Leia's Senior Photos at Heartwood Acres || A whimsical, dreamy, earthy session
It's not often anymore that I work with a senior from a high school I've not yet worked with, but Leia was my first from Kiski High School!
We met up at Heartwood Acres on a day where the sun was in and out, but I was holding out hope for a killer golden hour—it did. not. disappoint. We started with her more casual outfit using the woods to create a whimsical, dreamy summer vibe. Leia sent me some inspiration photos on Pinterest, so I was able to lean into the posing she naturally gravitated toward. Trying to tramp through the damp weeds to get to this spot was a bit of a journey.
We were quite literally chasing the sun to get these images. As the clouds moved and the minutes went by, we were moving left and right to stay in the lit patches of grass. Her inspiration board had tons and tons of golden light, so we tried to stay in the sun as much as possible.
Another thing Leia really loved was movement! A lot of the photos she liked were from behind, showing hair moving, or incorporating movement with clothing.
There was a wedding happening at the Mansion this day, so parking was a bit tight. If you keep driving through the park past the "tour parking," there is a second lot to use!
After we climbed out of the woods, we utilized this cute walkway with lamp posts adorning it every so often. I love the whimsy of a lamp post (Narnia was an influential movie for me, if you can't tell.)
As we made our way closer to the mansion, we grabbed her second outfit and she was able to change in the bathrooms: these are such a gift for my seniors! You can comfortably change, see in a mirror, and do any touch ups you need.
When I saw the beautiful yellow color of this dress and the yellow wildflowers, I knew we had to use this field. And then, it happened—the clouds cleared out and golden hour HIT. Huzzah!
Once we left this field (ugh, I love this field) I noticed the way the light was coming down through this tree was too good to pass up. How magical is this image!? Movie poster vibes, for sure.
We kept to the front of the building as to not disturb the wedding happening, but it didn't matter one bit! I absolutely love the images we were able to capture in the front of the building as the sun started to go down.
And of course, with this dress, we had to use the flower field! The sun was just starting to dip below the trees, creating some ooey gooey light.
I had called the session here, and we started to walk back to the car. But then Leia spotted this spot of golden light down over the hill and I am so glad she brought it up! I love love love when my seniors feel safe enough to speak up and ask for something because these ended up being my favorite shots of the entire day.
The photos you see in this post were selected by Leia and her mom for her final album! What a stunning senior session accomplished in an hour. Reach out for more Pittsburgh area senior photo information!
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