Golden Hour Senior Pictures in Athens, GA
There are few things I love photographing more than a senior who shows up willing to wander through a field with me at sunset.
For this senior session, we kept things simple: a floral dress, tall grass, a few wildflowers, and that ridiculously good late-summer light Georgia occasionally gives us as an apology for the humidity.
And honestly, we didn’t need much else.
Senior pictures don’t have to feel stiff or overly posed. My favorite sessions have movement in them. Walking through the grass. Playing with your hair. Sitting somewhere we probably have no business sitting. Looking away from the camera instead of smiling directly into it for 45 minutes.
I’ll still give you plenty of direction, especially because almost everyone tells me some version of, “I have no idea what to do with my hands.”
You do not need to know.
That part is my job.
Want to see what a full senior session can look like? → [VIEW THE SENIOR GALLERY]
Senior Photos That Actually Feel Like You
One of the things I love about senior sessions is that we have room to make them completely different from one person to the next.
Maybe that means a soft, natural field at golden hour like this one.
Maybe you want downtown Athens, something more editorial, your favorite place, your car or truck, your sport, your instrument, your dog, your boots, or something else that has been part of your life for the last four years.
You’re allowed to bring the things that make you you.
Because while we absolutely need the beautiful photo your mom is going to frame, I also want to make photographs that actually remind you who you were at seventeen or eighteen.
Not just what you looked like.
If you’re trying to figure out what to wear, I put together a [STYLE GUIDE] with outfit ideas, colors, textures and a few things that photograph especially well.
What Should You Wear for Senior Pictures?
You don’t need to buy an entirely new wardrobe for senior photos.
I usually recommend choosing outfits that still feel like you, just a slightly more intentional version of what you would normally wear. Dresses with movement photograph beautifully outdoors, but jeans, boots, sneakers, jackets and more casual outfits can be just as good depending on the location and the feel you want.
When Should You Schedule Senior Pictures in Georgia?
If you’re graduating in the spring, you definitely don’t have to wait until April or May for senior photos.
Fall senior sessions are beautiful in Northeast Georgia, and scheduling earlier gives you photographs you can use throughout senior year for announcements, yearbooks, graduation invitations, gifts, and all the other things nobody remembers they need until suddenly they need them immediately.
Spring sessions are beautiful too, especially if you want to incorporate your cap and gown.
And yes, we can do both.
For this session, we finished with a few graduation photos as the sun dropped behind her. I love having the traditional pieces without making the entire session feel traditional.
A cap and gown can come.
So can the flower dress.
You can see more graduation and senior portraits in my [SENIOR + GRADUATION GALLERY].
Where I Photograph Senior Sessions
I photograph seniors throughout Athens, Commerce, Jackson County and Northeast Georgia, and I help choose the location based on the look you want rather than handing everyone the exact same spot.
Want open fields and golden light? I know places.
Tall grass and trees? Absolutely.
Something cleaner and more urban? We can head toward Athens.
Have a location that actually means something to you? Even better.
The location should work for the person in front of my camera, not the other way around.
Not sure which setting feels most like you? Browse my [PORTFOLIO / GALLERIES] to see fields, downtown locations, gardens, studios and other session styles.
More Than Just Senior Pictures
Senior year also tends to be one of those seasons where the whole family realizes, Oh. They’re actually leaving.
So if it’s been a while since everyone was in a photograph together, you can also browse my [FAMILY PHOTOGRAPHY GALLERY] or plan a family session while everyone is still under the same roof.
Looking for a Senior Photographer in Athens, GA?
If you’re graduating this year and have been putting off senior pictures because being photographed sounds approximately as enjoyable as a dental appointment, you are exactly the kind of person I like photographing.
You don’t have to know how to pose.
You don’t have to know which location will photograph best.
You don’t even have to know what to do with your hands.
We’ll figure all of that out.
You just need to show up.