Ella’s Senior Photos at Coker Arboretum

Ella’s Senior Photos at Coker Arboretum

It was such a pleasure working with Ella on a cold day in November. The trees were still gorgeous and the light was fantastic.

Ella’s friend, Ashley, referred me to Ella. Ashley also did her session at Coker Arboretum, so I wanted to do everything possible to make Ella’s session unique. I love challenging myself to photograph frequently used locations in a different way. It’s amazing the things that you discover when you stop and force yourself to re-examine your usual routine.

For example, the first series of images includes one of my favorite spots in Coker Arboretum. But, after shooting as I have for several other sessions, I saw that the light was reflecting off of a brick wall and creating some beautiful warm light. It posed a slight color correction challenge, but after some tweaking the photos were beautiful.

It’s also interesting how something can seem like an obstacle at first but in the end, it turns out to be an opportunity for discovery and learning something new. We encountered a video crew, which prevented us from taking the usual route into the arbor on the edge of the park. But, in having to approach the location from a different angle, I found an interesting new spot. The last series of images was shot on the opposite end of the arbor from where I normally shoot. That might be my new favorite spot in the arbor!