Jessica is a Class of 2011 Senior at Durango High School and I got to photograph her for her senior portrait session last weekend. I have photographed her before as she was part of the Junior Student Council mini session we did for prom last year and she is sooo fun to photograph! She brought the cutest outfits for her senior session – she had these great yellow rain boots with a matching umbrella – loved it! She is also a cheerleader, so she brought her cheer jacket for a few portraits. We found a few trees in town that still had a little bit of fall color so we started with those. Then we used the stairs at the admin building, the grass in front of the old library, and the crosswalk in between. Then we headed over to the river along 32nd, where it’s really still and a pretty blue/green color. I spotted an old wagon wheel along the way and so we had to stop there as well of course. We ended the session at Subway – in front of that really cool tree that is beautiful in the spring and in the fall (but smells funny in the spring). I can’t wait to show Jessica all her portraits – but hope you love these few of my faves!

Jessica is a Class of 2011 Senior at Durango High School. She was a lot of fun to photograph, even though she claimed she wasn’t comfortable in front of the camera. I couldn’t tell at all – she was so natural. Plus she has such beautiful eyes. We started out along the river, north of 32nd, where Jessica had spent a lot of time over the summer with her friends. She had such good memories of the area that she wanted it in her portraits. We then headed downtown for some cool walls/urban backgrounds. I actually created a new word: “backscapes” during Jessica’s consultation when I was trying to ask her what kind of backgrounds/landscapes she wanted and the word ended coming out combined. So when I looked back over my notes before her session, I couldn’t help but laugh about the list of “backscapes” we had picked. We ended the session back at the studio – first in the alley, then in the studio itself. Fun, fun! Hope you love these!

Geoff is a Class of 2011 Senior at Durango High. He had the cool and unique idea of taking his senior portraits at the train station – but in the “behind the scenes” areas of the train station – which not everyone has access too. His mom works there and so she escorted us around so we wouldn’t get run over by a train. There were huge mounds of coal, coal dust, old train cards, old doors, and shovels everywhere! Such a cool place to shoot! It was really windy and therefore, really cold – but Geoff was tough and stuck it out and we got some really great portraits! At times, he was facing right into the blowing coal dust and I don’t even know how he kept his eyes open! He was so great to work with – easy going, up for anything! Then it started snowing at the end of his session – that’s how it cold it was – which was perfect, because Geoff loves snow! So, we got back out of the warm car into the cold blowing snow for a few more portraits – it was totally worth it! I was totally covered in coal dust – I discovered it behind my ears later that evening! Such a great session though! Here are a few of my faves!

Alex is a Class of 2011 Senior at Durango High School. He brought his ukulele along for his session and I think it made it’s way into most of his portraits – such a cool instrument! It was a very cloudy day – no sunshine peaking through – which made for some nice soft light and even fall colors. Alex had quite a few sweaters to choose from for his portraits (so much thanks to his mom for ironing them!) so I had fun choosing a new sweater for each new location. He climbed a tall tree – I was very impressed because this tree had no low branches and he still made it up no problem – and he sat in the taller branches, playing his ukulele. I love his long blond hair too – and he was very natural at posing (thanks to his acting/modeling in the past, I suppose). Very fun to photograph, thanks Alex! Hope you love these few of my faves!

Ryan is a Class of 2011 Senior at Durango High School – and will be done with high school in just a few weeks! He is finishing early and taking classes up at the Fort, so high school ends early for Ryan. We had a beautiful day, weather wise, to shoot on, so we headed up to Baker’s Bridge for the cool color of the water. We stopped along the way near Dalton’s Ranch for the fall colors along the river as well. Baker’s was great – there are so many little niches to shoot in up there and we even had a random stranger make suggestions for our portrait locations. Ryan ran around on the rocks in the river, while I stayed on the bank, safe and dry. We kept things simple – one outfit and a jacket, and just a couple of locations. Ryan was so fun and easy to photograph – I love his longer hair! Hope you love these few of my faves!

Anna is a Class of 2011 Senior at Durango High School. She came in for her session just in time to capture the last of the fall color. It was actually snowing this morning at my house! However, the day of Anna’s session was a beautiful day – sunny and warm. She has to wear a brace for a knee injury and is on crutches as well, so I was very impressed with her ability and mobility on those crutches! We stayed away from steep climbs, but otherwise, we went everywhere we wanted. We started at the river, ended up in rotary park for a while, headed downtown, then back to the studio. Anna had lots of help in case she needed it – a couple of friends and her mom came along for the session. Anna could stand without her crutches and took off the leg brace every once in a while for full length portraits and I would forget that she couldn’t just take off on her own, so I would head off to the next location and look back to see Anna still standing there – waiting for her brace and crutches to be given back to her. I hope you love these few of my faves!

