Natalie - ERHS Class of 2022

Happy Sunday and welcome to this weeks #SeniorSunday spotlight! Last Sunday I had the pleasure of working with Natalie for her senior photos. Our families have known each other forever, as her grandfather and my grandfather were best friends, so to be able to take her senior photos was not only a pleasure but so much fun! I had scouted out a few specific spots at her locations that I wanted to use before hand and arrived to her session ready to capture beautiful photos!

We started Natalie's session out in downtown Harrisonburg, where I had had my eye on a beautiful blooming tree in a parking lot for a few weeks now. I knew we would be there at the perfect time for the sunlight to come through the buildings and shine on the tree, making the blossoms and Natalie's blonde hair glow! We also went to a few different spots downtown that I don't frequent often, but that made her photos that much more unique. She also had so many cute outfits to wear, and we went on top of the parking deck to get some shots overlooking all of downtown Harrisonburg. Natalie also wanted downtown Dayton as her second location, which her mom told me fits her style perfectly! Dayton is such a quaint old town with so many cute buildings and different spots to offer a beautiful backdrop for photos, included a few well maintained houses with gorgeous landscaping!

Natalie was so willing to try any poses or different ideas I had, while also adding her own ideas into her session and creating beautiful shots that I otherwise might not have come up with! Her mom and friend Hailey were also a big part of her session, helping to scout out different spots for us. When working downtown it is important to keep an eye out for anywhere that will work for photos, which differs for each person depending on their personal style and outfits. Finding spots that coordinate with outfits can make or break a photo, because having the best background is sometimes the perfect accessory for any shot! Natalie definitely had this in mind when she chose her last location, Willow Spring Farm. I used to go to the farm just for mini sessions, but this year it was super popular with my seniors due to how beautiful it is and all of the different areas it has to offer!

It began raining right when we left Dayton and we were all hoping that it would stop before we got to Willow Spring. Fortunately for us it not only stopped, but the sun came out and we got gorgeous shots with that golden hour glow. My favorite shots definitely happened at the end by the pond, and her yellow flowered romper was perfect for the occasion. Her last outfit was her cheer uniform, and I have always loved taking cheer portraits! Typically we do them on the football field, but Natalie was happy to do them on the farm, which gave us beautiful results. Her cheer season is coming up soon and I hope that these photos will allow her to reflect on her years as a cheerleader for many years to come! I'm also hoping to be able to attend cheer competitions again this year, something I couldn't do last year because of covid. I'm definitely ready to be sitting in front of the mat again taking photos and sharing them with all of the talented local teams!

Thank you to Natalie for a perfect and fun session and to everyone reading for supporting my seniors and my business! I have THREE senior sessions this week that I will be sharing about in the next few weeks. I know that it will be a week filled with fun and good memories!