2015 Owego Free Academy Senior – David

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Lately we’ve done a LOT of posts about lovely 2015 senior ladies, but let’s not forget about the senior guys that we shoot at The Camera’s Eye! David is a senior at Owego Free Academy, and we had a great shoot in a variety of outdoor locations, including the soccer field.
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Love it when seniors bring their interests to me at The Camera’s Eye so that we can incorporate them into a shoot! Sports have worked especially well in senior photos this year, including tennis, track, and swimming.

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In addition to his soccer skills, David is super social and can talk about pretty much anything! He’s very easy going, and our senior session was a breeze 🙂

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David, thanks for the great session and have an awesome senior year at OFA!

What’s a Selection Session Like at The Camera’s Eye?

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Contrary to popular myth, only a small part of a professional photographer’s time is spent shooting. Another crucial part of my work at The Camera’s Eye is the selection session, where I sit down with you to figure out what you need and want with your finished photos.

This is the point where you’ve looked through your online gallery about, oh, 100 times. You have some definite faves and some maybes. You’ve flipped through our brochure but you want to touch on some actual products, and you’re not sure about sizes for your wall. So: book a selection session! Just share a list of your faves and maybes in advance and when you arrive, we’ll run through a new slideshow of just those images and help you narrow down the LOVES.

In a selection session at The Camera’s Eye, you can see your images in a much clearer format than if you were hunched over and scrolling through them on a computer screen.  Anya’s session provides a GREAT example. Photo 1 and Photo 2 are roughly the same, with different body language.

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But what you can’t necessarily see at your computer, unless I point it out to you right now, are the droplets of water on her face, which are CRUCIAL for a swimming photo! (See ’em below?)

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In addition to getting this new level of detail, you can pick the brain of a professional photographer 🙂 It’s like having your own personal secretary walk you through your retouched images! I can – if you want – help you build your package of images and gifts for your family.  I take notes on everything, down to “Grandma Jean wants an 11×14.” Or if you have it under control, just share with me what you’d like to order and I’ll take your direction.

The original sunflower shot. We found a small patch that had the right idea...

What’s retouching? Well, here’s the original sunflower shot. We found a small patch that had the right idea…

Keep in mind, if you’re not sure what you want, I’m here to guide you! Show me your wall space through images on your phone, or just give me the dimensions of the area that you’re trying to fill. Pictures are especially helpful, since I can see how to match your existing style when it comes to frames, canvases, and even which photos to display. To be honest, I’m so close to some of my clients that I can ask, “Are you referring to that area just past the entryway, on your left by the turn in the stairs?”

...but we needed a few more flowers in there, to kick it up a notch...

…but I needed to add a few more flowers in there, to kick it up a notch…

Notice that this is a “selection” session, NOT a “sales” session. Many people think that sitting down with the photographer means being directed to buy more. Trust me, my only goal in the selection session at The Camera’s Eye is to get you the photos you want and need printed and ready for display!

...and finally, the completely retouched and finished product!

…and finally, the completely retouched and finished product!

Juggling “Kates” at The Camera’s Eye!

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Senior season is always pretty dizzying at The Camera’s Eye! What makes it even more of a whirlwind is having four clients at the same time with the same name! I do a LOT of texting and emailing back and forth with my seniors, which made it crazy – and yet somehow I managed to get everyone’s senior photos finished, with social media images out the door, and even some yearbook photos to boot 🙂

Meet Kate from Union-Endicott, a natural in front of the camera:

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Kaitlyn from Owego Free Academy, who brought a range of fun outfits:

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Kate, also from Owego Free Academy, who is totally at home in the outdoors:

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And finally Catherine from Notre Dame in Elmira, who I know from an earlier session with her sister:

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Hard to believe I’m already taking her senior photos! A shot from our earlier outdoorsy session a few years back:

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Lovely ladies all! A big thanks to them for booking their senior photos with The Camera’s Eye, and best of luck to them in their final year of high school! For next year, if you have a popular first name, come ready with an alternate name for me to use – just in case 🙂

Choosing A Yearbook Photo at The Camera’s Eye

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2015 Seniors: You’re already juggling a TON at school – so don’t wait until the last minute to choose your yearbook photo! Every school has specific yearbook photo requirements for size, composition, and clothing. At The Camera’s Eye, we can work with you to find the yearbook photo that YOU need.

A few tips – for your individual headshot, you’ll want to choose a up-close image with a great expression, and typically a vertical image. As with all of our senior photos, we want to make sure that your yearbook photo is exemplary of YOU.

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Hats and sunglasses are trendy and fun, but remember that you’re dealing with an uber-tiny photo on a page with a bunch of other uber-tiny photos – we don’t want anything taking away from your face when we only have that much space to work with. Likewise, avoid shots where other colors compete with your face – yearbook photos are ALL about faces and facial expressions 🙂

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Also, maybe your yearbook requires a vertical photo, but you’re totally in love with a horizontal photo that we took? No problem!  Ask if it can be cropped and adjusted to meet your school’s specs. See below for an example of a senior who made a trendy outfit work for her – and we were able to crop her horizontal photo to meet the specs:

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Keep in mind – I can help you choose, but YOU’RE the one who has the ultimate say. It’s my job to get your yearbook photo retouched and cropped according to your school’s specs. 2015 Seniors – October 1st is the deadline for choosing your yearbook photos at The Camera’s Eye!

