Behind the Scenes of a Full High School Senior Session

by
1 Comment
Fstoppers Original

I normally only record BTS footage from one or two setups during a session, so I thought I’d try to show a look at a full session.

For the process of testing out the new Godox AD600 Pro II, I needed some test images and footage. So I took the light on a recent high school senior session. But rather than take my traditional couple of clips during the session, I decided to record a glimpse of every single setup. So that’s what you’ll find in the video. But for my readers in the group, don’t worry, because I’ll throw in some screen grabs for you to look at as well. However, you will obviously get a better idea by seeing the full BTS clip. Within the example images that use flash, I will also show some examples of what the scene looks like without flash. As for camera setup, all images are taken on the Sony a9 III with global shutter and either a 35mm or 85mm lens. 

Location One: The Art Wall

Photographer with camera on tripod documenting large-scale colorful mural on building wall.

I hadn’t had a session in this area for a long while, so I just gave a general meeting location and then got there early to take a look around and gather a game plan. But because I didn't want to have them show up and then instantly move locations, I decided to use this art wall for a few images. Here, I used the AD600 Pro II as a main light paired with the Magmod XL reflector on my C10 Cheetah Stand. I made sure to feather the light away from the wall to help stop light from hitting the wall. I still had some spill that I took care of in post, so I would have been better served if I had run to my truck and simply gotten my grids.

Man standing in front of large underwater mural featuring green fish skeleton and submarine.
Person standing in front of large-scale mural depicting underwater scene with stylized fish and rocks.
I then stuck the light between the subject and the wall to create a spot of light on the wall behind the subject. My initial idea was for the subject to be a silhouette against the wall, but later I decided to push my dynamic range in post so that the subject was simply lit with ambient light.
Person standing centered before glowing blue light surrounded by large green fish and orange dome illustrations.

Location Two: The Rock Wall 

Photographer with camera on tripod shooting a subject standing in front of a large gray backdrop in an open field.

In this location, I was drawn to the large wall with no windows or doors. I thought it would make a great texture while also giving me enough room to get some wider compositions. For this scene, I used the Godox AD600 Pro II inside a Magmod Magbox Pro 24. I also turned the light off for a few images for some natural light images. 

Young man in patterned shirt looking to the side against textured blue and gray wall.
Young man with dark wavy hair wearing glasses, a black undershirt, and light gray button-up shirt, photographed against a dark background.
Young man with reddish-brown hair wearing sunglasses, black shirt, and light patterned overshirt, gazing upward against a textured concrete wall.
Young man in casual shirt standing against textured blue wall, looking to the side.
Young man with dark hair and bangs wearing a light button-up shirt over a black t-shirt, posed outdoors with arms crossed.
Young man with reddish-brown hair and bangs wearing a light patterned shirt over a black t-shirt and chain necklace.
Young person with reddish-brown hair smiling at camera with arms crossed, wearing black shirt and light cardigan against textured gray wall.
Young man in casual shirt smiling against dramatic lighting with strong shadow.

From here, I moved my light to the other side of a fence along the back of the wall. I set my light in a way that the fence would block part of the light. The angle of the light drew out a ton of texture from the wall, and the fence added some shadow to help draw the viewer's eye as well as add some more interest to the frame.

Person in light-colored shirt standing against weathered textured wall with strong shadow cast across surface.
Person in casual clothing standing against a weathered stone wall with peeling paint and texture.

After this setup, I wanted a more standard look at the camera type of images. While not overly “creative,” I feel like these images are always needed. To keep with the simplicity, these images are also just done with natural light.

Young man in casual button-up shirt against weathered textured wall.
Man sitting on a concrete pipe against a weathered stone wall.
Young man smiling at camera wearing casual button-up shirt over black tee with beaded necklace.
Young man with dark hair wearing a light button-up shirt, looking directly at camera with neutral expression.
Young man with dark hair smiling at camera against blurred gray and white background.
Young man smiling at camera wearing casual layered shirt over black tee against textured wall.
Young man with dark hair smiling at camera against textured white and blue background.

