Accidental Art - Edwardsville Senior Pictures

Sarah Smith
Photograph by Tom Atwood

Sometimes a senior picture become something else. In this case, a dreamy monochromatic meditation on serenity in tall grass. Or else, Sarah blinking during the photo shoot in Forest Park.

Shutter: 1/160; Aperture: f/3.5; ISO: 100; Focal Length: 18 mm

Garden Spot - Edwardsville Senior Pictures

Tori Carrow
Portrait by Tom Atwood

One of the best and most unusual locations for portrait photography is tucked away on the vast campus of Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. A 35-acre botanical garden, known as "The Gardens," is capable of a lot of different "looks" all year. Water, woods, flowers, and a wooden bridge over "Turtle Pond," that is the garden's centerpiece. The bridge can be seen here with grasses and cattails in the background of Tori Carrow's senior picture.

Shutter: 1/200; Aperture: f/2.2; ISO: 200; Focal Length: 35 mm

Blue - Edwardsville Senior Pictures

AlexWever
Photograph by Tom Atwood

This is one of the first senior portraits I took: Alex Wever  leaning against a lumber warehouse, a kind of blue landmark in Edwardsville, Illinois. In fact, this portrait of Alex is a kind of blue landmark, too. Blue bricks, blue metal siding, blue jeans, blue eyes.

Shutter: 1/125; Aperture: f/1.8 (late in the day); ISO: 100; Focal Length: 35 mm

Taylor - Edwardsville Senior Pictures

Pin Oak Road
Photograph by Tom Atwood

Sometimes the most interesting ideas for a portrait come from the client. In this case, Taylor Mulhall, who wanted a senior picture draped across the hood of her beloved Mustang. With some help in editing, this image captured along Pin Oak Road near Edwardsville, Illinois turned out to be one of the most colorful, and unusual, senior pictures I have taken.

Shutter: 1/200; Aperture: f/4; ISO: 1250 (it was nearly dusk); Focal length: 18 mm 

Processed in Lightroom 4

Wind - Edwardsville Senior Pictures

Mckenzie Keth
Photograph by Tom Atwood

Taking senior pictures outdoors--or any portraits, really--is risky. Sometimes I feel like a farmer, who looks to the sky, knowing he is at the whim of the weather. But the farmer and I make the best of it. What else can you do? On this blustery day along the Mississippi River at Alton, Mckenzie Keth faced a constant wind of at least 20 mph, with fantastic gusts, like the one that blew the hair across her face and helped create this unusual portrait.

Shutter: 1/320; Aperture: f/3.5; ISO: 100; Focal Length: 35 mm