Class of 2022 ~ Milford High School 

Victoria's mother was one of the first parents of a 2022 senior to contact me this past winter. She told me she had seen our dance photos, her daughter was a dancer and she wanted her to work with us for her portraits for her Senior year. I am sooooo very happy she did. We absolutely LOVED working with Viki on her first session and we are really looking forward to her second session in September. 

Viki and her mom came to the studio, met with Bliss and I, and checked out our dance wardrobe for her session. I loved watching her try on pieces and falling in love with how they looked on her. I could see the excitement build for her session and I knew we were going to have fun. We certainly did. 

Viki chose one of our black leos and a red tutu for this location. I told her I had something unique in mind for her since she is an artist. 

We went to an overpass so that we would have a white background with graffiti. Although there is not much graffiti, I plan to add some of Viki's art to the background. (still working on this :) ) 

My trusty dance assistant cam with me and we went early to check out the safety of the area. It proved to be a little tricky, but we were going to leave it up to Viki and her mom. After looking at the area they were willing to go for it! YES!!!!! I do love a fearless girl. 

We posed Viki all over that overpass wall! She looked absolute stunning and was an absolute dream to work with. She moves so fluidly and is a natural model. What a treat for us! We switched out her red tutu for a black and added even more shots. We would have literally stayed here shooting until dark, but we had plans for other areas so we moved on. 

PROMPT: Viki...lean back at me and look FIERCE!!!!!!!!!!! 

My dance expert, light girl, videographer and dancer cheerleader climbed the wall to assist Viki, keep her safe, and grab some video.

I am so lucky to have her help and knowledge during dance sessions. She is amazing. 

I caught Viki's mom snapping a cell shot here so I snapped a few for her as well. It looks like a Secret Garden, don't you think? 

I called and got permission for us to use a local vineyard. When Viki decided to wear our burgundy leo and white pancake tutu I was in heaven. She reminded me of Merlot...how gorgeous is she? 

I LOVE this location for dancers. No matter where we put Viki, she moved effortlessly throughout the vines and was marvelous. 

(By the way, she was getting eaten alive my mosquitoes at this point. I keep a can of spray in my bag no matter where I go.

We sprayed her from head to toe and she just kept on posing. )

After we had exhausted the vineyard area we jumped into our respective cars and drove to our last area...a local park for a few shots with flowers and one of my favorite fountains. Viki was absolutely perfect as she changed her wardrobe quickly before we ran out of light. Because she was so quick we were able to do both additional looks.

She literally just stands in one place, raises her arms and looks breathtaking. 

I have so many favorite images from Viki's session, but this one might just be my absolute favorite. 

Her mom asked me ahead of time if she could bring along a bubble gun and I was all about it! 

My trusty assistant blew bubbles towards Viki while she giggled incessantly. 

BTS shot of the bubble blower. 

FUN FACT: While Viki was changing into her last outfit a family visiting the park came along and watched the bubble gun in action.

The little boy was smiling from ear to ear, so of course I handed him the gun and told him to blow bubbles at Bliss.

Guess where he pointed the gun? Yep, right in her face. Think she got upset? NOPE. 

CLASS OF 2022 ~ MILFORD HIGH SCHOOL 

Ari is an upcoming 2022 graduating senior at Milford High School, a talented ballerina, and the most petite little Senior ever. She's also pretty special to me....she is family, my grand-niece.  After talking to Ari about what her hopes and dreams were for her senior portraits, I discovered she loved images I had taken in a local stream, she really loves meadows with golden light, she cannot wait to wear her cowboy boots, she'd love to add bohemian style clothing and she wanted an urban street style for her dancer portion of her portraits. 

We settled on the local stream and a local meadow for her first session and then we would travel a little bit to find some street art for her dancer session. Ari is tiny...maybe all of five feet around 98 pounds so when planning her sessions that was a factor to consider for shooting. 

 I wanted to be sure she was safe in the water while we did our first session and I didn't want the city to literally swallow her in her second session. 

For Ari's first session we all met up at Brown's Brach Park, a local beauty with a forest, trails, a boardwalk, and a sweet little stream running through it. When our posse (Ari, her Mom Mom, my assistant Bliss and I) arrived at the boardwalk section of the trail beside the stream we realized how populated it was that day. It was a holiday weekend and several children were enjoying the stream as well. That was going to pose a challenge, but I was up for it. 

