Gina G: Hartwood Acres Mansion Senior Photos

Gina: the picture of the red dress emoji 💃

We had the absolute BEST time taking photos of Gina a few weeks ago at Hartwood Acres Mansion to celebrate her senior year! Gina is a bundle of fun, and hopes to study nursing post high school. She loves Mad Mex (good taste ) and brought her A game to her senior session with some absolutely beautiful outfits!

Gina's mom is an AMAZING wedding photographer, which made getting to take her senior photos even more of an honor. And since Gina grew up with a photographer mom, you know she was a pro in front of the camera

Congratulations on your senior year, Gina!

Sophia A: Hartwood Acres Mansion Senior Photos

Meet Sophie! She's a Mt. Lebanon senior who is graduating with the class of 2024. She wanted tons of flowers in her senior photos, and there was no better spot than Hartwood!

Sophie started off her senior photos in her more casual outfit, then moved on to two beautiful dresses - one pink, and one blue! I love that she chose lighter colors to compliment the mansion space. Both of her dresses worked perfectly with the mansion architecture and in the colorful gardens!

Congrats on your senior year, Sophie! ❤️

Bri S: Hartwood Acres Mansion Senior Photos

I love when seniors bring props that represent who they are - and Bri, an avid reader, brought some of her favorite books for us to incorporate into her session at Hartwood yesterday evening!

My personal favorite book she brought was Persuasion - it complimented the garden/feel of Hartwood so perfectly with the color and style 😍 And of course, it complimented Bri’s skintone perfectly!

Bri is a rising senior at Shaler who plans to go into teaching post high school (she especially loves history).

Congratulations on your senior year, Bri!

Annelise H: Woodlands High School Senior Photos

Annelise is a graduating senior with the class of 2023! She graduated the week of her senior session from Woodlands High School. I kind of love that she opted to wait for her senior photos until the spring of her senior year! There are definitely benefits to having them done prior to your senior year or during your senior year, but it was such a fun way to celebrate the true end of her high school career with these photos!

Annelise is an accomplished actress at her school - she played Mayzie the Bird in her high school’s rendition of “Suessical” and even had the opportunity to perform in the Gene Kelly Awards (the area’s high school musical award competition).

For her outfits for her session, Annelise chose a pink patterned dress (as her first outfit) and white linen pants with a patterned top (as her second outfit). Both of her outfits complimented the Hartwood flowers and mansion perfectly! We opted to use a more natural/flowery setting for the dress outfit, and chose the mansion backdrop to compliment the visual structure of the second outfit. And with two amazing outfits - we were able to get tons of variety within her photos!

Congratulations on your senior year, Annelise! It was such a pleasure to take these photos for you!

Elizabeth P: Hartwood Acres Mansion Senior Photos

I had the pleasure of taking Elizabeth’s senior photos on a gorgeous day in May!

Elizabeth is a North Allegheny senior who plans to study marketing post high school. For her senior photos, she wanted a plethora of flowers - so Hartwood seemed to be a great fit! There were some gorgeous bright pink peonies in bloom around the mansion, and Elizabeth even brought a few bouquets of flowers for an added floral punch! (Click here to view my blog post about ways to incorporate more florals into your photos!)

Elizabeth, it was a pleasure to take your photos! Congratulations on your senior year!

Mars Prom Photos

This past weekend, I had a type of photo session I’ve never had before: pre-prom photos! And they were so much fun!

While lots of high schools in the area had prom, these photos are of some seniors from Mars High School.

If you’ve ever been to prom or been a parent/sibling of someone going to prom, you know that pre-prom photos can be a little chaotic - one parent (or multiple parents) have to take charge - people are looking at different cameras and giving different instructions, etc! But after the photos were over, several of the parents thanked me for taking the lead and giving clear instruction, because it gave them the opportunity to just enjoy the moment without having to worry about getting the perfect photo. And now the whole group has some photos of everyone posed well, in good light, and looking in the right direction!

If you’re interested in having pre-prom photos taken, please feel free to reach out to me by clicking here!

Josh K: Hartwood Acres Mansion Senior Photos

Josh is graduating this Spring with the class of 2023!

