Senior Session Recap - Madeline Class of '19

October 09, 2018  •  Leave a Comment


Senior Photography by Kyle Cleveland Photo in the Newbo District in Cedar Rapids, IowaSenior Photo Session in Cedar Rapids, Iowa in the Newbo DistrictSenior Photo taken by Kyle Cleveland Photo in Cedar Rapids, Iowa

This senior session was split up into two separate days because of this lovely thing called mother nature, but I wasn't going to let that stop me from creating amazing photos for this senior! 

Madeline is a high school track star so we started the session at Prairie High School's John Wall Field. Going into the session I knew that it was going to be cloudy so I made sure to bring my 1/2 CTB gel to bring my strobe lighting a little closer to the cloudy ambient temperature which was definitely key! I also knew that the clouds would create a great backdrop for these track photos because I could bring up the contrast and clarity of the clouds in post to bring more attention to Madeline.

One of the first shots we took was a shot of all of her high school medals around her arms. I wanted to create a powerful shot that really put on display the hard work she had put in to win all of these medals. After putting on about 40 of the 70+ medals on her arm, we realized she wasn't wearing her track spikes yet.... lets just say we should have caught that before we started loading her arms with all of that weight!

Photo by Senior Photograper Kyle Cleveland  in Cedar Rapids Iowa.Prairie High School Senior Session Senior track & field session at prairie high school in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

Another photo that really stood out for me is a photo of Madeline at the starting block. I told her to basically go through her normal routine as if she was about to actually start a race. By doing this, I create a beautiful photo that doesn't look "posed". In post I did some of the same adjustments as the previous photo, although I did add a little more contrast to add more separation from her and the stands in the background.

Senior Photography by Kyle Cleveland Photo in Cedar Rapids IowaSenior Photo Session at Prairie High School in Cedar RapidsHigh school senior Madeline at the starting block on John Wall Field in Cedar Rapids, Iowa

We took a few more photos here before heading to our second location, the Newbo District. On the way downtown rain drops began to fall and unfortunately we had to reschedule the second half of the session for another day. This was no problem at all and we found a good time to reschedule that worked for both of us!

Newbo District

The weather on this day wasn't perfect either, but we had a break in the rain in the afternoon and we decided to take a shot at it and boy did we time things perfectly!

Madeline's first outfit included a yellow cardigan, a plain white shirt, jeans and a pair of Timberlands that I believe really brought everything together nicely. We started the session at Brewhemia and I figured there was no better place to take a few shots in this outfit than in the peaceful Brewhemia atmosphere.

Photo by Senior Photographer Kyle Cleveland Photo in Cedar Rapids, IowaSenior Photo Session in the Newbo District in Cedar Rapids, IowaSenior photo session by Kyle Cleveland Photo in the Newbo District in downtown Cedar Rapids, Iowa Senior Photography by Kyle Cleveland Photo in Cedar Raids, IowaSenior Photography Session in Newbo District in downtown Cedar Rapids, IowaPhoto of a senior in the Newbo District in downtown Cedar Rapids, Iowa by Kyle Cleveland Photo

From Brewhemia we headed around the corner to an alley with a bright red wall that I thought would work well with the yellow cardigan. For this shot I wanted to implement movement by asking Madeline to run her hand through her hair. In this shot I specifically like how one eye is covered slightly by her hair, in turn bringing more attention to her right eye and I really like that. Like Bob Ross, I too like an occasional "happy accident".

Senior Photography by Kyle Cleveland Photo in the Newbo District in Cedar Rapids, IowaSenior Session by Kyle Cleveland Photo in Cedar Rapids, IowaPhoto of a senior in the Newbo District in downtown Cedar Rapids, Iowa Photo by Senior Photographer Kyle Cleveland Photo in Cedar Rapids, IowaSenior shows off her Timberlands in a senior session in Cedar Rapids, IowaPhoto of a senior in the Newbo District in Cedar Rapids, Iowa showing off her style.

For the second outfit, Madeline wore a salmon colored top with a jean skirt. I knew as soon as I saw it that I wanted to take a photo inside of the Almost Famous Popcorn Company. I knew that the salmon colored top would work very nicely with the interiors blue walls, and I knew that there would be beautiful soft natural light coming through the windows so I sat her down at a table against the wall facing the window. One part of this photo I especially like is how the lights in the back create bokeh which creates a leading line right towards her face, which is perfect! I then found some vines growing on a brick wall which I thought would compliment her outfit as well with the green colors of said vines, as well as a plain white wall.

Senior Photography by Kyle Cleveland Photo in Cedar Rapids, IowaSenior Photo taken at Almost Famous Popcorn Company in Cedar Rapids, IowaSenior photo taken by Kyle Cleveland Photo in Cedar Rapids, Iowa in the Newbo District. Senior photography by Kyle Cleveland Photo in Cedar Rapids, IowaSenior Photograph by Kyle Cleveland Photo in Cedar Rapids, IowaSenior photo taken in the Newbo District in Cedar Rapids, Iowa taken by Kyle Cleveland Photo Senior Photography by Kyle Cleveland Photo in Cedar Rapids, IowaSenior Photo by Kyle Cleveland Photo in Cedar Rapids, IowaSenior photo captured by Kyle Cleveland Photo in the Newbo District in Cedar Rapids, Iowa

For Madeline's third outfit, she chose an all black jumpsuit with heels. While we were heading to my next spot, I noticed a puddle and decided I wanted to try to get a shot with a nice reflection. If you are a photographer, then you know... not everything goes as planned. I couldn't seem to get my light to hit her in a way that I thought looked good, so I decided to add some movement and came up with this shot.

Senior Photography by Kyle Cleveland Photo in Cedar Rapids, Iowa's Newbo DistrictSenior Photo by Kyle Cleveland Photo in Cedar Rapids, IowaSenior photography captured by Kyle Cleveland Photo in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

From here, the session took a creative turn. I saw a fence that I thought would be perfect for a shot through the fence that brought the viewers attention straight to her eyes. When composing this shot, I made sure both of her eyes were as centered in the fence hole as I could and this was the result, which I thought was complimented nicely by black and white.

Senior Photography by Kyle Cleveland Photo. Photo through metal fence. Cedar Rapids, IowaSenior Photo by Kyle Cleveland Photo in Cedar Rapids, IowaSenior Photograph by Kyle Cleveland Photo in Cedar Rapids, Iowa

Shortly after this shot was taken I felt a rain drop and knew we had to get moving to fit this last outfit into the session! This next look was in my mind "business casual", so I just wanted a few simple shots for this outfit. 

Senior Photography by Kyle Cleveland Photo in Cedar Rapids, IowaSenior Photograph taken in Cedar Rapids, Iowa by Kyle Cleveland PhotoSenior Photograph taken by Kyle Cleveland Photo in Cedar Rapids, Iowa Senior Photography by Kyle Cleveland Photo in Cedar Rapids, IowaSenior Photography by Kyle Cleveland Photo in Cedar Rapids, IowaSenior photo captured by Kyle Cleveland Photo near the Newbo Market in downtown Cedar Rapids, Iowa

Moral of the story... Don't let the rain discourage you, reschedule that session and provide your client with beautiful photos!

If you are looking for a photographer for your senior photos in the Eastern Iowa area, including but not limited to Cedar Rapids and Iowa City... Click HERE to head over to the contact page and get in contact with me today, I would love to help you capture YOU!

Kyle Cleveland Photo


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