I made sure she had all her outfits ready and that Mom Mom was on the job to help before I started climbing down to the water. I put out my hand for Ari to follow me. She looked at me with those big baby blues as if to say, "Are we actually going in the water?" Well, there was no turning back now. 

I looked back at her and said, "I got you...c'mon." She gingerly stepped with me as I got into the stream. Once I was in she realized it was fine.

Hey, if this old lady can climb down to the water's edge and plop into the water it must be okay.  Ari took a deep breath and plunged in with me.  

The water there is not very high and is pretty calm. It actually felt really awesome on a hot day.

Ari was awesome climbing back up to the boardwalk a couple of times to make her outfit changes in the changing tent and stepping back in with me. 

This was my fourth time shooting in the stream at Brown's Branch. It's so pretty there, but and I knew the later it got in the day the darker it would get. Well....it is summer and there was a storm approaching (of course) and we could hear the thunder starting. We look around at each other and decide to keep going and just work faster. We were; however, in the woods so we had to really move fast. 

Luckily I had my assistant/lighting girl with me and she was phenomenal at keeping the light on Ari as it got darker and darker.

We got some pretty cool shots and the impending weather made it even more exciting. We were able to make some incredible memories.  

We decided to bring along a gown she had to make her portraits have a dramatic flair. Since she is a ballerina, we used her talents to 

add even more drama. Executing dance moves in water is definitely not easy, but Ari makes it look so and it took only three shots to get this image.

This is my absolute favorite shot of the day. 

SESSION 2 

For the second portion (the dancer portion) of Ari's portraits, we wanted an urban/city feel since she had decided that her wardrobe would include mostly street clothes. Downtown Salisbury offers street art and beautiful murals for just such a session. It's a bit of a hike from Milford, but it was worth it for these shots and her Mom Mom was willing to drive her over so the city it was! 

I brought a few pieces of chiffon for her to hold and some accessories to add to her street clothes. Bliss stood behind her throwing the chiffon while Mom Mom was lookout for cars. Yep, it takes a village. There was a lot of laughing...mostly on my part during this portion of the session. We even scared away a homeless (I think he was homeless) man while we were running here and there.  

 These shots took several tries, running back and forth out of the street but Ari persevered, Bliss and Mom Mom helped and I think it was well worth it. 

When we plan a dancer session we combine our dancer wardrobe pieces with the dancer's own wardrobe to style the dancer in the way that they love. Most of what Ari wore during her session is her own, with our touches here and there...like this child-sized hat to fit her tiny head. We bring our changing tent along and pop it up for changes. When Ari met with us in the studio to go through our dancer wardrobe and select clothing for her session she had a good grasp on the looks she wanted, like these black jeans and bralette.

I don't know about you, but I can barely bend down to pick up a piece of paper in my jeans, let alone do what Ari did in hers. 

FUN FACT: I sometimes bring along my portable speaker to add a little umpf to the session.

The song "Dancing in the Street" started playing from my playlist during these shots. NO LIE and not planned ahead of time. 

We stayed in the lower portion of the parking garage where it was cooler and had more ventilation for these shots and I'm pretty happy we did.

I put on some music from my portable speaker to liven things up a little. It echoed and added a cool vibe.

It was a suuuuuuuper hot day and I was concerned that Ari stay hydrated BUT we drank, walked, shot, drank, walked, shot

until we gathered as many looks as we liked.

Warning....I have a tendency to just power through on days like this.

I drink my water and I just work faster to get every shot in before we all pass out. 

I LOVE urban dance sessions.

They give a solid foundation for the dancer's feet, which is critical. The architecture and sometimes grundgy walls add something different that I love. Since Ari trusted me to plan her session from top to bottom, I had the opportunity to use areas I had previously used and loved.

I knew she would look amazing in these areas and that she would kill it in this style of session and she did. We were able to get all of these shots in one city block. We used painted electrical boxes, cool little alley ways, sidewalks, a parking garage, a library, a painted crosswalk, and a mural. 

We used every last little drop of sunlight and even added our strobe light at the end for some shots in the crenoline skirt I brought along for her.

Ari has one more session left since the last half of her first session was rained out. Stay tuned for those images later this summer.  

