Old Stone Church, West Boylston, MA Standout Senior Styled Session
Meet Lauren and Maly: Standout Seniors, Class of 2018!
A few weeks ago, I journeyed to the Old Stone Church, West Boylston, MA for my Standout Senior Styled Session. It was such an exciting day. I wanted to start off my Senior season with some fresh images.
Lauren and Maly were the perfect for this session. They were both incredibly strong, confident, and fun. If you’re not familiar with the area, this is one of the best sites to see. It’s exactly what it sounds like – a stone church on the Wachusett Reservoir that is gutted. You can walk in and out of it, but it’s not used for much else, otherwise. It’s a great spot for photos, providing a lot of variety. It was a styled shoot, but I was still more interested in the personalities of the girls shining through. I gave them individual “looks” to go for, but mostly let them choose for themselves.
The theme of the Session was “Free Spirits: Light & Dark.” It’s important to celebrate our differences, especially with high schoolers. This was me thinking about how different free spirits can look.
Lauren
Lauren was on the light side. The idea was for her to be more light and flowy. I brought a big brimmed hat for her to wear and a picnic blanket and basket for her to have with her. When I picked the hat out, I kept thinking that it’s not me at all. And, I could tell, it wasn’t Lauren, either, but she rocked it. Her Mom loved it! I particularly loved the ones with the basket near the water. So perfect. Lauren shared a bit with me about what she’s been through and wanted to make sure to show her strength. She trusted me, but also told me when something didn’t feel right.
Towards the end, she asked to take a few sitting in the windows of the church. We had a lot of fun playing with the glowing light and these were some of the best ones from the day.
Maly
For Maly, we moved onto the steps of the church. Maly had more of an edgy look and it was on point! Maly had a great style that I took advantage of for this shoot.
Some of the edginess of the shoot (like the dramatic lipstick) is part of who she is. She’s comfortable in her own skin and I loved capturing that. Maly was really easy to work with and she looked comfortable. We took some along the brick wall and the colors worked so well together.
Again, Maly’s segment ended with more sitting in windows.
It was a blast working with these girls. When done right, Senior photos show where a teenager is at a specific time in their life. I love being able to help them solidify how they see themselves as they’re getting ready to go off into the world. To be able to help them feel confident is a privilege.
Old Stone Church, West Boylston, MA is one of my all time favorite locations for sessions. It continues to be this versatile place.
For more Senior sessions, check out the blog or follow along on Facebook and Instagram. More images from this styled session will be going up over the next several months. Let’s be friends and stay connected!