This week's #SeniorSunday Spotlight is on Nya, a senior from Matoaca High School who travelled to the valley earlier this month to do her senior photos with me! Nya's mom booked her senior pictures right when I started booking fall sessions, so I knew that they were definitely ready and excited to take advantage of everything the valley has to offer in the fall!
Nya chose Luray for her session, which is undoubtedly a great choice for anyone wanting fall color, mountains, and just classic and timeless photos. We started out at the Luray Valley Museum, where it feels like you quite literally stepped back in time! The museum is perfect for a day out because there are a lot of different things to do and see, but I utilize its beauty for photos. My favorite area there is pictured above at the back end of the property, where the fence line is met with gorgeous trees and at the right time of the day the sun peeks through perfectly! Nya did a super cute casual outfit of jeans and a flannel there, and then changed into her cap and gown for her second outfit. Normally I do cap and gown photos at the student's school, but in this case the natural backdrop with a stone wall behind her was all we needed to capture her photos!
For Nya's next location we went to Lake Arrowhead just outside of Luray. Every year I have a "hot" location for senior portraits, and Lake Arrowhead has managed to be the hot location a few times in the past! Even on years when it isn't the most popular place to go, I always end up there for a few sessions. It is also easily one of the most versatile locations I go to. There is a bridge, field, lake, woods and many more spots to stop at. Lately I've enjoyed a spot that's right off of the gravel road that leads to the lake. The trees had beautiful color on them and the lighting was perfect, so we stopped and I did some of Nya as well as some of her with her boyfriend and her family! Nya went with every single idea I had, even if it seemed crazy, and between the walking and twirling and her dad saying funny things, I was able to get gorgeous, genuine laughing photos of her!
Nya's last outfit choices were important ones to her. She brought her color guard outfits and flags to showcase her talent and the years she's spent on her school's color guard team! This is the first time I've ever done color guard photos so it was a learning experience for me, and she showed me a few of her awesome abilities, so I figured the best photos for this would be candid ones of her doing her thing! We had so many possibilities as well, and the flag ended up being an extremely cool prop that I could use for her to hold, lean on, or even frame her face. We finished up right before sunset, and we both were ready to warm up and head home so we could see some results! I was so happy with the way all of her photos turned out, and I'm hoping Nya and her family were as well. I like to make a session worth the trip!
Thank you to Nya and her family for making the trip here and spending a wonderful afternoon taking pictures with me! She was the first Motoaca senior I have had before, but I definitely hope to work with more students from her school and others throughout the state in the future.
The holiday season is always full of so much fun and business for me! This upcoming week I will be running my Black Friday/Small Business Saturday sale so be on the lookout for that. I also am still booking Christmas mini sessions for December 11th and 12th. Message me to book a session and we can end the year in the best way! Happy Thanksgiving!