PROMPT: Yeah, we're just hangin out...posing on the side of the library like we do it every day...all cool and such. 

PROMPT: Twirl, Ari, Twirl! And SMILE! 

PROMPT: Jump, Ari (insert correct dance term from Bliss here....me...yes, THAT! Point those feet!) 

Give me a pretty smile and relax and breathe for a bit. 

PROMPT: If the sun is in your eyes close them until I count to three then open them and smile BIG! 

PROMPT: Ari...sit up on this box and tip your hat down and hold onto it for me so I can see your shadow. 

PROMPT: (Do what I do...Miss Sandy models the pose, which is worth the price of admission alone.) 
 

PROMPT: Look fierce, Ari and stay balanced. I'll be fast. 

DONE! 

PROMPT: I'm going to be over here...turn and look at me. 

Cigarroa HS Indoor Percussion-157

As a teacher I was always told...."you're not supposed to have favorites." Well, that's NOT a problem for me anymore!

Take a look at one of my most FAVORITE families I have ever worked with...The Parenteaus. The are...quite simply...extremely cool.

You can tell by these photos that The Parenteaus know how to be themselves, how to be laid back, and how to have fun. 

This was my second family session with them and I truly expect that the next time I see them these young gentlemen (I call them that because that's how they treat me) will tower over my five foot five body. I'm ready for that...bring it on. 

I was not blessed with sons, but if I had been, I would want them to be like these young men. They are mannerly, treat each other like brothers, but yet when I gave them a direction they politely obliged. They know when it's time to have fun and when its time to do the right thing. The credit for this goes to these two incredible people pictured below with their pups. 

This family is a great example of being YOURSELVES during a session.

When Della said they were coming casual I said, "Alright!!! I'll meet ya there!" 

Her goal was a few updated photos of the boys and a family group shot...done! 
 

Downtown Dover made a great fall colored backdrop for this Kent County family.

I love this area in the fall with the building colors and the leaf covered Green area. I usually choose a downtown Sussex location,

Milford location, and downtown Dover location for my fall family session to accommodate where my clients live. 

I'll see ya next time, Parenteaus. Stay cool! 

~Neil Sedaka~

The prettyf face you see above belongs to one of the sweetest (almost ) sixteen year olds ever. She's smart, talented, a wonderful friend, athletic, a doting daughter, and has the most infectious giggle around.  When she stepped out of her car for our Sweet Sixteen modeling session I realized she had literally "grown up." Her 5'8" frame now matches my own daughter's...the daughter I have to "look up to." After a good bit of teasing on my part, we sat on an ornate bench and went through my ideas once more and made a game plan for the night. 

She came dressed in the most adorable sundress with a ruffle trim that was just begging to be swung around and around. We worked that little dress and the more that ruffle fluttered, the more Juliana smiled. 

We popped up the changing tent and moved onto our second outfit of the session...these very trendy, very vintage, (wait, how can they be both? well...they are!) leopard print bell bottoms with an adorable black bralette top. With Juliana's incredible tan this was a killer outfit. We walked to a chippy brick wall and black stairwell I had found while scouting one day and they were perfect.  I threw some prompts at her to get a different vibe...and they worked like magic. If Juliana is anything, she is focused. We have worked together before and once our flow was back we were in business. 

Our third outfit was PERFECT for Juliana's personality. I call it a Modern Teen look...white boho style top and  rugged jeans. What made this outfit perfect for Juliana was the killer heels...sooooo cute! (Just like her.) I grabbed my green stool from the car and we were off to our third location. 

After having some fun with the green stool and a Polaroid camera for fun, we ended the session with barely a drop of sunlight remaining. 

I looked forward to this session all summer. I knew Juliana would come ready to work, yet we would have fun, too. We laughed, I told her my corny jokes, we talked and talked, we sweated A LOT (it's August y'all) and we made some pretty incredible memories for her sixteenth year. Some very special images are under wraps for now. You gotta save something for the family to be surprised at when they open up their gallery, BUT...I think you'll agree, she did not disappoint, she worked hard, and now she has these incredible photos to look back on forever.