He's a super smart guy who's planning on studying biomedical engineering after high school at Duquesne University. And as you can tell, he came dressed to impressed in a suit and one of his favorite bow ties!

Congratulations on your senior year, Josh, and thanks so much for letting us celebrate with you!

What is the Best Time of Day for Senior Pictures? Answered by a Pittsburgh Senior Photographer

Is there a “best” time of day for senior photos?

The answer to this question might vary from photographer to photographer, but generally, the answer is yes! There is a “best” time of day for taking photos - or in my case, there are two times of day that are my personal favorites for taking photos! These times of day help me…

• Make sure my client’s skin looks its most flattering (almost luminescent!)

• Make sure my client is not squinting their eyes during their session

• Have an easier time controlling the available light

• Not have to use off camera lighting (my preference is natural light, paired with a reflector!)

A few important things to note: as a primarily “natural light” photographer (or in other words, as a photographer who uses the sun as her main light source usually without the addition of artificial lights!), I plan my sessions around when the natural sunlight is best. And for the way I prefer to shoot, the best light of the day is generally found within two hours of sunrise and two hours before sunset. This is when the sun is lowest in the sky, which gives me the ability to maneuver it a bit easier! It’s also softer and warmer within both of these time frames - the higher the sun gets in the sky, the harsher the light becomes, creating harsh lines, highlights, and shadows on my subjects (and makes them squint!)… and I want every person I photograph to have that beautiful, flattering soft light that can be found at those two times of day, so that is typically when I plan my sessions for!

However, on a cloudy day (we get lots of those here in Pittsburgh!), the rules can change a bit.

On a cloudy day, the clouds act as a giant soft box for the sun - meaning that the light is less harsh, and doesn’t create harsh lines, shadows, and highlights on my client’s face… so we can get that beautiful soft light throughout the entire day! There are even times when the cloud coverage is so heavy (blocking so much of the sunlight, effectively creating an “earlier” sunset) that I actually have to move my session up an hour or so.

But because I plan my sessions so far out in advance (usually a few months out), I always schedule my sessions within two hours of sunrise, or two hours before sunset. That way, we know we will always have the best light of the day whether it’s sunny or cloudy! And then I watch the sunlight and cloud coverage throughout the day to see if the timing needs to be adjusted.

Below are some photos that were taken within two hours of sunrise, or two hours before sunset!

View fullsize

View fullsize

View fullsize

View fullsize

View fullsize

View fullsize

View fullsize

View fullsize

View fullsize

What Time of Year is Best for Senior Pictures? Answered by a Pittsburgh Senior Photographer

Believe it or not, there’s not a one size fits all answer to the question “what time of year is best for senior pictures?”

The most popular time of year here in Pittsburgh for senior photos is no doubt the fall, usually in October. We are blessed with some beautiful foliage in the autumn months here in Western Pennsylvania, and many seniors want to take advantage of that for their photos! And it’s always nice to not be sweating during your senior pictures, which is often the case in summer.

However, instead of telling you what the best time of the year is for senior pictures, I’d love to help you figure out when would be the best time for YOU by walking you through some questions:

QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER:

Does being really hot or really cold bother you?

I know, kind of a weird question, but stay with me! If you aren’t a fan of hot and humid weather, you’ll probably be miserable during a summer session. On the flip side, if you aren’t a fan of the cold, waiting until mid November for your senior photos probably isn’t a great option, either. But if you’re a huge fan of summer and can’t wait to wear a sun dress or shorts and a T-shirt for your photos, then summer might be the perfect time for your photos! Which leads me to my next question…

What kind of clothing do you picture yourself wearing for your photos?

This might help you decide what season you want your photos taken in! If you aren’t fan of short sleeves/pants and prefer long sleeves and/or layers, a cooler timeframe might be better for you - think early spring or mid to late fall! However, if you really like summer attire and want to show off your summer tan, a warmer month (June, July, August) might be perfect for you!

What is your preferred type of scenery?

This one might be obvious, but I think it’s worth throwing in here anyways, because there are some types of scenery that are “best” during certain times of year. For example - if you want lots of beautiful blooms in your photos, spring is a must! Summer can also be a good time for photos with flowers, especially at a location like Hartwood Acres Mansion, because their garden is in full bloom by late summer. But you won’t find many flowers in the fall (obviously! ;) ).

