Mark is a Senior at Durango High School, Class of 2012. I had the opportunity to photograph Mark before, as he was part of the homecoming royalty. So I was very excited that Mark chose us to photograph his senior portraits! We shot his session one afternoon after school up at the Lion’s Den and it was COLD! Mark had football practice after his session and I felt really bad for the team practicing in the cold! Mark even had a hard time smiling near the end of the session as his lips were going numb from the cold! I always feel bad when it’s cold out because I can bundle up while my subjects really can’t. We toughed it out though and finished the session in the warm studio. I had a great time with Mark and he was even nice enough to laugh at all my silly jokes. Thanks Mark; I hope you love these few of my faves!

I have been looking forward to Taylor’s senior portrait session for a long time. She is a Class of 2012 Senior at Durango High School and she came along on Jen Oneill’s model session last “spring”. That was the first time I had met Taylor and she was hilarious! I had a blast photographing Taylor’s session! And Raquel came with Taylor for her session, so I put her to work. Raquel held the reflector and did a great job putting catch lights in Taylor’s eyes and making her comfortable. Raquel got to spend all day with me, as the previous blog post is from the same day as Taylor’s session (check it out!). We started at this cool red wall downtown, then headed over to the Smiley Building. Taylor claimed she was nervous but she was such a natural in front of the camera, I couldn’t tell at all! We used a few other spots downtown, then headed to Taylor’s house to use her neighborhood and backyard, and to include her adorable dog in a few portraits. Then we finished the session in the studio. I have to admit I am jealous of Taylor’s hair – so beautiful! I hope you love these few of my faves!

This “friends session” was so much fun to photograph! I got to photograph Raquel, Karli, and Brooke for their senior portrait sessions (and Karli and Raquel are two of my models as well), so I couldn’t wait to photograph them again! And I met Tig last year at one of our model parties, so I was also excited to photograph her! These 4 were hilarious together and had me laughing the whole session. They had so many great and fun ideas for their portraits, including the totem pole portrait. I would never normally pose anyone in this formation as it goes against everything I was taught in terms of posing, but I had to share it because they are so cute together. They jumped off benches, had a snowball fight, danced, threw leaves, rode in a toboggan, took piggy back rides, hung from a tree, etc, etc. This is such a great group of seniors – I am always so impressed by them and I feel truly honored to document this part of their lives and their friendship. I hope you love these few of my faves!

Colin is a Class of 2012 Senior at Durango High School. I have had the opportunity to work with Colin before, as he is part of student council and I meet with them every year for prom. I was very excited for his session! We had originally planned to head to the mountains for Colin’s session. However, it hadn’t yet snowed very much and all the fall leaves had fallen off the trees – so the backgrounds were mostly brown. We decided to go for more industrial backgrounds instead and what a great a session! We started at the Discovery Museum and they let us play around anywhere we wanted. I got to use my off camera flash and radio poppers, which is always so fun. We used the bicycle rack they have out front and that is probably my most favorite shot from this session. I squeezed myself between the bars and shot through them – so cool! We took a few “nature” shots along the river, leaning on a tree, and sitting in the leaves too. We used my other favorite staircase next to Hair Fusion (as opposed to the spiral staircase that is my usual favorite) and it has great brick and rusted aluminum at the top of it. We finished the session in the studio, which I always love to do. I hope you love these few of my faves!

Zoe is a Class of 2012 Senior at Durango High School. She came in for her session last week after school. She had seen some portraits we had done in the Hood Mortuary and at the Strater Hotel and she wanted those kind of images. She loves the outdoors, but also the city and plans to live in London. So, we started at the Smiley Building, then went next door to shoot in the mortuary. They have so many great chairs, a beautiful gilded mirror, a gorgeous chandelier, etc, etc. I could shoot in there for days. Then we shot around the property a little bit in the fall colors and headed back to the studio to finish the session. I loved the outfits Zoe brought and she was so much fun to work with. I absolutely love her hair – just beautiful! I hope you love these few of my faves!

Mariah came up from the Farmington area for her senior portrait session on her birthday and we had a blast! Mariah was so much fun to work with and to photograph. She ended up bringing three outfits to her session and they were all variations of grey, pink, and black – some of my favorite colors and I was even dressed to match! We started at Rotary Park on the train tracks and it was so cold outside that there was still frost on the tracks! Mariah never complained though and I love the look the frost added to the background! Then we headed over to the river trail for some fall colors and pretty blue water. We finished the session downtown and then took one last shot right in front of the studio with more sidewalk chalk. I’m thinking this drawing on the sidewalk thing could become a pattern. I hope you love these few of my faves!