I can't believe my eyes you're just a teenage dream

Happy birthday, sweet sixteen

 After Becca and I discussed what she hoped for during her Senior portraits I knew we had to select a backdrop that would provide color, where we could showcase her personality and have some fun, but that also had a little bit of history. She loves old houses and is a ballet dancer so we needed areas for solid footing yet old time elegance. The Green in downtown Dover provided the perfect setting.  

She came fresh faced and sun kissed after a vacation with her family in Myrtle Beach. I love when my Seniors choose a wardrobe that fits their style and personality and Becca did exactly that! Throw in her contagious smile, adorable freckled nose, and sun highlighted wavy locks and we had magic. Becca literally shines when she smiles as you can see in her portraits. She is a dream to work with and we went from one outfit change to another in the hot summer heat yet she was calm and cool throughout. 

Becca is a beautiful ballerina. (She will be the Sugar Plum Fairy in her dance company's Nutcracker Ballet this winter.) For the last part of her session we popped open the changing tent and she stepped out wearing one of our gorgeous tutus and a graduation cap. (Those photos are under wraps for now, but trust me, they are to die for.) We used her extreme talent to capture some amazing tutu shots then moved on to this burgundy leotard she chose from out client closet. It was an amazing choice and we found this gorgeous old door to use as a backdrop, Becca took direction from Bliss for her poses, and we got some pretty awesome images for her. 

Before we started her session I told Becca and her mom Debbie that I wanted to add in some additional shots for something a little different from the posey posey portrait shots. When I saw Becca's smile at the idea, I knew we were on. She was an absolute dream as I had her lay down in the buggy grass on an old crocheted tablecloth, had her spin around while we created a special effect, and lean into my camera through a big patch of Black Eyed Susan's. Because beautiful Becca stepped out of the box with me we were able to get the dreamy and unusual shots you see.

I've known Becca since she was a young dancer. She has grown into an incredible young woman and I am anxious to see what her future holds. With Becca's zest for life, work ethic, talents and determination I know she will succeed in whatever she chooses to do. Thanks for being so perfect, Becca! I had so much fun doing your Senior session. 

****Now that Becca has graduated, I can add her adorable Cap and Gown images! ****

Happy Birthday Studio Glitter Session

March, 2020 

Juliet had been waiting for her own session for literally months. She patiently watched as her big sister Jenna had head shots sessions and Senior session with me over the last couple of years. We did always manage to sneak a couple of shots in of her because...well...look at her, she's adoorable! 

Finally, her Momma purchased a Glitter Session to help Juliette celebrate turning double digits. She was soooo excited! 

I gathered all the gold glitter I could find in the studio...chunky, fine, star shaped, you name it...it was in my huge bowl to sprinkle all over the birthday girl. She came wearing the perfect fluffy dress that passed the "twirl" test and we started creating memories. 

Glitter sessions are sooo much fun! Yes, they're messy, but they are FUN! 

I'm pretty sure Juliette had a blast since she didn't want to stop. 

Happy Birthday, sweet girl ! Your session was the shiniest one yet! 

 We met Morgan in beautiful, downtown Milford...actually right across the street from the dance studio she attends. After having seen Morgan on stage in productions I knew she was beautiful, raven haired with brown eyes and had the kind of face that I LOVE working with. I couldn't wait to style her in our red tutu and add some red lipstick, but we had to see what Morgan and her Mom had in mind for her session first.

When her Momma said, "I trust you and we will go wherever you decide" I smiled.

Bliss and I discussed our visions for Morgan. She saw her in an urban setting with stone, concrete, colorful but old brick and some brightly colored doors thrown in. That fit my vision for her perfectly as well. I was anxious to use downtown Milford as our backdrop and I knew exactly which areas would showcase Morgan perfectly. 

Whenever we have a request for a dancer session we put our heads together and make a plan. Bliss works hard to make the images accentuate the dancer's strength and technical ability. I send her pose ideas and she either likes them or vetoes them and then sometimes I decide to do them anyway. HA! She helps me decide which wardrobe pieces from our dancer's closet will work best with the dancer and location. I then scope out our location and take sample shots of vignettes I want to capture with our dancer. I pull additional pieces from the client closet that will work well with the location the family and I have decided on. Sometimes the dancer requests to wear a certain tutu or piece they have seen in our other images with previous dancers. We make sure to add those to her selection. The dancer only has to bring her shoes and some base leotards. We bring the rest. I put everything in my trusty Rav 4 and off we go. 

