28 Oct Multi-Talent Teenage Shoot – Sarah’s Senior Photos
Geez, how do you pick a headlining image from this gorgeous set of photos?! Close your eyes, point, and you’ll pick a winner, guaranteed. This is how some shoots go – you can’t make a bad frame, everything just stacks up. With a great set of concepts and a natural beauty in front of the lens, this would have been a home-run in the rain. It was a joy to spend a couple hours with Sarah, and on a couple levels. She performed great, and I also got the opportunity to unleash an idea I’ve had swimming around in my head for years (literally).
“Ding dong.” The sound of the cheerfully singing door greeting guests as they take their first steps into the studio. It usually signals excited clients ready to talk about making photographs that’ll be the printed on sleek, modern, high-definition metal and mounted in their home. The same was true with Sarah and her family, however, I think this time around I was more excited than them. Sarah is a busy girl, splitting her time among many sports and interests. One of those sports happens to be soccer, specifically the position of goalie. It was music to my ears (pun intended).
In a constant quest to make a finely woven fabric consisting of clients’ interests and dramatic/original setups, I’m always trying to come up with concepts that I’ve never seen. A couple years ago, I got this idea to wrap a female soccer athlete in a dress made of a soccer goal net. A long, flowing dress swirling around the athlete. Not knowing when the opportunity would arise, I got online and purchased a net. And then… that net sat in the studio, for years. A sad little net waiting for its day under the flashing lights in a Matty production. I’d like to imagine that it played out kinda like a ‘Toy Story’ scenario. The soccer net and other various props sitting in the back of the studio, talking about their dreams of being the star prop in a shoot, hoping that each day when the cameras were pulled out that it was their big day.
The soccer goal net dress would be great for any female soccer player, but the fact that Sarah is an actual goalie made it absolutely perfect! I’m fairly certain as Sarah and her father sat across the room from me as I was describing this concept I looked like a little kid on Christmas morning. So… essentially the outside perspective reality was observing a mid-30’s photographer babbling out of a crooked smile, wide eyes, and wildly gesturing hands as I describe, “ok, so I want to wrap you in a net, it’s going to be awesome.” Thank you, Sarah and family, for trusting the process (and not reporting me to mental health services).
All of these photos looks amazing in a large format metal, but the dress shots are particularly stunning!
Sarah also enjoys the guitar, which also makes for a fantastic, built-in prop! Like Ricky Bobby, who doesn’t know what to do with his hands when the camera is on him, the guitar kills any chance of awkwardness those hands love to create. I love, love, love when I get to incorporate some much of someone into the shoot. 100% authentic photography is guaranteed, and the entire creation process, from concept to final edit, is a blast.
Alice did her makeup magic, ensuring Sarah’s already very striking features looked perfect under the popping lights. The late September day provided the perfect balance of sun with a slight breeze, giving a little extra drama with movement in the hair.
Guitar – check. Net dress – check. Now it’s on to the soccer field to capture Sarah in her more natural soccer habitat. Timing the sun, we nailed the setup for a final look for the day. Shoot a mix of posing and action shots, we snagged quite a few fun photos to finish-off the story of Sarah. One busy, talented young woman, who will no doubt go places and do great things for this world.
Thank you, Sarah and family, for the opportunity to capture such a momentous time in your lives, and for letting me have some fun with my net idea! Up next – a jedi baby. Yep, a jedi baby shoot! Sit tight.