Senior Photo Session with Nick at the Washington Arboretum

A few weeks ago on a somewhat rare sunny Saturday morning, I met up with Nick and his mom at the Washington Arboretum for Nick’s high-school senior photo session.  Because it was one of those rare sunny fall days in Seattle, just finding a parking place was a major challenge.  It seemed that a good part of Seattle was trying to escape their homes and get outside to enjoy the sunshine.

Fortunately the Arboretum is a huge place, and even though there were hundreds (at least) other people in the park, in most places it did not feel very crowded.  Which is a good thing when you want to take photos and not have unintentional photo-bombers show up in every shot!

Nick is a senior at Garfield High, and as is the case with all of the public schools in Seattle he is currently only able to attend classes online due to Covid restrictions.  I have found it really interesting to talk with all of the seniors whose photos I have taken this fall about their experiences with online learning.  As with all of the seniors I have talked with, Nick was not happy about the situation but realized that there was nothing that he could do about it.

As we made our way through the Arboretum we were always on the watch for good possible places to snap a few photos.  From a photographic perspective, the lighting was very challenging, with the sun very low in the sky meaning that it was very difficult for Nick to face toward the sun with being near blinded.  So we looked for places where we could hide in the trees away from the bright sun, or made sure that Nick was placed in a position with the sun behind him.

There was a surprisingly small number of trees with good fall color; my guess is that our mild fall weather never produced the cold temperatures needed to get the leaves to really turn.  But the Arboretum has so many good spots for photos that it really did not matter.

We spent a bit over an hour exploring the park, taking photos whenever we came across a promising spot.  Even though I have done dozens of photo sessions at the Arboretum, I always seem to find something new whenever I am there, and this time was no exception.

Nick was a wonderful subject, and I greatly enjoyed our time together.  Here is a small selection of photos from our session, I hope that you enjoy them!