Senior portraits are quickly becoming a favorite of mine here in Charleston for a number of reasons. For starters, I think I just love how much more style this generation of seniors has than I did when I was in school. The development of social media, fashion and influencers have all played a significant roll in the way that the high school generation presents themselves. They're not afraid to take chances with style, and they always authentically represent themselves. In addition to that, I love the huge variety of backdrops we have here in Charleston for senior portraits. It doesn't matter how many completely different styles a senior brings with them, I can always find an alley, a wall, or a gate that just pairs perfectly with what they've got on. 

Follow along while I take you through our session utilizing Meeting Street, Church Street, White Point Garden and The Charleston Battery at golden hour.

For starters, Mia and her family planned their vacation to Charleston during what happened to be the the tail end of spring here in Charleston. We experienced a very warm winter here and temperatures in the 80s during late February which caused all the azaleas and wisteria to bloom weeks ahead of what we're used to. When Karen and I first chatted on the phone about Mia's session I told her there was no guarantee that I could give them wisteria in their backdrop so the fact that it held on as long as it did, was such a miracle! 

Meeting Street is one of the most popular spots in Historic Charleston to capture the Wisteria in bloom because of it's strategic planting. Wisteria in actuality grows mostly like a weed here in the wild, most of it's untamed on the sides of highways and growing up trees in fields and it's one of the coolest things to see. In the downtown area there area a few locations where the wisteria is grown to really be showcased and between Tradd Street and Ford Court are where you'll experience the best of it. I would say that most locations are going to be ideal either in the very early morning, or right before golden hour for the most ideal lighting. Mia's session started at 6pm with sunset at 7:30pm so you can see that pop of sun coming in through the left side of the image as it's about to set behind the buildings of downtown. 

I always ask my senior portrait clients to send snapshots of their outfits before we meet for a session because as a visual person, this helps me plan the order of outfits based on our route. Now I know I said there is a location for everything, but for efficiency purposes we don't really want to ping pong all over downtown, I want to have a general game plan going into our route and so this outfit was perfect for the wisteria and planned for the family portrait portion of the session. 

Directly across the street from the wisteria was the most perfect glow, down every alley, behind every tree. We got that luxury treatment of golden light to compliment nearly every spot. As you can also probably imagine, lighting is key when planning our session. Most everything you're seeing in my portfolio is take at a specific time of day on purpose. Not because it's necessarily convenient to the client, but because it's what I NEED to create the type of imagery you're seeing. I typically don't plan downtown sessions too close to sunset unless our goal is ending somewhere near the water where the ONLY option is sunrise/sunset. This is because we tend to lose light quickly behind the trees and buildings, so when working with a family (or really anything other than a senior) I have to plan our route for the timeframe that I know I will have and what the overall goal of the session is. For Mia's session our goal was lots of outfits, lots of variety, and ending at sunset against the backdrop of The Battery and by booking The Epilogue package we were able to accomplish that.

While I don't currently have a cap and gown on hand for clients to use, you can get a very good quality one in almost any color on Amazon if you don't have the one from your school just yet. If you're coming to town and don't want to have it steamed or packed you can also have it shipped to me, and I will happily take care of the steaming needed ahead of your session. If you're looking for a well rounded senior session I would highly recommend the addition of the cap and gown. It just completes the look!

At this point in the session we've made it down to The Three Sisters on Meeting Street. This spot is perfect for those wanting that Rainbow Row color without the actual crowds of Rainbow Row and it photographs perfectly in the afternoon and early evening hours.

Just down at the corner of the Three Sisters is another great spot of texture, but in the spring months I can't help but soak up that golden light with the pop of color from the azaleas peaking over the stone wall. 

Here is another first for me personally, I have never had a senior portrait client bring along their prom dress but as I'm sure you can tell - It's AMAZING. There are so many spots of Charleston where formal wear looks absolutely stunning. Church Street is definitely one of them. 

White Point Garden is a staple spot downtown for portraits given the majestic oaks. It's the only place in Charleston where you can get that picturesque curved overhang of greenery. This spot is great any time of year and almost any time of day actually. Though I will warn you that in the early mornings this is basically an off-leash dog park so if you're not a fan of pups running wild it may not be the best spot for you, your kids, or your leashed pup. Later morning is a safer bet for less wild running animals.