James is a Durango High School Class of 2012 Senior. He wanted to have his senior portraits photographed out at his house so I met him out there last Sunday morning. It was cold but it was a gorgeous day and it warmed up quickly. There were so many great locations for portraits out there! James had built a gate that we used for some portraits, plus they had a great rock wall, lots of great fences, great wood walls, fall colors, and a big open field for James to park his truck and tractor. We included James’ dog in some of his portraits and even his parents in a few at the end. His dad, Ken, was a great help, shading my camera from the sun so I could shoot easier and positioning the larger props, like the tractor. Ken’s mom, Marta, was also great, carrying clothes changes with us. I had such a great time on this session – I love new locations and the challenges that come with them! I hope you love these few of my faves!

Derek is a Class of 2012 Senior at Durango High School. He came in for his session last Saturday afternoon and we headed up north to Durango Mountain Resort, looking for snow. Derek loves to ski, so we wanted to incorporate that into his session. We found some snow, not a lot, but enough to use for some portraits. Engineer Mountain looked great with it’s dusting of snow. We walked around the base of DMR, using the lift, walls, stairs, and chairs. Derek was great and made the session easy for me, being up for anything I suggested. I hope you love these few of my faves!

Galen is a Class of 2012 Senior at Durango High School. He is a mountain biker and plays at least three instruments (that I know of). He brought his pretty red guitar, ukulele, and mandolin, along with his mountain bike. His mom, Maria, was an amazing assistant, carrying props, clothes, and my reflector – all at once! We started down by the river on some small trails. I asked Galen to ride down a few and I even suggested a jump, but was vetoed since Galen recently broke his collar bone – no fun! Then we brought out the ukulele for a few shots and played in the fall colors. Galen was hilarious, making hilarious faces and poses the entire session. I managed to catch some great genuine smiles between laughs and “faces” and some great serious faces too. We headed over to the hanging bridge next for some “mandolin on the stairs” portraits. Then we walked over to Rotary Park, carrying all three instruments so we could set them up on the train tracks. We had some great evening light and I love all of the portraits we got of Galen. I hope you love these few of my faves!

Jack is a Class of 2012 Senior at Durango High School. I have had the opportunity to photograph Jack before, for a family session (click to view Jack’s Family Portrait session sneak preview). I photographed his older sister, Maddie, for her senior portraits two years ago and I have been looking forward to Jack’s session since then! I’ve mentioned this before, but we give all of our senior portrait clients a free family session, so the Meigs took advantage of their family session in late summer after Maddie graduated. Jack was starting his junior year then – how time flies! Jack wanted his senior portraits taken with his horse, Misty. I love horses so of course I was up for it! We shot the entire session up on Ewing Mesa and the views up there are spectacular! It was a very overcast morning (last Tuesday), so the mountains weren’t as clear as they could have been, but I like the dramatic skies. We photographed Jack riding Misty, leading Misty, sitting sideways and leaning over on Misty, loping across the fields and walking down the road – then we photographed a couple of Jack without Misty, of course. I love the feel of this session and I hope you love these few of my faves!

Haley is a Class of 2012 Senior at Durango High School and she came in for her senior portrait session last Sunday afternoon. Haley brought her younger sister and cousin along and they were so cute! Matt taught them how to hold the reflector so he could take a break while they took turns putting a catchlight in Haley’s eyes. And check out Haley’s eyes! They are gorgeous! I absolutely loved the outfits Haley brought – perfect fall colors and styles! We started just north of the studio. We were headed to the river, when we spotted the perfect spot for playing in the leaves. We found all kinds of great props and places to photograph, right on the corner across from Mountain Middle School. Then we did head down to the river, using both the put in at the end of Long Park and then the put in north of 32nd. The river is such a pretty blue at Long Park and a stunning green further north. We came back to the studio to finish Haley’s session, sticking with the pretty fall and neutral tones for backdrops. I love every single image we got of Haley, so this sneak preview is simply 5 images from Haley’s session, as every image is my fave. Hope you love them!