Meet Hadley, Class of 2024!
Two location Senior Sessions have become so popular this summer and this fall request from Hadley when she found me on Instagram got me excited for just one more! Typically I stop taking beach sessions in the fall months because the weather is so unpredictable and can be rather cold but it just so happens she got THE LAST warm day of October! She and her mom were on a little bit of a southern college tour road trip and after seeing the campus of College of Charleston Hadley wanted to have her senior portraits done here in town.
I will tell you first that time is everything when dealing with two locations. My work is what it is because I know where to shoot and when. So when Hadley came to me and specifically wanted color and vibrancy along with the beach we actually really needed to go for a sunset timeframe to be able to achieve both. Rainbow Row actually faces east so it's the first thing the sun will hit in the morning in downtown Charleston. I also only shoot beach at sunrise and sunset. With the weather turning so quickly I try to never shoot sunrise at the beach or downtown at the risk of there being fog from the changing of ground temperature, moisture, dew points- all that. We lucked out and had a perfect evening the day before Halloween.
I think Hadley was actually very nervous to start, and it can be intimidating to be on Rainbow Row with about a dozen other tourists walking around, and the carriage tours going by. If you don't want on-lookers you try to avoid those evening hours there. But she broke out of her shell after just a few minutes and was laughing and moving around more comfortably. Confidence in young women these days is tough, I've seen both ends of the spectrum and it's understandable because there is SO much pressure from what we see in social media and in Hollywood. I think individuality is so important and my goal is always to show that true beauty through portraiture.
When I found out that Hadley was actually quite the photographer herself and has been taking her friend's senior portraits all year is when it flipped a switch. We started talking more about her interests there and I think it made posing a little easier because it was like a lightbulb went off. She was more herself and doing a lot of things naturally that looked good without me having to give any direction. And that is really my favorite part. I can guide someone to pose all day, but I really do enjoy watching how they hold themselves with standing or sitting idol without anyone paying attention. They relax and become more themselves.
Heading to: Folly Beach Sunset
Beach Sunsets typically start about 30 minutes prior to the sunset that day, and I'm very particular about that. There is a certain magical light I want to work with and it doesn't matter whether it's single subject or an entire family of 30 people. When the light is perfect I do my best work. As an artist and especially as a photographer the light is really everything to me and how I compose a portrait. Sometimes certain light catches even me off guard and we have to stop right where we are and compose. An example of that is below. I almost never photograph anyone on the beach path, but the light was so strikingly beautiful and perfect that I just had to make that happen.
When we get out to the beach it is your very typical golden hour, the sunsets in the fall tend to be a bit more golden than usual and the sun is setting further behind the houses and obstructions on the beach. I knew we had two outfits so it was a matter of taking advantage of the golden hour with the blue outfit and saving her white dress for blue hour. You can always see the shift in the lighting as soon as it's actual sunset and blue hour is setting in. The golden hotspots turn to a soft iridescent glow.
And right when the sun sets is when we move closer to the water and take advantage of all the gorgeous tones in the sky, the reflection of the water line... These moments of light really only last about 15 minutes tops so it's important to make every second count with variety.
Hadley really became the headshot QUEEN with this session because she learned that even though her smile is gorgeous- she can easily smile with her eyes and say even more. She's got the talent of any model and I really hope she continues to also work her own models to explore photography. It's such an amazing creative outlet, even though she is planning to study Biology.