uncc-nc-senior-portraits | cale

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I do a lot of high school senior portraits in and around the Charlotte area but every now and then I get a request for a senior portrait for a graduating college senior which I love! It’s another huge milestone in life and getting a chance to help families celebrate is always an honor. I met Cale on the campus at UNCC where he graduated from the college of engineering the week before graduation. We went to a few of his favorite spots in the UNCC Botanical Gardens and then headed over to the college of engineering where he spent countless hours working towards that degree. I know mom and dad are so proud of all of his achievements and now as he launches himself into his career they have these important moments captured forever! Congrats Cale - it was a blast to work with you:)

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charlotte-nc-senior-portraits | mia

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!

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harrisburg-nc-senior-portraits | bailey

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!!!

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Harrisburg-nc-senior-portraits | hickory ridge high school | Ashley

Ashley came in for her first meeting with her whole family and I knew that right away that this was going to be an amazing time to create her senior session. We worked together over a few weeks to get locations lined up and wardrobe decided on. I love when seniors are so invested in making their session personal and completely unique to their story. Ashley was all about it and we had a plan to not only capture gorgeous senior portraits that celebrated her love of the outdoors but also her passion for scuba diving. I know we got exactly what she was hoping for and when parents tear up at the results than I’ve done my job precisely as I had planned and hoped for! Ashley - thank you for trusting me with your senior portraits and I can’t wait to see what amazing adventures lie ahead for you!

harrisburg nc senior photographer | kieran by staci noel photography

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!