“Here is to never growing up!” The theme for the prom night at my daughter’s school fit right in with what we did for my first ever Prom photography session.
They say senior year is not complete without Prom.
My daughter, excited to go to Prom with her friends, asked me to take their Prom pictures.
I was honored and terrified.
It was my first prom session and for weeks I was nervous. I didn’t know all “the kids” that would come and only some of the other parents. I had no clue what to expect. I had some ideas, but wasn’t sure if they even wanted to do some fun stuff. Plus, I was traveling the week before the date and was afraid, I didn’t have enough time to prepare everything.
Prom was scheduled for May 4th.
Here in the Midwest, the beginning of May was rainy, windy and cold. I had two days to scout and all I found was that water stood everywhere, the parks were muddy and everything looked gray. Plus, spring came late this year and most of the trees were still leafless; the weather forecast didn’t look good either. So, what to do?
I decided to prepare the things I had planned anyway and hoped and prayed that the weather would improve. I continued to search for a place where we would not have to slug through water, especially with the nice shoes and long dresses, and which would have something we could seek shelter under if necessary.
Finally, I found the perfect place in a park nearby I had never visited before. The walkways were clean, there was a sheltered area, and there was even a lake, we could use as background.
On Saturday the weather improved and – to my delight – the sun came out. My husband came along to be my second photographer, which eased my fears a little.
We started shooting immediately and just kept adding the arriving seniors to the pictures. The young men and women were in a good mood and to my surprise it was easier than I had thought.
First, we took “the usual pictures”, like single pictures, group pictures, the seniors with the present parents and siblings, and some couple pictures. After we had taken care of that, I unpacked my props and we did the fun stuff.
Being May 4th, I just couldn’t help but use some Star Wars references. One family brought their collection of laser swords and the seniors had fun “fighting” with each other. The girls tried using “The Force” on the guys to let them float.
I brought some cool sun glasses and mixed that with some other weapons.
This photo shoot was another valuable and positive experience for me. After worrying so much about this event – I mean there was a lot at stake, after all, it is a once in a life time event- I had an awful lot of fun doing it, and – as you can see in the pictures – the seniors had too.
How do you feel about photo shoots you have never done before? How do you prepare if you don’t know what to expect? Please let me know in the comments.
Live Inspired and keep Shooting!
Great pictures!
Thank you, Rosemarie!