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One of my best girlfriends, opened up her home to an exchange student from Brazil this past year. She thought that since Sofia would be attending 12th Grade in the US, she should experience our way of celebrating high school graduation with a set of Senior Pictures.

When we got together for her planning meeting to talk about, a photo location, clothing ideas and how she’d like to be photographed, Sofia admitted that she wasn’t so sure about the whole idea. Senior pictures aren’t a thing in Brazil, and she was concerned about looking “overly posed”. She preferred a natural look with shots of her looking away from the camera. 

In spite of her hesitation she decided to indulge us. To give me an idea of her taste, she created a Pinterest board and shared it with me. As an artist, who loves nature, she wanted open fields, possibly with wildflowers. I wasn’t sure right away where I’d take her for her session but I told her I’d be on the lookout for the perfect place.

I soon found her location on the grounds of the campus where I worked. I noticed that a hay field had been mowed down recently but they had left a nice section of tall and wispy grass. Another close-by area was thick with goldenrod. A pond created a glassy backdrop behind a lightly wooded area. I just knew she’d love it.

When my girlfriend, saw our location she was just confused. She told me how Sofia had pointed out several “ideal spots” while they were out driving around town and that her response had been, “So you want a field of weeds?!” In her eyes, that’s was all it was. We got to work and Sofia quickly got over her skepticism, and was a complete natural in front of the camera, enjoying her time in the limelight.

In spite of my friend’s skepticism, and with a touch of astonishment, she agreed that the photos were gorgeous. I was thrilled with the colors and textures we’d achieved in a simple field that didn’t look all the special at a glance!