Tag: Urban Senior Portraits

Senior Pictures Inspiration: Vintage Records at Sugar Shack

When we meet with seniors to plan their photoshoot one of the first things we want to know is what are their interests. If there is something that’s important in the student’s life they may want to incorporate that into the shoot. When I met with Emma and her mom and asked about her interests, Emma pulled out a vinyl copy of Tom Petty’s album Hard Promises. The one originally released in 1981! The cover art is Tom looking cool in a record store. Loved it!

We decided to do part of the photoshoot in a record store. We contacted the owner of Sugar Shack Records and he said we could use his store. The building has tons of charm and the store is a vintage jackpot. We spent a good amount of time shooting in and around Sugar Shack and then went down a few blocks for some outside portraits in Schenk’s Corners on Madison’s east side. A great neighborhood with authentic, local character and flavor. Schenk’s Corners provides a great backdrop for urban senior pictures.

If there’s time, meeting with our clients to plan the shoot is a great way to talk through locations, outfits and other creative elements you might want to include in your shoot. Remember, the senior pictures photo session is all about you so don’t be afraid to share your interests and loves with your photographer. It can turn into a great idea for a photoshoot.

Here’s some of the pics!

June 13, 2019
Madison Senior Pictures Rewind – Ani at the Arboretum

What a great senior portrait session last year with Ani from Madison West. Ani and Jenny met us at the UW arboretum an hour or so before sunset which is our preferred time to shoot. The setting sun creates such warm beautiful images and allows us to capture flare effects in some of the images. For outfits, Ani went with a classic black dress and a cute lacy white top with jeans. When clients ask our advice on what to wear for their senior portraits our first piece of advice is to wear something that you’re going to feel confident and good about yourself in. Our next piece of advice is to keep it simple. Whether we’re in a nature or urban location, a simple outfit won’t clash with the backgrounds or pull attention away from you.

Thanks Ani and Jenny for a great photoshoot last year. We loved how the senior pics turned out and hope you’ll treasure them forever!

May 6, 2019
It’s Senior Portrait Season! Now booking summer sessions for class of 2020!

We just started booking our first senior picture sessions for this summer and I wanted to get a blog post out with some highlights from last year and info for this year’s clients. Jen and I love taking senior pictures which we hope comes through in our sessions when we push our seniors for “just one more” picture. We really love what we do and making sure you have the best images from this great time of life is our number one priority.

Referrals = Money

For past clients I want to remind you that if you refer a senior who books a session with us we’ll give you a $50 cash prize. Word of mouth referrals are our number one approach to marketing and we appreciate all the good reviews you’ve been giving.

For new clients, we’re now booking senior portrait sessions for the summer and fall. Email us and we’ll send you pricing and other info. Jen and I love working with seniors to come up with the perfect photo shoot but we also have lots of ideas on locations and what to wear. We want to make this as easy on you as possible and we’ll be with you through the entire process.

All right, let’s look at some pictures

Elia is a senior at Madison West High School who wanted her senior pictures taken at the UW arboretum. The arboretum is beautiful and there are many great outdoor locations to choose from. Elia recently had the trendy, handpainted balayage treatment done to her dying it a gorgeous purple. The purple hair color in her senior portraits contrasts beautifully with all the colors at the UW arboretum. For this portrait we used a favorite technique where we place the senior girl where there are flowers in the foreground which we throw out of focus by shooting wide open to create a shallow depth of field. For this senior girl pose we asked Elie to naturally run her fingers through her hair at look off camera. We love the dreamy expression comnbined with the beautiful golden hour light.

Beautiful and fun senior girl pose standing in the middle of State St in Downtown Madison. A lot of our senior portrait clients love getting their pictures taken in front of the capitol in Madison. The rain had just passed through which created this great texture on the street and pavement for this outdoor portrait. We like to call this pose “i’m hugging myself” and ask the client to drag their fingers through their hair while rocking back and forth. It’s a great way to get a natural candid smile from the senior portrait client. The clouds created a beautiful soft portrait light on Emily, which is one of our favorite lighting patterns for portraits.

Anna from Middleton High school wanted her senior pictures photographed by Studio Indigo Photography at Olbrich Gardens in Madison. This standing pose was photographed by the rose garden. We work hard to make sure all our senior portrait girls and guys feel comfortable and relaxed during the shoot. Anna is wearing a simple black dress which is a great idea for what to wear to your senior portraits. The black dress works great with any background or location for your senior pictures photoshoot. Anna is in a simple but relaxed and natural standing pose and is framed by the arches at the rose garden. Olbrich garden has so many great locations for senior pictures although it is usually busy and we have to work around visitors.

This senior portrait was photographed by studio indigo on the Epic campus in Verona, WI. We asked Landon to sit comfortably against the fence of the bridge and then we started to put him into a pose that would look natural while creating angles and negative space. The curve of the bridge and shallow depth of field of the portrait create visual interest with leading lines. This is one of our favorite places for ourdoor senior pictures because of the lush natural environment and the bridge gives us lots of posing ideas for senior guys and girls. When posing senior guys in sitting poses we often ask them to pop a knee up and rest their wrist on their knee. Make sure to have them relax their hands to make sure the pose looks as natural as possible.

