From 2014 Senior portraits
Three P’s to better senior pictures – The final P: PLAY
This is going to be a big DUH moment, but a lot of Seniors and other people don’t get this….You gotta play! This is about YOU! It’s about YOU having FUN! You being You, whatever that may be! Senior portraits aren’t something that is done TO you, they are created WITH you. If you don’t show up, I’m just taking a bunch of still-lifes. When you start to have fun, spontaneous things happen, and when they do, they can be uber cool. The trick is to be ready for them and jump on it. Play, dance, jump in the water, climb a tree, do a victory spike in the end zone,do the funky chicken, back flip off the diving board, what ever floats your boat or rocks your world….Have fun with it…..Life’s too short for pictures that look like you are bored stiff or have a stick in an awkward place.
What makes a Senior Portrait Great!
When choosing a Senior Portrait Photographer, you probably do one of two things(or both) ask friends and search the internet. After about the 500thousandth photo, your eyes are glazed and your fingers numb. How are you supposed to know what is just okay and what is great? This is why I have put together this lovely graphic with some quick tips on what to look for!
- Beautiful skin – good retouching to remove blemishes without making your Senior’s skin look plastic
- Eyes that sparkle – This is a result of two things: light being correctly positioned to create “catchlights” and illuminating the eyes. The other reason is they are having fun!
- Professional hair and makeup – I consider this a must for my seniors. It makes all the difference in the world.
- Poses that flatter you – We cannot all be model thin and able to pose beautifully at will. The photographer should know how to pose you, “clear down to your eyelashes”, so you look your best! No one likes to feel awkward in front of the camera!
- Variety – Multiple poses with each outfit/background are a must. You need a variety of verticals and horizontals: smiling and serious: casual and formal: beautifully posed and carefree dancing
- Gorgeous Lighting – This is last, but most important. Look for photos that demonstrate the photographer’s ability to handle any situation and create different looks with light. Do they have the skill? Do they have the equipment?
- If in doubt look for the Laura Trovillion Photography Logo! You will know its Awesome!
Face it!
After I go to the salon to get my gray hair hidden and trimmed up out of my eyes, my husband always compliments me on how nice my hair looks.So, I could run to the salon daily for a blowout..NOT….or learn to do it myself. So the next time, I made sure I pestered my awesome stylist to show me how to do this…..what brush he used; what product he used; how he held the brush; Everything. And now after daily practice, I come close, not perfect, but close enough that I feel pretty good about how my hair looks. And I realized that this was a huge thing for me to not just look good leaving the salon, but to be able to do this for myself. Headslap….….. We should be offering the same service with our complimentary makeup before a Senior Portrait Session….. And so now I a proud to announce..(trumpets and drum roll please….) Face sheets and complimentary makeup included with your Senior Portrait Session!!!!! Now you will have a “map” of where the stylist put each color on your face, AND you get to take home the eye palette, lip color and brush that she used for your session. Now how much fun is that?
Take care and stay warm!!!!
Senior Pictures – Hannah
Hannah was unsure coming in for her senior portraits. She doesn’t like to have her picture taken. She isn’t really crazy about a lot of makeup either. I asked her to trust me. Half-way through her shoot she was rocking the posing and looking beautiful and seeing how amazing she is. When I look at these photos, I see an AWESOME senior!!! Hair and makeup by Sarah Kellems.
Senior Portraits – Abbey
Braving the cold and the wind, Abbey and I set forth to create some amazing senior photos…..And as you can tell, WE DID!!! Hair and Makeup by Tia Crom!!
Senior Photos – Taylor 2014
Taylor, a senior at St. Thomas-More, could have had a bad day, it was windy, it got cold and we had already rescheduled once. Taylor had an AWESOME day, despite the wind, her hair looked amazing. Despite the cold, she ventured into the pond. We got fun, amazing and beautiful photos for Taylor’s Senior Portrait Session! Crazy weather proof hair and makeup by Tia Crom!
Fisher Senior girl in Urbana – Sydney
Sydney chose to explore the funky alleys and sidestreets of downtown Urbana, with a quick stop on Campus to get some awesome water and reflection shots as we lost light and the streetlights came on! Special thanks to Caitlin Cole for all of her help! Hair and makeup by Sarah Kellems.
Fisher Senior Girl – Macy
Macy has this wonderfully classic 40’s film star look about her. She is very into music, singing in the chorus and playing saxaphone in the band. Seeing her, you can almost imagine her standing next to a baby grand, singing the blues in some posh jazz club! Hair and makeup by Sarah Kellems
Fisher Senior Portrait – Hayden
Hayden is a Fisher High School Senior. He has a quick smile and an intense stare. He’s a bit of the class clown with a passion for baseball and fishing. He promised his mom that he would give full co-operation for an hour, and then had enough fun that he gave us TWO Hours! Here is a quick peek at what we did!
Fisher Senior boy – Gilvie
Gilvie is a 2014 Fisher High School Senior. I am impressed that he took the time to chose locations around Fisher that mean something important to him. Impressed because he took the time, and impressed by the locations he chose. He may drive his mom a little crazy, but really he’s a pretty good guy!
Downtown Champaign Senior Portraits – Sami
Sami is a Fisher High School Senior, wanting an urban experience for her senior portraits. I think we found it in downtown Champaign! Hair and Makeup by Sarah Kellems!
Glam the Gown – Taylor
Glam the Gown is such a fun photoshoot. All of the fun of dressing up in a gorgeous gown and having your hair and makeup done without the rush and the hassles. Taylor totally rocked this shoot to showcase one of her prom gowns from this last year. Gotta love a purple sparkly dress and mile-high pumps! Its the ultimate dress-up date for yourself! Wouldn’t everyone love more than just some snaps of themselves looking just freaking amazing?
2014 seniors in Millenium Park
I had the pleasure of taking these three beautiful Class of 2014 Seniors to Downtown Chicago’s Millenium Park this week for a Senior Portrait Mini-Session. It is so inspiring to go somewhere that you have never photographed before. It was a great adventure for all of us, and hopefully I will get the opportunity to go back for a full senior session later this year. Special thanks to Kathy Browning for driving, and helping to make this trip awesome!
Class of 2014 Seniors – Rockin the Mini-shoot!
These Class of 2014 Seniors ROCK! It was cold, snowy, spring break and a Sunday afternoon….And they totally brought their A game! For most of these seniors, it was the first time in front of my camera. For everyone involved, its was the first time creating amazing senior images in 30 minutes.
These mini-shoots were a trial run for our Makeover Marathon in April. The girls arrived with straight hair and no makeup. In 15 minutes the amazing Hair and Makeup artists, Sarah Kellems, Tia Crom and Stefani Smith transformed these girls. Each girl then spent 15 minutes in front of my camera, where we achieved multiple images where they look like covergirls! The guys were spared the hair and makeup, but spent an intense 15 minutes in front of the camera as well. I am excited to be working with such a great group of seniors. They are all so beautiful! Special thanks to Stefani, Sarah and Tia – you ladies are AMAZING!!!
LAURA TROVILLION PHOTOGRAPHY 