To most fine art photographers, you mention the word senior portrait and they'll look at you like they got a wiff of rotting food. I say this with all respect to the "by the tree" portrait photographers out there. Those guys are laughing all the way to the bank. 20 shoots in an hour at around $150 a pop. Proverbial easy money. What about the rest of us who take our craft seriously. Seriously? Senior portraits? That's when I started thinking...Why not- those last years of high school mark out the last phase of childhood. It should be photographed. People will chase the the appearance of the that age with gels, potions, elixers and cream; dreaming and wishing they could get a piece of their youth back for the rest of their lives. It is a golden age where there is a perfect blend of hope, beauty and ignorance. It should most certainly be photographed. The more I thought, the more excited about shooting I got.
That's when instead of thinking to myself, how can I get out of this, or how quickly can I get through this shoot, I was actually feeling the buzz of you get when you get an opportunity to photograph something really cool.
Out of nowhere in rushed the thought, "I was in the coolest parking garage the other day..."
It's image was branded in my mind. I was driving in a parking garage admiring it's beauty.I'm always in places without my camera, wishing silently to myself, with empty hands and no pictures, save the one in my mind. In this case, I had the rare opportunity to go back.
I should have taken a picture of her mom when I recommended we go to a parking garage. Being a veteran of my work she politely went along. "you want to shoot her senior portrait in a parking garage?"
I said enthusiastically "yeah, the parking garage is the new tree. Trust me.."
She did. . . . . Now I can proudly say "I shoot senior portraits."
Who'd have thought?
