Laine, Class of 2019
This senior portrait session at Sayen Gardens in Hamilton, NJ was so special, and for a number of reasons. The first and most important is my relationship to this 2019 graduate! If you didn’t already know, I’m a photography teacher at a high school in central, NJ… and this amazing young woman was one of my students a few semesters ago. She took my black and white film photography course and was one of my best students. Throughout the course I had the chance to get to know her well, and guide her as she grew as an artist in my class. I learned about her family and interests, that she loved the outdoors, was an avid reader, and on the fencing team. She is kind and caring, hard working and attentive. It meant so much to me to be able to photograph her senior portraits and then be able to include her interests as props in her photographs!
Another reason this session was so special is because it’s a senior portrait session! And why does that matter?! Well, it’s not often I get to do senior portraits since the norm in NJ is to have studio portraits done for the yearbook. Almost every other state in our nation has a norm of seniors hiring a photographer to create a custom portrait session for them, which I’ve always thought was a great way to capture this milestone in a teenagers life. The sheer fact that it was out-of-the-ordinary for me made it so special and fun!
We chose to do the senior session at Sayen Gardens because of the versatile landscape there with both gardens and woods to choose from, which both suited Laine’s interests and personality. Her and her mom brought books and a fencing sword as props and a few changes of clothes so we could capture a variety of looks for her during our time together.
Laine was a fantastic model for this portrait session, as if she’s done this 100 times! I’m so excited to share some highlights with you.
This last photo is Laine holding her pre-school graduation picture. I LOVE that mom brought his image to use as a prop and show her growth into the wonderful young woman she is today. Best wishes to you, Laine! And Congratulations to the Class of 2019!