Alex's Senior Session
When I sat down with Alex and her Mom at The Sip Coffee House for our consultation, I was immediately struck by her gorgeous blue eyes but even more by her poise and maturity. She was so present in our conversation and had a strong sense of herself and what she wanted for her senior pictures. I always make a point to get to know my clients and focus on their interests so we can make the shoot perfect for them and I was so happy to hear Alex express herself so well. I love a girl who knows what she wants!
She had A LOT of ideas for her session but that's because Alex is passionate about a lot of things. It was very inspiring for me to hear her describe her ideas and I was already taking mental snap shots as she spoke.
We started our session at Lake Central High School in her favorite classroom. Alex is a huge history buff and Mr. Clark is her favorite teacher. Back when Alex was in middle school, she gave him a picture of her uncle that was killed in Iraq to add to his historical documents. Years later she became his student and he, her sponsor for Hoosier Girls State, which she attended last year. Mr. Clark's classroom is jam packed with fascinating artifacts and memorabilia. It was one of the more unique places I've shot a senior session. It was more like a museum than a classroom.
The moodiness and vintage tones of this image evoke the look of classic Hollywood starlets.
You can read a little more about the popular history teacher, Mr. Tom Clark, in this article from WGNTV written last year. He's also getting his own museum according to this article in the Chicago Tribune!
Next we headed back to The Sip, a favorite hang out of Alex's. (Mine too!) We enjoyed some delicious lattes and got some really sweet images.
We ended the day in a nearby park with Alex laying in the grass with a few of her favorite books, watching the sunset and daydreaming. Alex is an avid reader and her favorite author is Nicolas Sparks, so I surprised her by putting one of his excerpts on an image.
Above all, Alex's first love is music. She's a talented pianist and has been taking lessons with the same teacher, Mr. John Kontol, for 10 years now. When Alex chose music as her major, Mr. Kontol wanted to send her to someone he thought would be more qualified, but Alex believed in him and refused to switch. That decision and hard work definitely paid off because Alex just received the fantastic news that she has been accepted to Butler University to continue her music studies. Congratulations on such an accomplishment!
I was super impressed to finally get to hear Alex play a little during our shoot. The most important aspect of the shoot for her was to pose along side the red piano. She performed Chopin's Nocturne Opus 9, No. 2 on it at her Spring Choir Concert after winning gold at the ISSMA State Championship. This piano was also sacred to her choir teacher, Mrs. Hobbs who retired last year. She didn't let many people touch it and it was always locked up. We almost didn't get the chance to use it because we couldn't get in the locked room. I actually had to come back on a second day to shoot it and I'm glad we made the time because these images were Alex's favorite from our sessions.
She dreams of playing on movie soundtracks one day and being an accompanist for singers. I can totally see her performing the score of a romantic Nicolas Sparks movie!
I have no doubt that Alex has a bright future ahead of her and no matter how her story unfolds, I know it will be filled with beautiful music!