For Morgan's session I knew we had to use the grungy area pictured below. It provides such an interesting backdrop and makes our brightly colored dancers pop. We started there after Morgan had looked through our collection of pieces and decided which pieces we had brought that she loved and wanted to wear. The dancer has to feel good about what she's wearing or the images will NOT be what we (or she) wants. Admittedly, I sometimes try to convince a dancer to wear a certain combination for me based on the location. Once she sees the image on the back of my camera we have created, she's fine. 

This was Morgan's "warming up" portion of the session. (The part where we do a variety of poses and show the dancer how killer they look.) After they see how amazing they look we breeze through the rest of the session. 

From this area we had Morgan change into her next tutu and leo and moved down the block toward the turquoise door that we both love. On the way down I stopped us to shoot by the water with the flowy weeping willow in the background with the cool stone structure. We continued on to the door, carrying additional skirts, knocked off all the spiders who had taken residence, and went to work posing Morgan. This is the part where we start bumping into each other. Bliss poses the dancer, steps back to look at her lines and muscles and then I step forward, fixing her hair, showing her where to put her face and eyes, and how to either make use of or stay out of the sun and shadows. It's a process, but it goes pretty quickly and we have it down to a science now.

Check out the images of the gorgeous Morgan we created with her in this area. 

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Morgan made the perfect model for the new crushed velvet leotard Bliss selected for our client closet. We posed her in front of her studio door and against a tan wall, Bliss took off her jean jacket and put it on her and we worked that wall.

I  try very hard to do a completely different shot for each dancer so that they have something that is just their own. I had saved some ideas for a funky shot using a soda can and Morgan was game. I had a feeling she would be and she did not disappoint.

We had her flip that mane over and over and she never complained....not once. We even did some boomerang shots so that Morgan would have something cool for her Instagram story. 

We ended our session around the corner in front of a local theater. A blanket of pink had been created on the ground with petals from a blooming tree. Morgan had selected a pink contemporary piece for her last photos so we made use of the combination of pinks. She changed one last time, I sprayed her hair and checked her makeup and we put her in the middle of the petals. I'm so happy I brought that combo along to add some softness. It looked absolutely perfect on her. 

Morgan, your dance teacher was so very proud of you during your session. She told me several times how amazing you were and how well you were doing. I LOVED your fierce face and how you were not afraid to "stare me down" when I asked you to.

Thanks for letting me mess up then fix then mess up your hair over and over.

You were a total rock star, my dear. Thank you also for still flipping your hair with that soda can even when some liquid fell onto your face.

I only wish I had gotten a shot of your face when that happened!

You are quite simply amazing. 

Happy Sweet Sixteen, Ari! 

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When your Aunt Sandy is a photographer and all you ask from her for your 16th birthday is a modeling session, that's exactly what you get. 

Ari is pretty special...she's drop dead beautiful, super talented and has more sweetness in her little finger than most people have in their whole bodies.

This session in downtown Lewes, De was pretty darn fun to plan. I had her come over to the studio, go through my client closet, find combos that would fit her teeny tiny body then I put the accessories before her to pick out her favorites. 

She is super agreeable and easy to please so this process took no time at all. The only challenge was making sure she had FUN during this session

and didn't worry about the clothes at all, but rather felt beautiful and funky in them. 

We got lucky in the fact that she had some pretty rad shoes herself ( check out those red boots) and we were able to match them up perfectly. 

After we had several looks ready to roll all we had to do was decide on a location.

When I asked her and her Mom Mom where they would like to shoot,

they both totally put it in my hands. 

Insert------ the beautiful streets and buildings of downtown Lewes. Everything we needed was right there in one little ole town. The only prep I then needed to do on my own was match her outfit choices with locations and colors. I kinda love this part of preplanning.

I hopped in the care one day, drove down to Lewes and snapped the perfect locations for Ari and I. 

Next up: pack the car chock full of matching outfits and shoes and stuff a large bag full of accessories. I always bring 

a travel bag full of makeup, hairspray, combs, wipes, bug spray...you know all the necessities on a photo shoot. 

On this particular day I had no concerns at all about Ari's hair and makeup. She received a gift certificate from her cousin to Grove and Evelyn

in downtown Lewes for a glam session with the fabulous Courtney. THAT made her feel pretty amazing, which...well she is. 

