Featured Session | Carolyn Hoffman Photography
Today’s featured senior session comes to you from Carolyn Hoffman Photography, located in Marshalltown, Iowa. Here is what Carolyn had to say about her senior’s session.
Please describe the session: “Just a little intro...I am a bit unconventional as a Senior portrait photographer; at least I know so in my local arena! By this, I mean that I consider each session an ADVENTURE, start to finish, and I book the senior for the day. We can work for 4 hours or 10 depending on the senior and what they are bringing to the event. I NEVER work against a clock (sometimes Mother Nature though)! AND, I NEVER repeat photographing a senior in the same location during a senior season (the class year). For most of my senior images, I want people to wonder where we've been...
We started nice and early on a crisp Sunday morning (about 38*) meeting at the local cemetery with the Halloween decor. There is a perfect looking mausoleum across from the pond and the audience of Canadian geese. I have worked in this spot before and while I realize that this is a burial space, we treated everything with respect and worked during a time frame to not bother others visiting the cemetery. Mostly we were attracted by the massive pillars of marble and the patinaed brass double gate. We added a little bit of spider webbing and then the traditional pumpkins and black cat. Just before we were finished, we discovered the gate had been 'unlocked'. This allowed for a bit more mystery to the image. Autumn loves silly and was a hoot with her new buddy; the silver, glittered, smiling skeleton.
It took literally 4 minutes to strike the set of the mausoleum and head to the small town with the stop light in the middle of the intersection. The stoplight is red, so this mighty senior went for the 'Rosie the riveter' look in her clothing with a bouncy ponytail accessory. This stoplight could not have been more perfect, especially when we had her standing on it! We caught many red and green lights and stares from the drivers going by. Did I mention ADVENTURE? Just down the street was this plantation style old hotel with a crackly painted front porch. Time to start changing the look, the brown hat hangs with us for quite a while now!
With lunch to go we continue on to this treasure of a lake community where Autumn's family has been gathering for years. We immediately went for the abandoned beach, kicked off shoes and started to play...never mind that it was only 55 degrees. And, yes, she did run at the edge of the water!! The sky was perfect, the water glistened and those fall colored trees!! Clothing options were perfect for this gorgeous backdrop. Autumn wanted to show off the plaid scarf and it made the perfect wrap for her and her hat! The water was serene with no boats and this perfect rock jetty allowed Autumn to travel out onto the water while I worked from a parallel dock. Like a storybook setting; I can't predict these things! We soaked up the atmosphere and pretended that the sun felt warm as well!
A direct path home to get to the apple orchard before dark! A favorite fall location and a falling sun meant that we had to work with purpose. Pull out the red lumberjack plaid, boots and jeans and load up the vintage suitcases with the overabundance of red ripe fruit!! Perfect spot, twenty yards from the car!! Enjoyed the setting for a bit, bought some apples to go and headed to Autumn's house where Daisy (dog) and Oliver (cat) also reside. We did snap a few images with the cat but the dog was ready to steal the show with her red bandana and Autumn back in her 'Rosie' look. Quickly we grabbed the red vintage suitcase and the leash and took to the gravel road in front of the house. Looks like the future is bright for life's experiences after high school...where ever they go!! Once again, so much fun!!”
Tell us about the gear used: “My gear pack includes the following on all of my outdoor/on location sessions.
Canon D Miii
Canon 24-105mm lens
Canon 70 - 200mm lens
Spiderholster
(2) Circular reflector/diffuser
3 step-stepladder (which I tend to leave behind on urban locations, ugh)
vintage red and cream color suitcases”
What inspired this session?
“Part of my logo of includes the line, "...inspired by you!" This is absolutely the BASELINE of my session planning. While I might be the one choose the locations, suggest an outfit from their wardrobe or offer props to use, all decisions are made based on the SENIOR in front of my camera!
So there is a saying around the state of Iowa, "Wait (insert 20 minutes to 24 hours) and the weather will change, significantly." This is so true within out seasons, especially fall. And so as luck would have it on October 20, senior Autumn was luck enough to have the only rain-free weekend day of the fall at this point.
As I met with Autumn to plan her session, I couldn't help but notice her stunning green eyes. She's a beautiful, spunky, fun girl bundled up in this 5' something frame, but those eyes looked right into your soul. Autumn shared her ideas about clothing and stated that she picked up a cute brown hat. Ding, ding, ding this was the winning piece linking so much of the session together (even if you can't see it all in these images).
In our discussion, it became clear that Autumn had a love for the outdoors, comfy, casual clothes and animals. As we talked Autumn and her mom shared a vacation location about 90 miles away that was near and dear to their family's heart. Autumn had been spending summer days there for most of her life and it literally it called her name at anytime of the year. Everything that inspired Autumn's session was literally related to her namesake. FALL!! Autumn's favorite holiday just happens to be Halloween! We utilized some favorite Halloween props and rocked out at a local cemetery. YES, cemetery!! Remember I said spunky? Autumn had a desire to create a a 'Rosie the riveter' styled composite of her walking across a crosswalk labeled #2020. Just so happen that in the intersection stands this cute 4-sided stop light...just Autumn's size. Before leaving town, we visited the porch of a historical hotel that beckoned travelers to stay for a bit.
Continued on to the lake where generations of family gather and I continued to be inspired by the stories of said gatherings. The fall colors around the lake were stunning and the perfect backdrop for Autumn.
Lastly, we hustled back to town as we nearly forgot the days were so much shorter in late October. Two more ideas to create! Fall is not complete without a trip to the apple orchard especially in a cute cropped lumberjack flannel shirt! And, load up some vintage suitcases full of apples against the green of the orchard grounds. Now the 'Rosie' look and the red suitcase were the perfect finale look with dog companion, Daisy, who also sported a red bandana! Ready for the adventures of a lifetime! Nicely done Autumn!!”
Hair and Makeup Artist: “Autumn styled her own hair and make-up.”
