Natalie

Most senior sessions don't involve a paddleboard. Natalie's did. That's pretty much the whole story of why this one worked.

We shot at DeYoung Natural Area, a nature preserve just outside Traverse City with trails that move through wetlands and open into meadows. It's not a typical portrait location. There are no gazebos, no arched bridges, no spots worn smooth by a thousand sessions before yours. It's just woods and water and however much light filters through on the day you show up. That's what makes it good.

We started on the trails and worked through the preserve before getting to the water. The terrestrial shots have a quieter feel — tall grass, open sky, the kind of space where you stop thinking about where to put your hands and just exist for a minute. That's what you're actually after in a senior session. Not a pose. Just someone actually being somewhere.

On the Water

The paddleboard section was Natalie's idea, which is exactly why it works. She's comfortable on the water. You can see it. The photos from that part of the session have a different energy than anything you'd get in a field with good foliage — there's ease in them, a kind of confidence that comes from being in your element.

That's the thing about senior portraits. When the session reflects something true about who someone actually is, the camera picks it up. When it doesn't, the camera picks that up too. Building a session around a paddleboard wasn't a gimmick. It was just paying attention.