Setup Three: The Garage

Two people positioned in an empty paved yard next to a gray building with a dark rolling door, preparing for or during a photo shoot.

On the backside of the building, where I found the rock wall, I noticed this garage door area. But what drew me to the location was not the garage door, but instead the fence along the side of the door. I liked how the fence had some gaps between the wood planks, so I thought I could pop my light between those to create some interesting light patterns. For modifiers, I used the Magmod XL reflector with a full CTO gel. The gel helped give me the look that the light was coming from a sunset.

Shirtless man sitting cross-legged against a dark corrugated metal door, arms crossed, with geometric shadow patterns from sunlight.
Person in white t-shirt sitting against closed blue metal garage door on concrete ground.

Once I got done here, I simply had the senior stand against the fence. This was sort of an in-between stop since he had to walk that way for my next setup anyway, and the light was already where I’d want it.

Young man in casual wear standing against wooden fence during golden hour.

From here, I stuck to the initial idea of popping the light through the fence, but this time it's just at a different angle and shining onto a wall instead of a garage door. In both situations, though, I made sure that the light was going across the subject's eyes.

Man in light shirt standing against metal wall with dramatic shadow stripes from overhead light.

Finishing up this location, I decided to go for some more traditional-style images. I saw a nice white door on the wall we were using, so I used that as a framing element and grabbed a handful of variations.

Athletic person standing in doorway of plain concrete building holding a basketball.
Young man with dark hair smiling at camera wearing white patterned shirt over black tee.
Young man in white patterned shirt standing in doorway against gray concrete wall.
Man in black shirt and cream cardigan posing against gray brick wall with hand to hair.
Young man in casual wear standing against a minimalist concrete backdrop with neutral lighting.
Young man smiling at camera wearing black v-neck shirt and cream button-up cardigan with floral pattern.

Location Four: The Ivy Wall

Two people in dark clothing stand on opposite sides of an industrial gravel road during golden hour.

At this point, it was time for an outfit change, so while he was changing, I found this ivy wall. What I liked is that there was a giant wall of green, but the ivy was cut away around an entry gate. So I used this gate as a framing element. I later used just the all-ivy background and played around with finding things to add some foreground interest.

Person in black clothing standing between ivy-covered walls in narrow passage.
Man in dark clothing standing in doorway framed by lush green ivy and overgrown vegetation.
Man in dark blazer standing against dense green ivy wall, holding phone and looking downward.
Man in dark suit standing against lush green ivy wall with blurred background.

The other part of this location I liked was a section of this ivy wall covered in flowers. I liked the juxtaposition of a dapper guy mixed with pretty flowers. The only problem I ran into here was that for certain composition angles, I could see the clutter of the alley (power lines, parked cars, etc.). So rather than giving myself more strict angles to photograph from, I used a convex lens as a foreground element to cover up these areas when needed. This gives these images a bit more of a dreamy feel, which I enjoyed.

Young person with dark hair surrounded by vibrant orange and red flowering vines, wearing black clothing and gazing to the side.
Young man in dark jacket standing among vibrant orange and red flowering vines during golden hour.
Young person with tousled brown hair gazing thoughtfully among blooming red and yellow flowers.
Young man in dark clothing surrounded by green and golden autumn foliage in warm sunlight.
Young man in black jacket posed among flowering vines with warm golden sunlight filtering through foliage.

Location Five: The Red Wall

Two people in dark clothing standing in an empty parking area between a gray textured wall on the left and a bright red metal structure on the right.

This is another in-between area. I had another alleyway in mind that I wanted to use, but it was a little bit of a walk. So rather than have a long walk to the new location, I used this as a halfway point to stop and add some variety to the gallery. Because it's just a quick pit stop, I simply used natural light here.

