Carolyn’s Senior Photo Session at Bellevue Botanical Garden

On a sunny day last August, I met with Carolyn for her senior photo session at the Bellevue Botanical Garden.  This was kind of an unusual Senior Photo session, because Carolyn had graduated from high school the previous June.  We had been trying to schedule a time for a photo session since Autumn 2022, but things just kept coming up for Carolyn that kept the session from happening.  First it was dental work, then weather, then Covid; it just seemed that the Photo Gods were not going to let Carolyn have a senior photo session.

Fortunately we were finally able to find a time to schedule our shoot.  And just in time, since Carolyn would be heading off to California to start college just a few weeks later.

The wait was long, but when the day finally arrived we had pretty much everything work out just as we’d like.  The weather was one of those August days when the temperature was about perfect, ~80 degrees with sunshine.  One of the nice things about the Botanical Gardens is that there are so many different places to take photos that allow good shots under just about any weather conditions.  Most pro photographers will tell you that a sunny day is NOT their favorite conditions for a portrait shoot, since it tends to lead to lots of eye squints, over-bright highlights and too many deep shadows.  But at the Botanical Gardens there are lots of trees creating shady areas where we can hide from the sun, or use the sun to our advantage to backlight the subject.  You’ll see what I mean when you look at the photos.

Carolyn and I spent an hour slowly working our way through the park, as I looked for spots that would allow the best use of the existing light and Carloyn looked for places that she liked as backdrops.  Between the two of us we came up with some good ideas!  Hopefully you’ll agree when you look at the following photos, which is just a small sample from out session.

You can see more Senior photos by visiting my website at this link