charlotte senior portraits

harrisburg-nc-senior-portraits | jay /  by Staci Noel

When this guy’s mom first reached out to me she mentioned that they really wanted to capture some great portraits and “oh maybe a few” to show the sports that he did. As we continued talking and planning for Jay’s session she casually discussed his busy schedule and I realized this wasn’t just going to call for a “few sports shots”. This guy is a three sport athlete who is going on to play one of those in college - so uhhhhhhhh yeah we’re going to create something amazing to celebrate that! I think at the end of the day not only did we get some fantastic portrait art but we got images that really showcase Jay’s personality and love of sports that put a few tears in momma’s eyes:)

charlotte-nc-senior-portraits | mia /  by Staci Noel

Let me tell you when you get to photograph the senior portraits for a beautiful girl that you first met when she was 5 years old when she and her family moved in next door to you, you might tear up during your shoot. Like how is she graduating high school and how does she look like this!!! Mia is all about fashion and had such an amazing sense of personal style she absolutely lit up the sky for our gorgeous sunset sesssion in uptown Charlotte. You’re beautiful inside and out Mia and I’ve loved every minute of watching you turn into this amazing woman! On to your next wonderful adventure and I can’t wait to see the journey you take!

harrisburg-nc-senior-portraits | bailey /  by Staci Noel

I’m so behind on blogging - Covid has completely jacked up 2020 in every way, shape and form! I need to get caught up on getting some of these class of 2020 seniors on the blog so here we go:)

Up first - Bailey! I met with Bailey and her mom to discuss senior portraits and one of the first things she menitoned was that she was really just doing this because her mom wanted these pictures. Not the first time I’ve heard this from a senior;) She wasn’t super excited about doing pictures because it just didn’t seem necessary to her.

I get it - you all are the most photographed generation ever! Everyone has a camera on them at all times and the amount of photographs you guys take in a day equals what I took in maybe six months as a teen! Who needs official, boring old posed portraits now right??? Uh, yeah, that’s not what I do anyway - so fast forward to Bailey’s session and nothing makes my heart sign any louder than after viewing their images, someone like Bailey tells me how much fun she had and how much she LOVES her senior portraits. At the end of the day, mom always knows best, right:)

This girl killed it in every image!!!

harrisburg-nc-senior-portraits |hickory ridge|mckenna /  by Staci Noel

It's no joke to say that I had probably 4x as many images as I could possibly share from McKenna's session! No need to add a lot of fluffy words either; these portraits speak for themselves! I had so much fun capturing this time for this truly wonderful girl and I know that her whole family will treasure the amazing artwork we created! I can't wait to work with her again in the spring for something truly spectacular; I'll keep it a surprise but I'm so excited!!!

harrisburg nc senior photographer | kieran by staci noel photography /  by Staci Noel

I believe that everyone can take a good picture - even people who don't consider themselves photogenic. However, it's not a natural thing for the majority of folks which is why without guidance in posing or directional lighting people hate a lot of the images that their friends or family take and really despise how they look in snapshots on phones, etc. - it isn't the camera y'all! I have spent years learning how to pose people so that they can take a flattering image and I take great pride in guiding subjects through the process during a portrait session so that they love the images we create together. We work on finding poses that look best, feel natural and make them feel confident; everything from what to do with your hands, what kind of expression works, how to relax their body and their face to get the most natural moments.

All of that being said, there is occasionally a person that I've photographed who required very little to no direction or maybe just a one time suggestion and after that they just practically flew through the session on their own. I wish I could take credit for it but this guy knew how he wanted to be photographed and he rocked this session with some very basic direction and then just naturally rolled with it! It made it such a blast each time we worked in a new location in Harrisburg or Charlotte because I knew we were getting killer senior portraits that he loved and mom would cherish!

He's off to college this month and I know that he will see amazing success because he's talented and just as focused on his goals! It was absolutely my pleasure to capture this part of his senior year at Hickory Ridge High School and I can't wait to hear about all of the wonderful things he does moving ahead!