Jessica Baldwin of Banana Moon Photography sent us this lovely Lafayette, Louisiana senior photo shoot!  I love the use of the downtown area and sense of old southern charm in these photos!  I also love that Jessica provided specific information for where to shop for these awesome outfits worn by this senior.  Thanks Jessica!!

Photo 1:

Check out what Jessica had to say about this photo shoot and be sure to check out more of her work on her website here.

What was your inspiration for this photo shoot?  I knew that I wanted Audrey’s shoot to take place in a downtown setting, so the vibe that I hoped to channel was a young hip and fun sort of look. I sent her a link to the website www.refinery29.com. I love their “street style” section. It’s great for a little fashion inspiration!

Where did this photo shoot take place?  In the beautiful downtown area of Lafayette, Louisiana. Audrey was awesome and went along with shooting in front of random brick walls and alley ways, fire escape stairwells, even the top level of a parking garage.

Did you collaborate with this senior to come up with the clothing for this session?  To a certain extent. Audrey has great style all on her own! I gave her a few suggestions as far as what the look that I hoped to capture would be. I asked if she had something similar to a baby-doll dress (circa 1990’s) that she could pair with a gorgeous hat that she borrowed from her sister. Bright colors, a great pattern and bold accessories were also mentioned! I studied fashion before discovering my love of photography. So the fact that I get to photograph teenaged girls with great clothes is an absolute dream!

What camera, lens and equipment were used during this session?  Don’t laugh. I did this shoot with my old Canon Rebel XS, also the 85mm 1.8 was my go to lens at the time of this session. I’ve recently made the upgrade to the 85mm 1.2! This focal length gives me outstanding results every time!

What time of day was this shot?  We originally planned our shoot to take place at 5:00PM to try and take advantage of the early evening light but had to revise our time due to a nasty weather forecast. We started the session at 9:30 AM and ended at 11:00. I was worried about the harsh light and the lovely Louisiana humidity we enjoy during the month of August- but Audrey rocked the shoot like a pro. You could never tell what type of crazy condition we were shooting in by looking at her images!

Can you share any post processing techniques that were used for this session?  I edit entirely in Apple’s Aperture program. I’ve developed some of my own presets for producing my images in the way that I want them to look. These required just a little tweaking with the Curves, Levels and White Balance adjustments.

What is your favorite thing about these photos?  I love Audrey’s casual, cool style and the fun we had getting her shots. This was the first session I photographed after returning from maternity leave after having my daughter in April. It was such a fun creative escape for me to experience after dusting off the camera!

What do you want this session to convey about this senior and about your photography?  Audrey is such a confident and beautiful young woman. I hope that she thinks these photos represent her amazing personality and style.  I want seniors to have a blast during their shoot with me and I want them to feel like their photos are from the pages of a magazine, not just your typical senior photo!

What is one tip you could share with other senior photographers?  Find your joie de vivre- “joy of life”. Find what makes you happy with your photography and focus on it.

Tell me a little about you….how long have you been in business?  How long have you been photographing seniors?  What is your favorite thing about photographing seniors? 

I’ve actually been in business for one year! I’ve been working on getting here for about two years now. Three years since my sweet husband surprised me with my first dslr.

My first senior was my brother and his friend who so kindly let me test out my “senior shooting” on them this past November. Since then I’ve had a great response to my senior work and can only hope for continued interest. It’s definitely my favorite type of session!

The best thing about photographing seniors is hearing their future plans. It’s such an exciting time in a teenagers life and I’m only happy to freeze that moment so that that they can always look back on it!