Urban Portraits

With senior picture season approaching,

I wanted to scout out some new locations for

what I call URBAN portraits.

When my son was home on spring break from college,

I had him gather some of his friends so I could practice

in a historic area of our city called "Old Town".

We started under this bridge by the river.

Turns out...the cement walls in this area are covered in

wonderful GRAFFITI!

I looked for a stretch of graffiti with colors that

matched Cassie's sweater.

See the graffiti star burst to the right of her neck below?

It's great to incorporate the graffiti when possible.

I also love that it was a windy day!

Wind always adds dimension to hair as I shared in this

windy portrait post.

I kept telling Cassie to forget her hair...

let it blow wild.

While photographing Jeff by the colorful graffiti wall...

I noticed this railroad track.  Looks like a path to a ghost town

which it kind of IS! 

This part of town has some abandoned buildings by the river...

a great place in any city to scout out portrait locations!

Old, flaking, crumbling buildings add texture

and interest.  I especially like the red color pop by Cody.

Cody is laid back and casual and this setting worked great for him.

I like to hunt out structural details that can match personalities.

Yep, Cody is electrifying:

We continued to explore and moseyed into this back alley.

I think a rat was about to run out of that pipe thingy:

I couldn't resist all the electric stuff stuck to the back of this old building

and made Sonny pose for me.

It's amazing what you can find in back alleys!

A wonderful backdrop for senior males.

For Tyler, we happened upon some historic architecture...

an abandoned building. 

Sarah looked pretty in purple by old buildings, too.

I now look for old buildings when I'm driving and remember them

for photo shoots because

they add so much charm to URBAN portraits.

I like the city background especially in a historic area.

What a fun day with these exuberant young people!

Great to find some new locations for senior pictures.