Portrait

Grace | High School Senior Portraits | Urban Downtown and Mountain Top Sunset | Shenandoah National Park

I feel like senior sessions should capture who you were growing up and where you are now. So, Grace and I ran all around downtown Luray, the town she’s grown up in, to find all the most meaningful and pretty freaking awesome spots. From the back of the art gallery and coffee shop to the old staircases she remembered going up for church events, and to the used bookstore. I wanted to find locations that reminded me of her, and I think we ticked them all. We even went up on the Shenandoah National Park (where it had reached freezing) and only stayed there for a short time before going back down into the Valley - all while listening to her favorite band, BTS. We picked up her dog Finn and went to her grandma’s back yard to swing and run around a bit in the field as the sun finally set. It was my all-time favorite senior session, because we were able to fit in so many locations, so many pieces of her.

Mercy | Adventure Portraits | Sky Meadows State Park

We had to postpone this shoot by a day because of the rain, and when I got on location early to scout, it rained so much so quickly that it was flooding. There was no phone service, so calling Mercy to let her know to turn around wasn’t happening. It stopped raining minutes before she arrived, and we had a beautiful sunset with fog joining us for the shoot. It was magic, and so was she.

Rae | Shenandoah National Park | Adventure Portraits

Rae and I met quite a few years ago in a dance class, then she moved to Michigan, where I photographed her last year on the Sleeping Bear Sand Dunes! This year we met up in Virginia, it my Shenandoah National Park, and working with Rae always turns into magic! We started in the forest, because I remembered how much Rae loved the woods in the Michigan sand dunes. Then we made our way to the sunny mountains. 

Rae wore an outfit that I have stocked away in my client closet, so if you aren't sure what to wear, this dress will fit nearly anyone, can be tied in anyway, or used as a skirt!

Epic portraits like this, catching the wind on the top of the mountain, running barefoot in the woods, and just feeling wild and free are my absolute favorite.