Archive for the ‘High School Seniors’ Category

I like designing things.  Back in my hippie days, I used to design, embroider, and sew these little silk handbags for a boutique in Saginaw’s Old Town.  I made a patchwork quilt for my sister out of old blue jeans when she was in college.  I’ve created drapery, clothing, and jewelry… some of it was not worth remembering. LOL.  I’ve  dabbled with charcoal, pencil, and watercolors.  But none of it stuck until I picked up a camera…

This high school senior announcement that I designed was great fun for a lot of reasons.  First of all, this is my niece.  She is the ‘baby’ out of the grandkids.  She is affectionately called  ’T”.  I did her senior portrait session last summer here at my home studio in our lovely backyard with the waterfall, woods, and garden.  Will we ever forget you getting up in that tree, T?  

She ordered a custom invitation and this is what I designed.   It was printed on a pearlized paper so it has a slight shimmer to it making the gray looks silver.  The back side, that has all of the information on it, is completely different and is silver and pink.

I’ve custom designed wedding invitations; Christmas cards; bar mitzvah, baby, and senior announcements; as well as business cards for people.  And, of course, I design photo books and albums.  It’s a wonderful avenue for using my creativity and I love it. 

If you read this far down into this post, use the code “Taylor” before placing your next order on a custom-designed invitation, announcement, or card and I will give you 15% off!

Sometimes, clients come in with a distinct idea of what they want their portraits to look like.  It’s fun and it gives me an opportunity to step outside the box and create portrait art that reflects who they truly are.  Everyone wins!  There is nothing more gratifying than watching someone’s face light up when they see their images for the first time.

High school senior portrait sessions can be like this. Kids know the message they want to convey through their portraits.  And some of them bring in all of the props, the clipped pictures of things they’d like to try, etc.  Brooke was one of these kids!

She is a huge fan of Kurt Cobain.  So she brought in his music and we hooked up her ipod to my stereo and away we went!  We got some awesome images of her.  She’s tall, pretty, and shy.  But with her music blaring, surrounded by her props, she felt comfortable enough to be herself.  When I finally got to show her the images, I don’t know which one of us was more excited! 

Yes, I got the shoes… just the way she wanted them.  Her beloved tennis shoes are now immortalized through a portrait for all time… along with her youthful beauty, big dimples, and sparkling eyes.  Here are a few of the black and white portraits of Brooke.  Best wishes to you, Brooke, as you head off into your future!