Dustin and Derek are both Class of 2012 Seniors at Durango High School. We photographed their sessions together, 2 days before the yearbook deadline! They were both so funny and really fun to photograph. We started the session up at Baker’s Bridge for the river and rocks, then came back down into town for some walls and doorways. These two knew exactly what they wanted, which was great. I would give either Derek or Dustin the keys to the car so one could change while I was photographing the other. We joked about one of them taking off in the car, leaving the rest of us stranded, but I wasn’t (too) worried. They seemed trustworthy to me! We finished the session in the studio. Then we looked at the images right out of the camera so we could pick the yearbook portraits. These are some of Derek and Dustin’s favorites, as well as a few of mine. Hope you love them!

Walker came in for his senior portrait session last Sunday, before Thanksgiving break started. It was probably the warmest day we’d had in weeks and it was so nice! Walker was a lot of fun to work with and to photograph. He brought a couple of really great hats and I loved all of his shirt selections. He was up for everything – trying all my suggestions – while also having specific ideas of his own. We started along 3rd Ave on a “new to me” set of stairs. Then we headed up to Fort Lewis College to use the mountain views, without going up to the Lion’s Den, since I’ve been shooting there so often lately. Then we headed down to the river and the train tracks. So, it ended up being a very “Durango” (yes, I am using Durango as an adjective) session. One of the reasons I love being a photographer here is that Durango has such great backdrops. Thanks for such a great session Walker! Hope you love these few of my faves!

Jr is a Class of 2012 Senior at Durango High School. I’ve had the opportunity to photograph Jr a couple of times in the past year. He played the violin at Brittany and Chad’s wedding (check out their fusion wedding video on our wedding website), so we photographed him during the ceremony. Then, Jr was Layla’s (another of my senior portrait clients) homecoming queen nominee escort, so I got to photograph him again for those portraits. To state the obvious, I was very excited to photograph Jr’s senior portrait session! We started bright and early last Saturday morning, up at Fort Lewis College. We used one of the piano’s there (because not only can Jr play the violin, he can also play the piano). And Jr is extremely talented at both. Then we used the beautiful mountain views and neat architecture at the college. We finished the session in the studio and what a great session it was! I hope you love these few of my faves!

Grace is a Senior, Class of 2012, at Durango High School. She came in for her consultation the snowy day we had to reschedule Nick’s session (see previous senior post). The power went out mid-consultation at my studio, so we chatted in the dark for a few minutes. Grace is so easy going and awesome to work with, so it was no big deal. Her senior session was so much fun! Grace brought great outfits (and great scarves) and she was up for anything! She didn’t even mind attempting a few “yoga-like” poses for me – one of which ended up being one of my faves from the session! We started the session across from Miller Middle School and ended in Rotary Park, with a few stops downtown in between. I had a particular stair shot I was going for, so we were on a hunt for the right kind of staircase; which we found. I hope you love these few of my faves!

Nick is a Class of 2012 Senior at Durango High School. He came in for his senior session last week one day after school. We originally had him scheduled for a Saturday morning, but it snowed pretty hard that morning so we rescheduled (my power went out later that day and I ended up rescheduling all my appointments that day – I guess someone was telling me to take a snow day). We headed to the river first for Nick’s session and we ended up walking through multiple swarms of bugs – weird and gross! Nick was a good sport and we just had to try not to talk or laugh as we walked through the bugs. There were a few fall leaves left, which we used, then we headed downtown for a few cool walls and doorways. Nick was great, easy to work with, up for everything – and I love his portraits! I hope you love these few of my faves!

Terilyn is a Class of 2012 Senior at Durango High School. She came in for her session, actually I went to her for her session, earlier this week out at her home. Her home is beautiful and it is right on the river, so the views are stunning as well. We started the session along the water’s edge, then moved up to the bridge that crosses the river. We got a few adorable shots of Terilyn and her mom on the bridge as well. We used the surrounding pines and then headed over to her grandparent’s home. What a great place! Then we came back to the studio to finish the session with some fun colorful backdrops. Terilyn had done some modeling in the past and it showed! She was a natural and knew what to do without me having to say a word. I loved her outfits too, in particular the white sweater in which we started the session. Thanks, Terilyn, for such a great time and for being such a beautiful subject! I hope you love these few of my faves!

Jonathan is a Class of 2012 Senior at Durango High School. He came in for his session one afternoon after school and we had a small entourage, as Tevan (one of our stunning models) came along. Tevan and Jonathan have been friends forever and we reminisced with them about three way calls with Ryan (look for his blog post just a few before this one) when they were in middle school. I remember those days; good times. Matt passed reflector duty on to Tevan and she did a great job. We started along the river of course. We searched out some fall colors, then headed downtown. We used some of my fave walls and doorways, then headed back to the studio to finish the session. Jonathan made my job easy as he was up for everything I suggested. It was such a fun session and I hope you love these few of my faves!

Ian is a Class of 2012 Senior at Durango High School. He was also homecoming royalty this year. And, I photographed his sister, Jordan, last year for her senior portraits. Of course, I was really excited for his session, as I had way too much fun with Jordan last year. Ian’s session was just as amazing. We did it all! Ian brought his mountain bike, his fly fishing gear, his guitar, 3 sets of drum sticks, etc, etc. It was awesome! We started at the river so Ian could ride his bike around and do some fishing for his portraits. Then we came back into town to Rotary Park for some train track and aspen tree trunk portraits. We finished in the studio with the drum sticks and guitar. And we fit this all into the little bit of light we had left outside after school was out! I was impressed! Thanks so much Ian for the great session and I hope you love these few of my faves!

Ryan is a Class of 2012 Senior at Durango High School. He came in for his session last week after school and it was really, really cold outside. Just looking through Ryan’s images to pick my faves made me cold. I had on multiple layers and was wishing for more of them. Ryan was tough and at least made it look like he wasn’t freezing in his portraits. Ryan plays soccer and had held onto his uniform just for his session. We started shooting along the rim up at Fort Lewis College, using the chapel and the mountain backdrop. Then we went up to the Lion’s Den for a better mountain view, as it was very dark further north, where we had originally planned to go. It snowed that night too. We came back to the studio so we could warm up and shoot a few studio portraits. Then we headed back outside for a couple more shots with our favorite peeling paint fence. I hope you love these few of my faves!

These two, Natelle and Sage, were absolutely incredible to photograph! They were both such naturals in front of the camera and not once did I need to give them posing ideas or direction! We had so much fun! Natelle and Sage are cousins and great friends and are both Class of 2012 Seniors at Ignacio High School. We photographed their session together and they were up for everything I suggested, plus had ideas of their own. Jen, my intern from Big Picture, was able to come along on this session and she always has great ideas too (stay tuned for a blog post of Jen coming soon). We started down by the river with the one big cottonwood that still has yellow leaves on it. It was a gorgeous sunny day, but it was really, really cold. It had snowed the night before, so there was still snow on the ground and falling out of the trees. Then we went downtown to my favorite place, then to a location that Natelle and Sage knew about that I had never been too! We headed up to Fort Lewis College next for some mountain backdrops, then finished in the studio because we just couldn’t be outside in the cold any longer. I hope you love these few of my faves!