We started our session in Zwaanendale Park...a very historical location and one that offers greenery, flowers, a cool fountain, brick walkways, and grapevine arbors bordering an adorable herb garden. 

From the park we moved onto to the Historic area of Lewes for some beautiful sidewalks, buildings, and most importantly

to me...a street with a LINE down the middle. :) 

Our last location, after a much needed stop at the local Dairy Queen to grab an ice cream cone and drink (hey we had worked HARD) 

was to Cape Henlopen State Park for some yummy beach grass and sand! 

AHHHHH...she's sooooo pretty!!!!!!!!!!!!

What an incredible experience for me to be able to gift these memories to someone I love. To be able to use something I love doing so much

to make her so happy gave me a priceless memory, just as I hope it did Ari. 

Photos are really treasures that you can look back at for years and years to come. 

For Christmas I surprised Ari with a canvas of her favorite photo (she loved the beach shots) and a bound album filled with memories of this day.

See...the gift that keeps giving.

Love you, Ari! 

Lily-Caesar Rodney High School Class of 2019

When Lily's mother contacted me to do her Senior portraits, I was so tickled. Having taken photos of Lily through her dance studio, I knew she was funny, smart, quick, a beautiful ballerina, and a GORGEOUS young lady. 

We had a little difficulty getting together since it rained buckets not once, but TWICE on her scheduled session days. However, we finally got together on a pretty windy but sunny evening in April. We had decided on The Green in beautiful downtown Dover for Lily's portraits. The old stone walls, high white columns lush green areas and colorful colonial doors make for a perfect setting for a variety of images.

Lily is a not just a very intelligent high school senior who is getting ready to go study abroad in Spain, but she is also a very talented dancer. To get the perfect dance poses for that portion of her session, I picked up my trusty sidekick, Bliss (also Lily's dance teacher) and we headed off to Dover.

When Lily stepped out of her car wearing that black and white checked dress with her lovely long legs and hair curled to perfection, my heart did a little happy dance. She had brought with her exactly what we had discussed: a change of casual clothes (jeans and her future college t shirt) and a few colorful dance leotards with her pointe shoes. I had packed my car with a few props, several tutus and skirts, my changing tent and reflector and all the necessary supplies for touch ups...oh, and my camera equipment. :)  

We chatted briefly, made a plan and started on our way. After the very FIRST shot when Lily posed her leg to the left and played with her hair EXACTLY as I described, I knew we were golden. We worked our way around the historic buildings and Lily posed, smiled, followed my cues, and ROCKED the dressy portion of her session.

Then it was time for some fun! We moved into her extra curricular/college bound section of her session. For this section we walked around finding grungy iron gates, rusty pipes, chipped paint doors, and even an arched alleyway. The funkier the better for me!  Lily wears that University of Delaware t shirt pretty well, don't ya think? It was on loan from a friend of hers and she said it was an "antique." Love that! We took very good care of it. Lily will make and excellent Blue Hen and Delaware had better watch out. She's on her way to your Environmental Sciences department. 

To say we ended Lily's Senior session with a bang would be a gross understatement. Poor Bliss had been waiting and watching throughout the evening for her chance to help pose Lily in the perfect ballet positions. Right before I left my house the lightbulb went off over my head as I remembered the gold tutu I had stored. Lily's school colors are blue and gold. I ran to the client closet (okay I walked...Miss Sandy does not run) and grabbed the huge bag containing the fluffy long tutu. Lily had not told me which color leotard other than black that she was bringing so when she pulled out the royal blue leotard I knew it was fate. (okay, I am being overly dramatic, but who cares?) Using the tutus we brought with us, the new blush and lilac lyrical dress Bliss bought for the client closet, Lily's leotards, huge marble steps, rustic stone walls, Biggs Museum sculpture and the blooming shrubbery, we made magic for our high school ballerina.

We shot literally until the sun went completely behind the buildings and squeezed every minute into our session. Lily was quite simply amazing. She smiled, laughed, worked, took direction, and was absolutely perfect...so perfect in fact that she inspired me to get back to my BLOG for the first time in forever. 

I loved this session and I loved Lily. 

If you'd like to see more images from Lily's session visit my Facebook page or Instagram.