Happy Sunday!
Today may be a rainy Sunday, but I'm hoping Justice's senior spotlight will brighten your day a bit like writing it brightens mine.
Photographing Justice - Family Traditions
I've known Justice for quite a few years now, since I met him and his family when I started photographing his sister and aunt in some local pageants they were competing in. He has a quiet demeanor, but you can immediately tell when meeting him that he is a big supporter of his family and being a big brother is a natural role for him. Throughout the years, he and I would talk at pageants or photoshoots, and I believe anyone who has been the oldest child in a family can sense when another oldest child is around, because we all have that personality that is kind yet firm, and shows a certain amount of leadership and understanding. Justice has every single one of these qualities, and I knew that he was the type of guy that I wanted on my ambassador team. When I reached out to his mom Kiki, she was immediately on board and knew he would be too! He so easily gets along with others - so much so that not only did he share his first session with my other ambassadors, he shared his second session with another senior I was photographing since we had to make her session up due to rain. Doing his senior photos also meant so much to me because I have photographed him with his family many times, but this time we got to have the chance to focus just on him and let him take charge of how he wanted his photos to turn out!
Photographing senior guys is a whole different world than senior girls. Many think that it's either harder or easier, but personally after years of doing it, I find that it's not either, but it does require me to reach down deep for a skill set I don't normally use when photographing girls. Guys aren't going to put their hands on their hips or in their hair, but there are also so many different poses that make their photos look great while also showing their personality. Justice has an amazing smile and a perfect serious face, so we got so much balance in his photos between the two styles. He also mastered the poses I gave him with ease, and wasn't afraid to incorporate some of his own ideas into the poses or different styles we were trying to achieve. We were fortunate enough to be able to do his summer session and fall session both at the perfect time. The weather was great and the sun was shining by the river during his summer photos, and the fall foliage was at it's peak during his fall session. His outfit pictured above with the cream colored sweatshirt and jeans is honestly one of my favorite outfits I've ever photographed on guys, and against the orange colors of the leaves it worked perfectly!
We went on Skyline Drive for his fall session, and we did some photos in Big Meadows before heading to my favorite little trail that leads to some rocks and a gorgeous overlook. I had Justice climbing through bushes and trees to get to the perfect rocks to sit on, and in these photos you can see exactly why they're called the Blue Ridge Mountains. Justice knew he wanted his photos overlooking the mountains and I know that between his ideas and the way we work so well together, we achieved amazing photos at this session! I'm so excited for he and I to do more photos next month at his school for his cap and gown photos. After high school, Justice is attending Blue Ridge for his college degree, and I can't wait to see the things I get to collaborate on in the future with him and the rest of his amazing family!
I'm happy to be able to spend another week writing about my seniors and sharing with everyone how much they mean to me! Thanks for reading this week, and I'm already looking forward to next weeks senior Sunday spotlight!