just tonight I had to explain to my husband why I would spend $13 on an old buoy.  To which I stood open mouthed pleading with him to tell me it is not the best looking buoy he has ever seen.

(This is one of my favorite places.  It is in the middle of our little downtown area, and you would never know it is there, but there is a little gate that leads down to this quiet place with a picnic table and tree.  It feels like a secret hideaway and it has a number of great textures like this rusted metal panel.  Did I mention I love rust?!!)

So as you can imagine my seniors sometime look at me in an odd way when I take them to where I want to shoot them.  The thing I adore about this age group is they might think it odd, but their adventurous side overrides questioning where in the world I am taking them.

(For this image I picked a couple of daisies from the hill behind me and threw them on the ground I wanted it to look like they just happened to be there.  I had her lay on the ground beside the train tracks and then in true Lindsay fashion I laid down on the ground next to her and was able to capture this image.)

For instance I have drug Seniors into huge fields, down alleys, inside of trees, down hills, under bridges, and pretty much anywhere I can think of.

(We found an old run down peewee baseball field and this is where I was able to capture this image.  I loved the idea and texture of the fence, and don’t get me started on the amazing wood behind him.)

I find great pleasure in finding new locations and odd backgrounds to create an image.  So for this week Me Ra gave me a gift of further understanding myself.  You gotta love that about her…right?!!!

(So this might sound a bit strange, and well the look on his cousin’s face said he agreed.  To get this shot I found a tree branch that had amazing NW moss hanging from it.  Oh, I adore moss too…go figure.  Unfortunately the branch was too high to capture the image I wanted.  So…I asked his cousin if I could get on his shoulders…and after pause and consideration of my seriousness I climbed on and was able to capture this.  Thanks Ty…what a “Trooper”!!

Every day is a chance to see something ordinary in a new way.  I feel as though somehow showing the beauty in something that at first glance might be dingy is God’s special gift to me.

(And lastly this image is from a alley in our small downtown area.  The basic red of the alley seemed a bit predictable so I had him position himself near this old telephone pole, and whalaaaa.  You have this image!!)

I can always see the potential in something…this search and passion for transformation fuels much of my life.  Driving up from the Oregon coast I told my Aunt that all this variety and beauty in our scenery could not have happened by chance.  I thank God every day for the gifts he has given me and the ability to see the beauty in all that surrounds me.

Shine On,

Lindsay