Trent is a Class of 2011 Senior at Durango High School. I photographed his sister, Kelcie, last year and she is the one who deemed sessions with me as “Adventures with Allison”. I was very excited to photograph Trent as I had so much fun with his sister. However, he really dislikes having his picture taken, so I tried to make it as quick and painless as possible. He was very easy to work with and I wouldn’t have even been able to tell that he wasn’t loving his session if my assistant hadn’t asked him if he liked having his picture taken. He wanted fall colors in the background, so we headed over to my new favorite location along the river trail. Trent has a back injury from football so I was worried about putting him into certain poses, but he was up for everything and it all went so smoothly – no “adventures” this time! Hope you love these few of my faves from Trent’s session!

Sarah is a Class of 2011 Senior at Grace Preparatory Academy here in Durango. She came in for her session on a cloudy day, so we started outside, just in case it started to rain on us. We used the fall colors – they were so pretty – and Sarah looked so pretty in her blues and purples that she brought to wear! She also brought her adorable dog -sooo cute! Sarah and I have our girlishness in common – we like skirts and heels – not so much into tree climbing – so we were scouting for good fall colors low to the ground. We used some of my favorite spots and found a few new ones, then headed back to the studio for a few more portraits. Nancy, Sarah’s mom, was on hair duty, so not only did she get to carry a hairbrush around the whole time, she was also in charge of blowing Sarah’s hair around with the fan when we got back to the studio. I love it – we spent all that time brushing Sarah’s hair into place, then we blew it around like crazy. Sarah and Nancy were really fun to work with and up for anything – I hope you love these!

Mattie and Sarah are Class of 2011 Seniors at Durango High School and they did their senior portrait session together. We had a blast together – starting in the studio with Sarah’s instruments and Mattie’s dance props. Then we headed over to the train station and used the museum, inside and out, and the train cars that weren’t being used. Mattie and Sarah have volunteered at the train A LOT, so we wanted to incorporate that part of their lives into their portraits. We then headed over to the river behind Nature’s O so we could use the fall colors and the water. It was a cloudy morning, so we had nice soft light. Mattie threw her flat around for a while and Sarah sat along the river’s edge with her instruments in their cases. Last, we stopped at the triangle park for a few swing portraits. These two were so great to work with and to photograph – I hope you love these few of my faves!

Kayla & Jamie are Class of 2011 Seniors at Bayfield High School and they did their senior portrait session together. I had sooo much fun photographing these two! They are absolutely hilarious and both so beautiful! I grew up in Bayfield and Conoco was the only gas station there while I was growing up, so that was always the meeting place. So obviously, I suggested we meet at Conoco at the start of their session and go from there. We wanted to shoot in Bayfield so we could head up to Beaver Meadows and use this aspen tree trunk that has all the Hoover family names carved into it. I loved the idea, and unfortunately, we ran out of day light. We made it out to Beaver Meadows and took a few portraits in the fading light, but didn’t manage to find the tree trunk – this time. We’ll try again – perhaps in the spring. There was already snow on the ground up there! Anyways – we shot for a while in Eagle Park, then walked up and down Mill Street for a while, finding fun fences, walls, and stairs for backdrops. Jamie brought her clarinet everywhere we went and it had to be in at least one pose per setting. Kayla had a neon outfit and the dilemma was finding an outdoor backdrop that didn’t clash with her neon colors. Well, as you can see from their portraits, we had a great time and got really portraits! Hope you love these!

Ayla is a Class of 2011 Senior at Bayfield High School and one of our models! She brought her adorable boyfriend, Ian, with her for her senior session and we had a blast! We played in the fall leaves, hung out in some alleys and at the mortuary, then headed back to the studio and ended with a National Geographic cover pose. Ayla brought a bunch of beautiful scarves from her mom’s store and I had a lot of fun with those – I need to go buy one for myself! Ayla had dyed and cut her hair since her model session, and I love her new look. BHS’s senior portrait yearbook deadline is November 15, so there is still a tiny bit of time for those of you who haven’t come in for your portraits yet! Call me ASAP (970-259-9255) and we’ll make it work! Get a discount card from Ayla too! Hope you love these few of my faves!

Sam (Samantha) is a Class of 2011 Senior at Durango High School and one of our models. We’ve had so much fun photographing her for her model session, her trash the formal session, and now her “real” senior portrait session. We started with portraits of Sam with her three dogs in the park and they were all so adorable! Then we played with all the fallen leaves in the grass and then headed out north. Taylor Moore, another Class of 2011 Senior at DHS and another of our models, came with Sam for her session so of course we took some adorable portraits of the two of them together too – throwing leaves and balancing on the train tracks. I was so excited Sam brought her cowgirl hat – I love her in it – and Taylor had this great idea for a portrait with it on, so thanks Taylor for the idea for this last portrait in my faves here! Hope you love them all and I can’t wait to show you the rest!