Savi's Bright Lake Portrait Session

Savannah, a.k.a. Savi. This chick can do it all, from modelling to MMA fighting.

I took Savannah’s senior pictures last year.

The two of us kept coming up with creative ideas for shots, just bouncing off of one another’s energy. We could both envision what the other was describing. It was so fun and exciting to work with someone that just *got it* and was willing to do what it took to help get the shot. And I had so much fun working with her that I knew that I just had to work with her again sometime in the future. Luckily I was able to catch up with this busy bee before she headed out to college.

I’ve always wanted to do a “wreck the dress” type of shoot. It’s dramatic, it’s moody, and it has the potential to be one of two extremes: either really goofy, or really serious. Don’t get me wrong, I love goofy shots and goofy people. But what I was envisioning was something more on the dramatic/serious side. Something that had lots of contrast and a tragic, yet, poetic vibe.

My inspiration for this shoot really began when I saw pictures of Savannah and her prom dress back in the spring.

It was so bold in every way possible! The color, the size, the style—you name it! And I just knew we would have to do a session with this dress. Luckily, Savii doesn’t mind wrecking a dress she was only planning on wearing once, and was totally on board with my idea.

I wanted to have something high contrast, so I was trying to think of relatively “plain” places with solid backgrounds. And then I remembered my session I did with Avery at Hamlin Beach State Park. That would be the perfect location! And we decided to do it early in the morning so we could get that high saturation of blue but also give us those light, golden highlights—which in turn made this girl look like she was on fire (cue the Alicia Keys song).

My favorite part of this session was when we got to go in the water. It was like fire meeting water. Her dress went from being crazy and flaring aornus, to calm and sedated. It was so much fun to experiment posing with the dress while battling against the waves.