When do you actually have time for your photo session?

Last but not least, what does your schedule look like? Is the school year super crazy for you with sports and extracurriculars? Then it might be best to have your senior photos taken over the summer! Or is summer super crazy for you? Will you be traveling all over the place without much of a break? Then consider booking a senior session for the school year! Whatever the case, having an idea of when you’ll have a bit of extra time is important. Senior photos are meant to be fun and relaxing - a celebration of the end of a season and the beginning of a new one! So if trying to schedule your session during a certain time of year stresses you out, then don’t even go there. Choose a time where you’ll actually get to enjoy the experience without being too rushed!

STILL UNSURE?

If you’ve considered all of these questions and you’re still not sure, know that you can’t go wrong with any season, really! Spring, summer, fall, and winter all have their pros and cons when it comes to scheduling a senior session during any one of them - and the “best” time is different for each senior based on their personal needs, preferences, and schedule!

MY PERSONAL OPINION

But if you want to know what I think… my (personal) favorite months for senior photos are end of April/early May (with the beautiful spring flowers!), August (right before school starts, everything is so green, and seniors are less stressed), and end of September into all of October (fall foliage and cool weather is my absolute favorite!). I also love winter senior sessions when there is snow… because it’s such a unique backdrop! The cold isn’t always so fun, but the beautiful scenery makes it worth it!

Pictured below from left to right: spring, summer, fall, winter.

4 Ways to Incorporate Fresh Flowers into Your Senior Photos

Fresh flowers are one of my favorite “props” for seniors to incorporate into their senior photos! As a senior photographer in the Pittsburgh area, there are a few locations around the Pittsburgh area that are known for having beautiful gardens to work with - including two of my favorites, Hartwood Acres Mansion and Mellon Park!

But what happens when you want to incorporate those glorious florals into your photos, but the garden isn’t in bloom? Or maybe you live in an area that just doesn’t have a lot of blooming florals.

Let me tell you a little secret… you don’t have to have access to a garden or field of flowers in order to get that pop of flower color in your photos! In fact, all of the ideas found in this blog post do not require access to a garden or a field of flowers, but will still help you get that “pop” that you want. So let’s dive in with some of my favorite ideas!

1. Hold a bouquet or single stem flower.

This might be the easiest option, because you can buy a bouquet of flowers from the local grocery store, from a farm, or from a florist! A simple bouquet of flowers never goes out of style. Just make sure to take color scheme into consideration when choosing, you’ll want to make sure the bouquet goes with your outfit choice! I often have seniors hold the bouquet or set it on the ground near where they’re sitting for a quick pop of color.

You can also opt for a single stemmed flower - I personally love a large single stem sunflower, since it has a bit more volume than some other types of flowers! But even a rose would be a beautiful addition.

2. Off with their heads!

Quite literally - cut the heads of the flowers off and lay them on the ground! This is one of my FAVORITE shots to get when someone brings fresh flowers. But of course, I would suggest doing this shot near the end of your session so you can use the stemmed flowers for other photos! I also sometimes love to have seniors throw the cut off heads in the air for something a little fun and different! (Kind of like confetti… but with flowers!)

Another option would be to use flower petals instead of full heads of flowers - if you don’t want to waste quite as many!

3. Find a cute basket or carrier.

This is another fairly easy (and fun) option! If you have a cute basket that can be slung on your elbow, or a bike with a cute basket that could fit an arrangement, those are both great options that help incorporate another prop into your photos!

4. Borrow some large potted flowers.

I’ve had a few moms of seniors bring some large potted florals to their daughter’s sessions… and they have turned out SO beautifully! You could bring large mixes in the spring/summer, or mums in the fall. As a side tip - it can be nice when the pots aren’t super visible and are more covered by overhanging flowers/greenery (unless they’re really pretty!).

And there you have it! Four of my favorite ways to incorporate fresh flowers into a senior session. Really, though - these could be easily applied to any session! An engagement session could easily be enhanced with a floral arrangement or bouquet, and even a family session could be beautiful with a few large flower pots set up in a pretty area to enhance the scene. Don’t be afraid to get creative with those beautiful blooms!