Isabel from Madison Memorial high school had studio indigo photograph her senior pictures at pope farm park. In this photo she has a relaxed, candid, natural expression while walking through a field of yellow wildflowers. For this picture we used a vintage film effect to give it a subdued lower contrast look. Isabel’s purple cold shoulder top works beautifully with the yellow wildflowers. This simple top is a great choice when looking for ideas on what to wear to your senior pictures photoshoot. We always want our senior picture clients to feel really good in whatever outfit they choose but we also say that simple is best. Simple tops and outfits work well in any location, outdoor, nature, city, or urban. For this picture we didn’t actually ask Isabel to pose instead having her walk through the wildflowers and looking down and then back at the camera which resulted in this candid, peaceful, natural expression and pose.

Jacob wanted some of his senior portraits to have a baseball theme. We photographed him at the baseball diamond in Verona, WI where he played varsity baseball. For this senior guy baseball senior picture we used the sun in the background to create a cool visual flare effect while Jacob was taking batting practice. The bleach bypass effect in Alenskin exposure is a great example of a senior portrait for guys that gives the image some cool, crunchy effects. We also pumped up the clairty on this image in Lightroom. Senior guys can be hard to pose but we get them comfortable by doing things they normally do which can create relaxed, natural expressions and smiles. It’s a great idea for posing senior guys is to not pose them at all!

Madison West High School senior Abby had studio indigo photography take her senior pictures at Epic in Verona. This shallow focus outdoor portrait is taken in a field with natural grasses in front of a barn. This is one of our favorite pose idea for senior girls. We ask the senior to naturally run their hands through their hair and as they pull their hand through to then follow their hand with their gaze. It can make for a beautiful dramatic pose and it’s one of the senior girls favorite pictures. When senior girls and guys ask for ideas on what to wear for their senior pictures we always recommend that simpler is better. Abby chose a simple, elegant blue-green skater dress that worked beautifully with this golder hour portrait with the brown tones of the prairie grass as background.

Verona high school senior Nikki was photographed by studio indigo on the Epic campus southwest of Madison. Nikki is wearing a cute white summer dress with straps. She is backlit with the sun which creates flare in the lens which softens and warms up the picture. We used one of our favorite posing techniques for senior portraits having them gently sway back and forth and play with their hair. It usually creates a natural, candid laugh and expressioin that turns into a beautiful senior picture. Nikki is walking in one of the back fields at Epic in Verona and her white dress contrasts beautifully with the lush green and yellow nature setting.

Studio Indigo took Verona High School senior Eve’s senior portraits at pope farm park in Middleton, wi. In this portrait we posed Eve up against a white fence with a farm in the background. To capture this natural, candid moment and smile we asked Eve to play with her hair and pull it to her side while also looking at it. This is one of our favorite posing techniques for senior girls to get them to show natural expressions and laughs. The sun is near golden hour and the light is beautifully highlighting her face for this portrait. Her simple white top is a great choice for what to wear to a senior pictures photoshoot because it isn’t busy, works with multiple backgrounds and doesn’t draw attention away from the senior.

Studio Indigo photographed Jefferson High School senior Haley Happ for her senior portaits in several outdoor locations in rural wisconsin. She wanted some photos taken in front of this cool barn outside Madison WI near Jefferson. For this part of the photoshoot Haley wore a denim or jean jacket and jeans with a black top. We work with all our seniors to make sure they’re comfortable and use a technique called flow posing that achieves natural looks and expressions. We have lots of posing ideas for our senior portraits and focus on capturing those beautiful candid moments with our clients.

Monona Grove senior Emma loves vintage vinyl and wanted her senior pictures photographed by studio indigo photogrpahy at b-side records near Schenks Corners in Madison. We love working with seniors to come up with unique and artsy senior portraits. And with our seniot portrait sessions we often shoot in mulitple locations. A popular choice is for seniors to choose an urban location and a nature setting. For this natural pose we asked Emma to look through the albums and pick one that she liked. Her natural thoughtful expression works great for this senior girls pose. For the pictures inside we used strobes with a softbox to direct soft light on Emma’s face. The softbox creates a soft light with some direction so the light sculpts her face with highlights and shadows.

May 1, 2019
Bo-Ho senior portrait session in Madison – Taylor

Fabulous, fashionable, windy-hair, senior portrait session with Taylor. We started with a gorgeous apple farm and ended up in downtown Madison for some awesome night shots. Thanks Taylor for a fantastic shoot!

