Downtown Winchester, MA Senior Portrait Session

BOSTON SENIOR PORTRAIT PHOTOGRAPHER

 
When you invest in a professional portrait session, the photo shoot is only the tip of the creative iceberg. You and I will spend thirty minutes together with the camera — or in the case of this high school senior session, an hour — exploring the possibilities of our location, light, and poses. This senior sported both formal and casual threads to bring variety to the pictures, and his mom suggested the town hall and public library in Downtown Winchester for the location, all within walking distance and beautifully lit with early morning light. As with every session, we wrapped with plenty of shots in the can and a deserved thumbs-up to all for a job well-done. Except the work isn’t really done. There’s that remaining part of the iceberg, that larger portion under the tip that actually requires more time than the photo shoot itself.

Before digital, in the days of 35mm film, pictures were photographed, then the negative was developed, and from the negative prints were made. There was no image to see until the print was complete. With today’s phones and cameras, an image is available for instant display, and yes, some photographers will return to their studio after the session and deliver the pictures to you “straight out of the camera” for your immediate enjoyment. This is a perfectly fine approach, but as someone that originally worked with film and the “shoot-negative-print” approach, I enjoy the tradition of crafting your images into something more considered and personalized than what the camera can instantly snap out. More than simply taking your pictures, I am making them. I shoot in a digital format (RAW) similar to a negative, which then needs to be processed into a picture using software (Lightroom). In this digital darkroom, I adjust your images individually for exposure, contrast, color, tone, and sharpness to replicate the signature look of film. Selective edits are also used to make portions of the pictures pop, convert color to black & white, or remove that person who photobombed our favorite shot. These adjustments are customized for each image to account for changes in light over the course of your session.

So if you’re working with a photographer who is requesting a few days or even longer during busy season to work on your images before delivery, this is most definitely a positive and a wonderful return on your investment!