Aliana’s initial email might be one of the favorites I have ever received?!?! There was a lot of excitement, capital letters, exclamation points coupled with a strong desire to be creative, personal, and genuine during her senior session. She came into the shoot with TONS of ideas and was happily open to absolutely every darn thing I suggested, which is the definition of a dream client. She also wanted to include as many props as she could, which makes senior shoots so much more personal and unique! Literally got so happy when I read this in one of the emails she sent me:

“There are some shots that I actually want to be kind of dark and when people see it I want them to feel something. You know what I mean? I don’t want to just have all smiles because that doesn’t represent the real story, just what gets projected. I’ll tell you more in person on my journey, but I want it to be really authentic. I’m not afraid for people to see something that isn’t a bubbly exterior.”

Aliana’s eagerness to be real and transparent with her seniors was so refreshing. In the car we got to talk about our journey’s up to this point – the highs, lows, and everything in between. Her shoot pushed me to be more creative and made me grow as a photographer. Thanks for letting me capture your seniors, and I’m so glad to call you a friend now Aliana!

I LOVE how Aliana was bold with her outfit choices and wore overalls!! So fun.

This girl was fearless. It was even HER idea to stand on top, which I love!!

While Aliana and I were on our way to our planned location, I saw this overlooked spot, but knew we had to stop! Sometimes if I’m driving with a client and someplace catches my eye, I go with my gut and try to pull over to grab a few shots. So glad we stopped here for a few minutes!

I adore this flower crown that Aliana packed with her!

AH. This dress. Aliana’s jewelery/accessories. Aliana herself. Too much.

Obsessed with Aliana’s necklace, earrings, and hair band, ahhhhh.

Aliana loves and appreciates art, and wanted to find someway to incorporate it into her session, which was SO fun to shoot!

Aliana will be attending UCLA this fall and also wanted to incorporate this into her shoot, so she brought this awesome CA flag!!

It got dark quickly, but we were having so much fun and those creative juices were still flowing, so we decided to keep shooting past the normal time I usually wrap up shoots. We both wanted to keep experimenting, and I’m so glad we did because I was able to play around and challenge myself with flash more!

The location below was another one of those “go with my gut” kind of places. When we initially pulled in, we couldn’t even see this huge white wall! 99% of the time I go with my gut, I don’t regret it, and this was definitely one of those times!!