Senior Portrait Session at Tempe Town Lake

Paradise Valley High School senior Danielle has been planning her senior portraits for quite some time. I took one of her friends senior portraits last year and since then she has been excited to plan her session. Danielle rocked three unique outfits that matched all of the locations. We had a beautiful Arizona winter day to shoot and chose Tempe Town Lake for the first part of the session. The Tempe Center for the Arts had provided a modern, edgy backdrop and we also used the bridge over the lake. Danielle's friend came along and was a huge help getting some genuine expressions and relieving some of her nerves!

After some amazing shots at Tempe Town Lake we headed to North Phoenix and went to a seldom used, secluded road. We were able to get some fun shots with balloons and vintage props. We literally had the road to ourselves!

As sunset was approaching, we went to the wash to catch the golden, beautiful light. I loved shooting into the sun to backlight her hair and using a reflector, I bounced the light back onto her. This change in the light definitely added a warm and soft mood to the images. 

Danielle, it was so much fun taking your senior pictures. Good luck next year at the University of Arizona :)

Brian Lorrigan Photography Top 10 Senior Portraits of 2014

This was an awesome year for senior portraits! We were able to shoot some incredible seniors in both Arizona and Wisconsin. I really enjoy the relaxed environment of senior sessions and the ability to get creative with lighting and locations. Here are my top ten (okay there are actually 13) senior photos from 2014, in no particular order :)

Sabrina was stunning in these natural light portraits.  I placed the sun behind her to give a beautiful backlight on her hair and then used a reflector to bounce the natural light back on the front side of her. The head piece made this image complete!

Trevor and I found this alley location in downtown Prescott. His pose and expression set the mood perfectly for this setting. The natural shaded light in the alley gave perfect light for this moody portrait.

Jessica rocked this shot in downtown Appleton! I love the "sassiness" in her expression. This cloudy Wisconsin day gave nice even natural light for this portrait.

Mr. Cool. Deven is an aspiring pilot and with the help of my pilot neighbor, we had access to an airport hanger. The light inside the hanger was soft and bright. I used a single alien bee strobe with a soft box to illuminate his face as you can see from the catch light in his crystal blue eyes. 

Tatum's smile is contagious! The best part about this session was that her two goofy friends came along. Without them, this expression would not have come naturally. I used a single off camera strobe to light Tatum and keep the background exposed. I love how off camera flash makes the subject "pop" out of the image.

Damian is a muscular state champion wrestler and we got really creative with his session. The wrestling room was the perfect studio for this shot. I placed a strobe far behind him to create a light burst effect and also to give him a bit of rim light. I then placed another strobe with a soft box to his left to light his face and body. The flexing and expression really gave this image life!

Kirsten looked fabulous at her summer session. For this image we framed her in the doorway of an old barn and used a reflector to bounce the natural sunlight back on her face. 

Yes, sports portraits are definitely my favorite! Especially with clouds like this! I used a single off camera strobe to light Tyler as I exposed for the sky. Without using off camera flash, the sky would be blown out and less dramatic. 

I like how the sun rays came through right behind the skate board. It's amazing how bringing a prop can completely change the personality of the person and energy of the session. Deven was so pumped for this image and couldn't wait to show them to his skater buddies.

Marissa's session was a blast in downtown Phoenix. We found some cool spots with art/graffiti walls and dramatic colors. This image was lit with an off camera strobe and soft box. 

Yes, this is the same tough guy state wrestler. He definitely has a huge heart and I think we were able to capture the whole person throughout his session. This image was lit using a off camera strobe and I kept the flash soft not to startle the horse. 

Trevor was a three year varsity pitcher and has great throwing mechanics. This image was taken after sunset and it was nearly dark. I love the dramatic skies Arizona sunsets can create. I used two alien bee strobes to create this image and freeze the motion. It took quite a few attempts to get the ball in the shot but eventually we got it!

I know I said these are not in order, but I definitely saved the best for last. We used golden hour natural light with a reflector to create this image. Mariah, you are beautiful!