Woman in dark blazer standing against vibrant red wall with large window beside her.
Person in black blazer standing against a vibrant red wall, adjusting their collar.
Young man in black shirt against vivid red backdrop, looking away from camera.
Young man in black shirt against vibrant red backdrop, looking toward camera.
Young man in black shirt smiling against vibrant red background.
Young man smiling at camera against a vibrant red-orange backdrop.

Location Six: The Alleyway

Photographer operating camera on tripod while model poses against brick wall in narrow alleyway.

Here what I wanted to use was the brick wall and tree in a way similar to the fence at the garage location. So I set up the AD200 II with the Magmod XL reflector and a full CTO gel. I then set the light in a position to shine through the tree and onto the wall. This gives the illusion that the sun is setting and creates some interesting light and shadow. I then turned the light off and got some natural light images. Here I used the tree as a foreground element and played with my aperture to experiment with my depth of field. This lets me play with how much or how little these foreground elements are in focus.

Person in black shirt with crossed arms standing against a brick wall with warm lighting and foliage shadows.
Young man in dark clothing standing against a red brick wall, backlit by warm golden light filtering through leafy foliage.
Person in black shirt leaning against red brick wall, partially obscured by fern fronds in foreground.

I then went to the other wall in this alleyway and got some more basic natural light images. Here again, I used a door in the wall as a framing element.

Young man in black V-neck shirt standing in dark doorway of stone brick wall.
Person in black shirt standing in dark doorway of tan brick wall.
Person in dark clothing framed by a dark rectangular opening in a light brick wall.
Person in black clothing standing in doorway of tan brick wall.

Moving back to the tree, I wanted to use my light as a rim light while silhouetting the subject against the sky. I then used the tree to fill the frame. The backlight also helps make some of the flowers on the tree pop against the underexposed sky.

Man in dark clothing standing beneath a tree with golden-lit foliage against an overcast sky.
Man in dark shirt standing beneath weeping willow tree with cascading green foliage.

Location Seven: The Rock Wall Again

Two people in black clothing hold guide wires on either side of a young tree in an open field next to a stone building.

To wrap up the session, the senior wanted some images with his baseball bat, glove, and ball. So, we went back to the rock wall (it was the easiest location to where we parked to grab the baseball stuff). Here, I decided to grab my Magmod Magbox Pro 42 for a bigger and softer light. 

Person in black clothing holding a baseball bat, spotlit against a dark textured wall.
Person in black clothing holding a rifle against a weathered concrete wall.
Man in black clothing holding a baseball bat against a weathered concrete wall.
Baseball player in black uniform preparing to catch a ball against a weathered concrete wall.
Young man in black shirt holding a decorative skull mask against a textured dark background.
Young man in black shirt holding a baseball glove against textured stone wall.
Man in black shirt pointing upward while holding a baseball bat against a weathered stone wall.
Person in black shirt reaching upward against weathered textured wall with dramatic side lighting.

For the last setup, I threw a couple of Nanlite 4-foot Pavo Tubes onto some C8 Cheeta Stands and got a handful of headshot-style portraits. 

Headshot of a young man with dark brown hair and bangs, wearing a black polo shirt.

Conclusion

And that’s a quick look at an entire high school senior session! I obviously didn't share every image from the gallery, but enough to at least give a glimpse into what the results of each setup were. If you like this style of post, let me know in the comments, and I can try and do more like this.

Fstoppers Originals
Portraits

Jason Vinson is a wedding and portrait photographer for Vinson Images based out of Bentonville, Arkansas. Ranked one of the Top 100 Wedding photographers in the World, he has a passion for educating and sharing his craft.

vinsonimages.com/
Related Articles

1 Comment

User picture for Matt Southworth
Matt Southworth August 29, 2024 - 9:32 am

thanks for sharing your process. I always find lighting intimidating. Do you have any do's and don'ts for headshots?

0
0