I have a feeling I’ll be saying this several times this summer shooting season: I can’t believe this student is already going to be a SENIOR. Lane is no exception to that “pinch me” moment. There were times during his session, that I turned to his mom Angie, and said, “See?! There’s the little-Lane face that I know!” There were fleeting moments where I saw the 7th grader who battled me whenever I asked him to count outloud. And the ear-to-ear grin reminded me of when he was even younger. Once we got to our last location of the evening, there were moments where he looked just like his older brother, Max – the cool, confident, “what’s-up-world!” debonair approach that seems to run in these boys’ veins.
We started at one of his favorite places and we started with the hard stuff! Usually athletic props are in the middle of a session, after I’ve given the student the basic posing run-down. But Lane’s “easy” was in the middle and bookended by challenge, as in, more advanced posing and athleticism necessary. (You’ll see what I mean in a few runs of your scroll…) Echo Valley Golf Course is a lovely place to start the night and we couldn’t have had better weather – not too hot, huge cumulous clouds for depth in the sky and not too much wind. Absolutely lovely!
We arrived at Saylorville Lake for a few beach photos while Lane’s Dad, sister & little brother were getting the boat out on the water. Lane wanted to first document his faith in a meaningful way and create a nod to the many missions trips he’s taken throughout high school to El Salvador.
We’d done this with Lane’s older sister, Emi, 4 years ago at Lake Red Rock, so I knew what to expect in terms of planting my feet a certain way on the boat, bracing for when the brakes hit and watching the stellar athleticism that has to occur to get a cap & gown on WHILE WAKE BOARDING. This sweet family graciously took my own family out on this boat in 2023 and I’ve tried my hand at this. I didn’t get up on the board once! This is no easy thing, so be sure to check out the reels I’m creating over on my Instagram account so you can see the behind-the-scenes and logistics it took to make these shots happen! Kudos, Lane (and thank you, Emi, for the handoffs!)
The last image there, above, is the best shot of the night. The lead lines, the framing, the flip….the stars aligned on that one! Still shaking my head over it. I’ll probably be shaking my head all summer with this group of seniors we have coming up too – can’t believe they’re staring down graduation! And what a way to kick off the summer shooting season!
Lane – Thank you so much for trusting me with this. It’s been an honor to walk alongside your family during these senior photo shoots – blessed to be a part of it!
Take care,
Carrie
PS You can see our entire session together HERE.
