Monday, April 23, 2012

Urban Portraits


With senior picture season approaching,
I wanted to scout out some new locations for
what I call URBAN portraits.

When my son was home on spring break from college,
I had him gather some of his friends so I could practice
in a historic area of our city called "Old Town".

We started under this bridge by the river.


Turns out...the cement walls in this area are covered in
wonderful GRAFFITI!


I looked for a stretch of graffiti with colors that
matched Cassie's sweater.

See the graffiti star burst to the right of her neck below?
It's great to incorporate the graffiti when possible.


I also love that it was a windy day!
Wind always adds dimension to hair as I shared in this


I kept telling Cassie to forget her hair...
let it blow wild.


While photographing Jeff by the colorful graffiti wall...


I noticed this railroad track.  Looks like a path to a ghost town
which it kind of IS! 


This part of town has some abandoned buildings by the river...
a great place in any city to scout out portrait locations!


Old, flaking, crumbling buildings add texture
and interest.  I especially like the red color pop by Cody.


Cody is laid back and casual and this setting worked great for him.


I like to hunt out structural details that can match personalities.

Yep, Cody is electrifying:


We continued to explore and moseyed into this back alley.
I think a rat was about to run out of that pipe thingy:


I couldn't resist all the electric stuff stuck to the back of this old building
and made Sonny pose for me.


It's amazing what you can find in back alleys!


A wonderful backdrop for senior males.


For Tyler, we happened upon some historic architecture...
an abandoned building. 


Sarah looked pretty in purple by old buildings, too.


I now look for old buildings when I'm driving and remember them
for photo shoots because
they add so much charm to URBAN portraits.


I like the city background especially in a historic area.


What a fun day with these exuberant young people!
Great to find some new locations for senior pictures.

 

14 comments:

  1. Great shots and especially love the incorporation of the graffiti!

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  2. Saginaw, Old Town?

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  3. Wow...these were great! I bet they all loved them.

    Have a blessed day!

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  4. You definitely planted the idea in my head to be on the lookout for interesting backdrop areas of town. Great photos!

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  5. Very cool!!! Love their soft, beautiful faces against the grit of the graffiti- well done!!!

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  6. What a rich location for a senior shoot. Oh, and I LOVE the barefoot-at-the-tracks look.

    {Thanks so much for the sweet comment and also for linking up with Communal Global!}

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  7. I love these. Gorgeous shots!!

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  8. These are great! How wonderful to have such great models ;)

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  9. What a cool bunch of people, lovely shooting hun and yes that railway track shot looks awesome!

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  10. These are all great shots! And the locations are great!

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  11. These are fantastic, Jill! Love the graffiti as a background!

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  12. WOW! I love this! and I love your blog! I'm a new follow!

    Okay, how in the world did you convince them to go and play with you??? My older kids are a bit younger, I can't get them to do fun stuff like that with me. What was it lunch? ice cream? candy? gas money???

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