“Fill your house with stacks of books, in all the crannies and all the nooks,” Dr. Suess.  In this case fill a senior photo shoot with tons and tons of books…588 to be exact!

That is exactly what Beth Hodge of Kansas City, Kansas did for this senior shoot because of this senior’s love of reading!  What a great idea!

“Balancing stacks of books six feet high is much harder that we anticipated, although we are pretty sure we could totally rock a game of Jenga now that we’ve learned the secrets to balancing such tall stacks!” said Beth.

Check out this fun senior shoot below and read what else Beth had to say about it!  Thanks for sharing your work with Seniorologie Beth!

Website:  www.rstudioseniors.com

Blog:  www.rstudioseniors.com/category/blog

Facebook:  www.facebook.com/Rstudio

What was your inspiration for this photo shoot?
“Fill your house with stacks of books, in all the crannies and all the nooks.” – Dr. Seuss

Courtney loves to read, and I had been dreaming of doing a styled session with books for some time now, so when she came to R Studio for her senior photos and mentioned that she wanted to incorporate reading into her photos somehow I knew that she would be the perfect girl to bring my session idea to life!

Where did this photo shoot take place?
We photographed this session at R Studio. With so many books and such a complex set, the studio was the perfect controlled setting to shoot. It allowed us time to get everything all set-up the day before the session, and there is always plentiful natural light that pours into the studio from our northeast facing windows.

Did you collaborate with this senior to come up with the clothing and/or concept for this shoot?
I worked closely with Courtney on styling for the session. We had a professional hair and makeup artist come in to pamper Courtney with airbrush makeup and a messy top-knot pinned with an adorable hair bow! We collaborated via a Pinterest inspiration board to pass ideas back and forth on outfit ideas as well as hair and makeup. Then we both set out to shop in search of pieces that would fit the style we decided on. Courtney found her floral skirt at Nordstrom, I found the lace top and hair bow at Forever 21, and she brought along her Steve Madden heels and some of her favorite jewelry to finish off the look.

What camera, lens or other equipment was used for this shoot?
Camera: Canon 5D Markiii
Lens: Canon 85mm 1.2L
Lighting: Natural light from northeast facing windows, and a large white reflector opposite the window

What time of day were these taken?
9:00am-11:00am

Can you share any post-processing techniques used when editing this session?
As with all of the post-processing I do with seniors, I stuck with very basic editing to keep a clean, crisp, natural look to the photos. I culled the session in Photo Mechanic, did some very minor color correction, contrast, and vibrance adjustments in Lightroom, and then ran a few of the photos through Photoshop for some skin smoothing where needed.

What is your favorite thing about this session?
I love everything about this session, but my favorite thing about it is that it is truly unique to Courtney. It’s all about something that she loves (books!), and I know that she had a blast shooting it! Also the hair bow… I love the hair bow!

What do you want this session to convey about this senior and about your senior photography style?
Go big or go home. If I’m going to do a session, I’m going to do it right. I hope that this session conveys my love for my job. I put my whole heart into the photos that I take, and I want each of my seniors to truly love their photos as much as I do! I want my seniors to know that I care about their ideas and making their session unique to them. They aren’t just a number at R Studio, they are a unique individual with a voice and a personality to showcase. I send each of my seniors a Getting To Know You form to fill out when they book a session. It asks questions about their interests, activities, style and personality. I use this to talk to them about ideas for their session and what we can do to make it a session that they will love.

What is one tip you can share with other photographers regarding photographing seniors?
Seniors want their photos to be unique. They don’t want images that look just like the ones their friends took. Talk to them, get to know them, work with them on styling, ideas, and planning. Let them know you want to work with them on making their session one that is unique and one that they will love to show off to all their friends!