2015 Owego Free Academy Senior – Madison

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At The Camera’s Eye, we get that occasional photo session where, even with the odds against us, everything comes together like magic! If we’re lucky, it’s even a load of fun and I find that intangible photography buzz 🙂 Even though my senior session with Madison was super short, this post is one of the longer ones – because there are SO many good stories to tell!

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We had originally planned for an urban senior session, but when Madison asked about some of the chicken images I shot last year, and I asked her WHY she was interested in those…the answer made me realize that we were going to scratch that urban session plan and shoot at her house!

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Madison refers to her ducks, including the one named “Ducky,” as “the light to my world.” How could we not include them?

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Of course, as well planned as anything can be, life gets in the way! We get rained out for our first shoot, and I end up running late for our rescheduled, shorter slot due a previous shoot. By the time I get to Madison’s house, there is  – I kid you not – one sliver of light in the entire barnyard, cutting through the Queen Anne’s lace. So I say, “Let’s get to work!” And that’s when the magic starts…

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This duck seriously FOLLOWS Madison over to our small spot of sunlight. And then so does the dog.  I hear is silence – because THAT’S what I hear when I’m in the zone and loving what I see and knowing exactly what I have to do!

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I get so caught up in it that Madison has to remind me – what about the canoe? “Go!” I shout, and we both take off in a sprint to get some pictures in the boat. We’re both cracking up at this point!

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Then I suggest shooting with a couple of old cars I saw down the road. This is a total gamble, since I don’t even know whose cars they are, but Madison is game! So off we go, running to stay ahead of the setting sun. The owners of the cars are outside eating dinner and couldn’t care less what we do, and we get these shots in just under 10 minutes.

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We had only 45 minutes to shoot…I found the zone…and quiet Madison turned into a super model! The moral of the story? Listen to what YOU love when you’re planning your senior photo session. Throw your ideas at me! Take me to your world and invite me in! I will totally forget who I am and what I do… I just want to make you the happiest client possible!

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Senior style alert – Madison’s favorite outfit? “The shirt with the flowers and the white pants.” Favorite moment? “When the canoe started to float away!” I was running down the bank trying to take pictures of her, and she was laughing, laughing, laughing!

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Keep that same sense of humor into your senior year at Owego Free Academy, Madison! Thank you from The Camera’s Eye!

2015 Owego Free Academy Senior – Emma

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School is back in session, and we’re still churning out senior photos at The Camera’s Eye! My clients come from many different local schools, and recently got the chance to meet Emma, another OFA senior from Owego!

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As you can see below, Emma is a tennis player 🙂 She currently plays singles, but she started in doubles with her friend Hailey – who was also one of our first senior sessions of the year!

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I love Emma’s personality! She’s a sweetheart, and very determined. She literally stared into my reflector until she was in tears so that we could get the sports shots. I definitely admire that!

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In addition, she has a totally mellow style. My clients at The Camera’s Eye know how much I LOVE shoes, and I can tell you that gray converse sneakers are her go-to!

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Best of luck to Emma with the upcoming year!

Getting to Know High School Seniors at The Camera’s Eye

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Diving into AP classes…heading up clubs and other activities…oh yeah, and applying to colleges…with everything else on your plate as your senior year approaches, senior portraits should NOT be another source of stress! At The Camera’s Eye, we make sure that your portrait session is fun and relaxed, and that planning your senior photos is collaborative process!

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As a professional photographer, I pride myself on providing a personalized photo session and REALLY knowing my clients! In many cases, I’ve known my seniors for years and have already worked with their families on everything from baby photos to high school dances. In other cases, our senior session is a jumping-off point for the future – engagement shoots, baby sessions, etc…

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The first step: I’ll send you a quick questionnaire in the mail, which you can fill out, snap a photo of, and text back to me. This is a good starting point to get the juices flowing, since what I need to know is: Who I am working with? Where can we shoot? Where are you most comfortable? What’s going to showcase your personality? This, however, isn’t the end of the road!

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Some of it might seem like the same chit-chatty questions you always get, like “What subject do you like in school?” “What sports do you play?” “Where do you work?” But trust me, we can use this! When we talk about your work schedule, it lets me know when you’re free – but it also tells me a little bit about your personality. Sports and hobbies can add flair to a senior photo session. Some of my favorite senior sessions have involved props, cultural outfits, and settings that seniors brought to ME.

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And, not to sound shallow, but how you dress tells me everything I really need to know 🙂 We’ll be using your personal style to craft your senior photo session style, so that you’ll have pictures that show YOU as truly YOU. Check out our senior style board on Pinterest for some ideas of outfits that can work for your senior session!

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Never Too Late for a “Senior” Session!

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Over the years at The Camera’s Eye, I’ve gotten to know countless families through maternity photos, baby photos, family sessions, etc. It’s common for me to do a senior session for one sibling, and then have the younger sibling come in for their own session a few years down the road. This year, I’ve already had a couple of these sessions; however, we’re talking about two OLDER sisters who came in! Both ladies missed their senior sessions for different reasons and are now past high school- but the only time it’s ever too late for photography is if you NEVER schedule 🙂

Meet Sarah, Nadia’s older sister by four years:

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Another great “senior” session? Coco’s older sister Anna. Love, love, LOVE the shots with the family dog.

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Thanks to these lovely ladies for scheduling portrait sessions with The Camera’s Eye!