Marissa’s mom Leanna contacted us about having her daughter’s senior portraits taken when they came down to Charleston on vacation this past July. Marissa was in love with the vibe downtown Charleston gives off, so she couldn’t think of a better place to have her pictures taken. Using a mixture of classic, elegant backgrounds and also the rustic-side many people love about downtown, we were able to capture photographs both Marissa and her mom fell in love with.
When we first met Marissa on site for her portrait session, we were pretty much strangers. Apart from a few emails and phone calls between Leanna and us, it was the first face-to-face interaction we had with both her and Marissa. So, we always take a few minutes of introduction time to get to know a little bit about our clients and ask if they have any of their own ideas for poses or composition that were not previously discussed before the shoot. That way it is fresh in our minds when we start the session.
One of the things we pride ourselves on here at King Street Studios is not only the quality of our photographs, but also the experience we share with each of our clients during the photo shoots. We want the experience with us to be fun and enjoyable. So, making sure our clients are relaxed is not only great for the pictures, but it gives them the ability to enjoy their time during the photoshoot, making it a more memorable experience.
We love what we do, and we know the technical part so well we don’t need to focus on that, which can generally make it a boring experience for people. It’s funny how often people come to us and we can see a sense of dread come over them. The common cliche of a photo shoot being this dreadfully boring experience while being put in cheesy poses is what people are expecting. That either comes from school portraits, some other bad outdated past experience, or something they have seen on TV, but that’s not what they’ll get from us.
The other previous notion people have before a shoot is that they should know how to pose. It’s a common natural reaction when someone is pointing a camera at you to clam up or be overly expressive and unnatural. But, you never have to worry about knowing what to do with us, because we always take full control and direct our clients through the entire process. Then, as we work we will show you the results on the back of the camera. This reassures the trust in our clients that our instructions are getting the results they were hoping for, allowing us to work together and create the best photographs we can together. This is exactly what happened with Marissa. She was reserved and hesitant in the beginning, but quickly felt safe as time went on, giving us the opportunity to create these wonderful photographs you see above!
Senior Pictures Photography- Marissa © King Street Studios
Photography by Todd Surber
Words by Manny Aponte