A big part of being in a business like mine, is continuing education. There are many ways to accomplish this and it is my goal every year to attend at least two or three educational weekends away surrounded by other photographers. There is something special to be able to spend some time with other like minded professionals, to bounce ideas off each other, to hone our craft. A few weekends ago I had the pleasure of spending some time with a few fellow photographers from different parts of the country to work on our continuing education. A part of the weekend was dedicated to newborn photography, which I don’t get to do much of now but hope to expand my business in that direction going forward..but we’ll save that for another post. Part of the time was dedicated to working with a hair/makeup artist and photographing three beautiful women…but we’ll save that for later, too. One other segment was working with high school seniors. You know, if you follow my blog at all, that high school seniors are the clients I photograph the most. I just love working with that age group…being able to help them see themselves the way we parents do. It is such a critical age and so our sessions are really more, then, well, just sessions. I work hard to make them comfortable, to make them laugh, to reassure them that this isn’t going to kill them, that being in front of the camera for this very special, short time in their lives is worth it. I really believe that more important than anything else (well aside from a great portrait), having a senior tell me or his mom or her best friend that they had fun and enjoyed themselves during their session, is what matters most. It’s not always easy but I believe that if we listen carefully, even to those tough to crack seniors, we can hear about their dreams, who they are, what they like and where they’d like to go. I believe those things should show through in their portraits.

While away with my photographer friends, we were fortunate to have 5 wonderful high school seniors to photograph. We had nice weather, well nice if you are from the north, and a bunch of fun. Here are just a few images from our day.