Downtown Denver, CO Senior Portrait Photography Session

I’ve known Jade my whole life, so when I was asked to capture her Senior photos, I was nothing short of thrilled. But, we’d completely lost touch since she was barely 10 years old and we all know a lot changes between then and high school. What’s she into these days? What’s her style? What’s her personality like? I couldn’t answer any of these questions. And, honestly, during her consultation… neither could she.

It’s one challenge to recreate a clear vision a client brings to your table, but it’s a different challenge to create an entirely new vision the client doesn’t even know exists yet.

Good thing I’m always up for a challenge.

Variety was the key to figuring out what she was going for. A little bit of urban, a dash of nature, some classy, and a smidge edgy. I will say, it’s fun having complete creative control when tackling the task of creating a vision for someone. We meandered around downtown Denver for a couple of hours looking for spots that caught our eyes. Our favorites ended up being Union Station and walls we found in the Arts District.

On the drive home, I was giddy with the thought of heading straight into my office to look through the magic we’d created and get to editing. Not to my surprise, Jade’s posing experience matched with our incredibly diverse backdrops made for hundreds of drool-worthy images. Upon their gallery delivery, they had the same feeling. And boy is that a good one.

Downtown Denver, CO Unique Senior Portraits | Adilyn Malcolm

Search the hashtag “#seniorsunday” and your screen will be flooded with dreamy images of girly-girls in frilly, pastel dresses frolicking through colorful flower fields and rotating through the same 5 cookie-cutter poses. No, there’s nothing wrong with that at all. Actually, the photos are usually quite stunning IMO. But…

“They’re just not… me,” said Adilyn while we worked together to narrow down the style for her upcoming shoot.

Being that I’m not just her photographer, but also her older sister, I saw where she was coming from and knew we had to find something totally… Adi. I mean, isn’t that what senior photos are all about? If your senior portraits don’t showcase exactly who you are during this monumental season of life, then what’s the point?

So, we made a list of all things, well, her:

  • Art
  • Grunge
  • Urban
  • 90’s Trendy
  • Natural
  • Street

After a trip to the local thrift store for some vintage items and a quick Google search for street art in Downtown Denver, we were on our way…the next day at 4:30am.

We aimlessly drove around the sleepy streets in search of a hypothetical location that just screamed her name. And there it was. The stone alleyway with vibrant murals and string lights was the perfect blend of vintage style and urban edge for her.

We began to shoot and WOW was she a natural. I used to dress her up in girly outfits and makeup to take photos of her in fields like the ones I mentioned at the beginning of this post and, don’t get me wrong, she was photogenic…but nothing like this. Here, she was herself and there’s nothing more beautiful than that. Here, she was in her element. No makeup, no fancy outfit, no extravagant location — just her in comfy clothes, barefaced, in a location as creative, bold, and interesting as she is.

That’s what I call a successful senior photo session.

What would you describe your style to be and is there a place in your mind that fits that exactly? I’d love to know in the comments!

xoxo,

ELM