One of my favorite things about being a photographer with Our Neighborhood Magazine-El Dorado is the way I get to have portrait sessions with ages I don’t always photograph on a regular basis. One of these age brackets is the tween and early teen age, which has turned out to be one of my absolute favorite age groups to work with. For some reason, when planning sessions, we do a great job of making a point to document our kids’ lives while they are babies and young children, but then there is often a large gap that doesn’t get photographed much until they become seniors. This is a shame, because these teens are often so involved in lots of different interests and community activities, and changing so rapidly before our very eyes. I love scheduling these portrait sessions and finding ways to showcase their individual personalities.
As a McKinney teen photographer, the last thing I want to do when photographing teens is to put them in poses or locations that feel uncomfortable or insincere to them. Before we get very far in the planning stages, I always try to get an accurate feel for their personality, what they will be willing to do and what is going to turn them off. It’s very important to make sure they wear clothes that they feel comfortable in and that match their personality so that we can plan the rest of the session to match.
I had the opportunity to meet and work with Mia through the magazine. We decided to meet in downtown McKinney, which always provides a variety of different locations to choose from. Mia is a part of her local youth theatre, so going into the session, we knew we wanted to showcase that interest for sure. We were able to utilize the local theater for her session, which turned out to be such a perfect location. Her personality is a little quiet, a little reserved and a little edgy, so we went with that and found locations and light to match.
Do you have a teen or tween that you would love to schedule a portrait session for? Please feel free to see more of my work with this age group, and be sure to contact me to start planning their customized session today!
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Christina Freeman is a McKinney teen photographer based in Anna, TX and serving McKinney, Plano, Frisco, Wylie, Lucas, Celina and other Collin County communities. She seeks to photograph the fun and messy moments that connect us all in our ordinary lives, from the very beginning to the very end. Be sure to get in touch if you have loved everything you have seen so far and would love to start a conversation.