August 22, 2024

Senior Portraits: Locations or Light?

Senior Portraits Locations–Where should I go?

Outodoor High School Senior Portraits Saratoga NY
Time of day–you can get beautiful images any time of the day–you just need to know how to shoot at different times of the day. This was backlit and I love it!

Whenever we are planning a Senior Portrait Session with clients, the question of where we will be photographing inevitably comes up.  Many times, they want to know the “best” senior portraits locations.  While I do believe locations are an important consideration, my priority is always what the light will be like.   So while I always ask if my client likes a park or urban setting or if they have a special location in mind, the real issue for me is what time of day will we be photographing and how will I be using light.

I also like to provide something unique for every Senior Portrait client–so I try not to repeat myself if I find I am in the same spot.  This has been a challenge this year because some locations that were popular in the past have become alsome TOO popular.  It can also be especially challenging with Senior Portraits because you can’t always work at your favorite time of the day in terms of lighting.

To illustrate the point, I will show two different sessions that were taken in roughly the same locations, just at different times of the day.

Hudson Falls Senior Portraits Locations
Just a field of wildflowers. It was not yet the Golden Hour, so we needed to modify the light just a tad.
Senior Portraits Hudson Falls
This is also a small field area–during the Golden Hour, so no real modification was necessary–just open shade with a small amount of back light.
Saratoga NY High School Seniors
We found an area with plantings of sunflowers–yay! Again, due to the time of day, we had to modify the light so we go pleasant lighting on the face.

 

Fort Edward Senior Portraits
This was pretty much a half hour before the sun set. Similar spot, it just looks totally different. y

I think we can agree that although these sessions were taken in roughly the same areas, they look completely different due to the quality of light.  I like both of them very much.

Did you find this post on location choices for Senior Portraits?  You can visit our Senior Portrait Gallery.  You might also like a post on Location Options for Senior Portraits.

Are you ready to schedule your Senior Portraits?  Call us at (518) 584-4237 or use our Contact Form to get in touch.  We would love to photograph you!

ADD A COMMENT

Such gorgeous senior portraits! You really worked with the lighting which really made these so special.

Blackburn Portrait Design

Thanks!

Gorgeous senior portraits for this young lady. Such beautiful light and locations. Stunning work.

Blackburn Portrait Design

Thank you Jodi!

Such a great post for high school seniors! Everyone is always so worried about the best location, but lighting is so much more important!

Blackburn Portrait Design

Definitely–lighting is the most important thing in any Portrait!

I couldn’t agree more! Good lighting always trumps a “pretty” location. With good lighting, any location can be gorgeous!

Blackburn Portrait Design

Yes! It is always about the best light!

This is a must read! What a great topic and what great examples of why light matters so much for photos. Your senior photos are truly gorgeous!

Blackburn Portrait Design

Thank you for your kind words Andrea!