Kaitlyn has a great sense of humor, and as you can see she was even open to having her portrait taken with Blinky (as well as a few other places around town). She’s a future writer, and we with her luck as she pursues that.

Phoebe is a talented dancer and singer, and we tried to incorporate those interests in her shoot. She was also the first senior I worked with who wanted the outdoor portion of her shoot in Boiling Springs, and I was happy to oblige. Like her brother, Phoebe was a pleasure to work with.

Megan’s senior session gave me the opportunity to shoot in a location I’d never tried before: A gymnastics studio. We conquered the challenges involved in getting light stands to stay up on varied pads, and wound up with some good shots there, around town, and in the studio.

Caitlin’s session provided the opportunity to shoot at Italian Lake in Harrisburg for the first time. She’s a great subject, as I knew from prior sessions, and we wish her the best of luck as she begins her college studies!

Since the first portion of Amanda’s session took place in some harsh January weather, we met again for another outdoor session in some milder weather.

It’s the height of vacation season, and DSLR owners are struggling to determine how many lenses they can take on trips without angering their spouses. The wide-angle lens is nice—especially for cities and vistas—but what if you want to zoom in close on an object? And how can you leave behind your current favorite lens, the 24-70mm f/2.8?! You know you’ll miss that speed.

When making such vital decisions, you need to think in advance about where you’ll be taking photos. If you’re going to New York City, by all means take the 12-24mm (even though it doesn’t come with a case—shame on you, @tokinalens). On the other hand, if you’re headed to Yellowstone to photograph wildlife, you’ll probably want to take your 400mm f/4. (Although if you own that lens, you may not have a spouse to anger, perhaps because of your purchase of that lens.) And if you’re going to be indoors in low-light situations, you should grab your Fast 50.

The situation isn’t always that clear, however. If you find yourself reaching for your “walking around lens” (not that there’s anything wrong with that), consider first the challenge of restricting yourself to one lens. With the limited range one of your better lenses offers, you may be forced to take photos that differ from those being taken by those around you. With a walking around lens, the tendency is to zoom in tight on a scene; this temptation is caused by the small size of the display on your camera. When you do that, though, you may be robbing the photo of perspective, which will appear more favorably when your photo is presented on a computer display or in print. Alternatively, zooming in on fine details in a scene where most others are shooting at 50mm may also result in a unique perspective.

Finally, if nothing else has helped you capture an out-of-the-ordinary photo, try going back at night (as in the photo above). You’ll need to use a tripod or an available stationary object, but the result could be a collection of photos that stand out from those of your fellow travelers.

I’d like to thank all of you who were involved in picture weekend. We took more photos than ever before and still finished on schedule. Your patience during the process was greatly appreciated. I hope you enjoy looking at the proofs that have been uploaded; they are divided into a Friday gallery and a Saturday gallery (password required). Please don’t hesitate to contact me if you have questions.

Here are a few more of my favorites from Amanda’s session.

While in Ohio, I had the opportunity to take some senior photos for Rachel, whom I’ve known since she was a baby! This was the first time I’ve done a senior session for someone I’ve known that long. As you can see, she found some great places around town and at a nearby farm where we could take some pictures.

One thing I liked about shooting with Amanda was that she wanted to include an item from her family’s photography heritage in her session. One of her images includes both a jacket and a lens that belonged to her grandfather during his time in the military.