April 14, 2018
Madison WI Senior Portraits – Jenna from Verona High School

There were so many things that could have torpedo’d Jenna’s senior portrait photoshoot. Thunderstorms were in the forecast, Jen spilled the first Ground Zero latte, mosquitoes were in attack mode…but none of that was able to stop this fabulous shoot! Jenna and Mom were awesome as we dashed around Willy St and then zipped out to Pope Farm Park for some gorgeous sunset shots. Thanks so much for asking us to take your senior pics! We loved it!

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September 8, 2017
Senior Portraits Oregon WI – Karina

Karina’s senior portrait session started in downtown Madison near the Capital, moved over to the Monona Terrace, then off to Collectivo on Monroe St and finally a mad dash out to the Epic Farm for some gorgeous sunset shots. Karina, Mom and older sister Anika were all troopers throughout. And we even got some shots with the dogs at the very end! Thanks for an amazing photoshoot Karina! We had a blast! Dave and Jen 🙂

Backlit vintage fashion senior picture with some flare of Karina from Oregon High School. This was shot at sunset at the Epic Farm outside Madison WI.

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August 8, 2017
Senior pictures Madison WI – Jacob

Downtown Madison was the backdrop for our senior portrait session with Jacob, a 3-sport varsity athlete from Lodi High School. We loved wandering around the city with Jacob and were lucky enough to have his girlfriend Mandy along to help crack him up! Thanks for a fun senior photoshoot!

Love the sun backlighting Jacob from Lodi High School in this dramatic senior picture in Madison

Jacob from Lodi High School in a relaxed seated pose natural smile for his senior pictures. We photographed Jacob outside the Capitol in Downtown Madison for his senior portrait session.

high school senior portrait session with Jacob from Lodi High School in Downtown Madison. This is a favorite senior portrait standing pose for guys.

Jacob sitting for a senior portrait head shot. We photographed Jacob in Downtown Madison WI.

We photograhed Jacob walking down an alley for this casual senior portrait. Jacob has a nice relaxed smile for this senior picture.

Awesome dramatic senior portrait in this cool urban setting in Madison WI.

Direct sunlight in this senior picture increases the contrrast in this gritty senior portrait in an urban setting.

Jacob is a 3 sport athlete at Lodi High School and we loved getting all his footwear in this senior portrait. We photographed Jacob in Downtown Madison WI

Jacob stands in front of a few of his worn out shoes from being a 3-sport athlete at Lodi High School. Loved this senior portrait photoshoot in downtown madison.

Jacob smiling in downtown madison for his urban city senior picture session.

July 30, 2017
Friend-Sister Senior Photo Shoot – Madison High School Senior Photography

Serena and Alli are juniors at Madison West. Jenna is Serena’s sister and a Freshman at Madison West. They decided it would be fun if all joined in on their senior portrait session and it was a great time. We started off outside some warehouses next to MG&E for some very cool urban shots. Then went up to King St and set up right outside the Majestic Theater for some stylish shots with the Capital in the background. Everyone had a blast, coming up with poses and creative ideas! Interested in having your senior portraits done with a friend or sibling? We’ll combine the session fee so your get 2 for the price of 1!

Beautiful light hitting the side of MG&E matched with soft softbox lighting Serena. Used yongnuo flash in a small chimera softbox to light Serena for this cool, artistic senior portrait.

standing high school senior portrait of madison west junior Serena. We love urban senior photo shoots in downtown madison with so many great buildings to use as backdrops.

Madison West junior Allie posing for her senior portait in downtown madison.

This was a senior friend-sister photo shoot. Serena and Allie are friends and Jenna is Serena’s sister. All 3 attend Madison West, Serena and Allie are juniors and Jenna is a freshman. So much fun working with these 3 ladies and everyone pitched in with different ideas and poses. Great time had by all!

Jenna is a natural in front of the camera and we love this shot of her posed against a brick wall in downtown madison.

Madison west juniors and best friends Allie and Serena flashing the W during their Friend urban Senior photo shoot in downtown madison, wi.

Madison West junior Allie under the Majestic theater marquee for her high school senior portrait. Night time with cool light from the theater sign and the capital in the background.

Posing outside the capital and majestic theater in downtown madison for a stylish senior portrait.

Serena in a sitting pose outside the Majestic theater in downtown madison. Stylish senior portrait using off camera flash with a chimera softbox balanced with natural light from the theater marquee and the state capital in the backgrouind.

Jenna is a very talented dancer and showed her stuff holding this pose in bare feet. No pain, no gain and we love how this senior picture turned out with the state capital in the background in downtown madison, wi.

Dramatic lighting for this friend/sister senior portrait outside the majestic theater in downtown madison. Serena and Jenna are sisters and Allie is their BFF. It was a great idea to shoot all 3 togehter. What a great time during this friend/sister high school senior portrait session.

All 3 ladies posing for a selfie in this stylish senior portrait. On camera flash on manual setting created the high key fashion look.

duck lips pose for this friend-sister senior portrait. High key fashion senior portrait

Fashionable, stylish senior portrait with Jenna, Serena and Allie. Great time

May 30, 2016