Jadyn’s Senior Portrait Session: Hidden Gems & a Little Behind-the-Scenes Adventure

Some photography sessions go exactly according to plan!

Even though their a wedding happening in the background we worked around it to be able to capture the perfect photos. Such as a fallen tree that turns into the perfect photo opportunity, monarch butterflies appearing at just the right moment, and a reminder that sometimes the best thing you can do is accept a helping hand.

Jadyn’s senior portrait session at Hundred Acre Park was definitely the second kind, and I wouldn’t have wanted it any other way.

On Augst 29th, I had the opportunity to photograph Jadyn, Alyssa’s niece, for another senior portrait experience with My Only Visuals. As I continue growing this side of my photography business, every session teaches me something new, introduces me to new people, and gives me another opportunity to experiment creatively.

And this session gave us plenty to work with.

Arriving at Hundred Acre Park

One of the things I love most about photographing outdoors is that you never completely know what you're going to find.

You can research a location, plan poses, prepare your equipment, and arrive with an entire creative vision in your head, but nature usually has a few ideas of its own. Hundred Acre Park gave us a beautiful environment to explore for Jadyn’s senior portraits. Instead of staying in one place and repeating the same types of photographs, we walked around, explored, and looked for interesting backgrounds, textures, lighting, and little hidden areas that could make each photograph feel different.

That process of exploring is one of my favorite parts of senior photography. Sometimes the best location isn't the obvious one. Sometimes it's twenty feet away, hidden behind a tree.

Plot Twist: There Was a Wedding

Of course, there was one tiny surprise waiting for us: a wedding event that was happening nearby. Not exactly something you expect when arriving for a senior portrait session! For a moment, it became a game of creatively working around the celebration happening in the background. But that's part of being a photographer. You learn to adapt to whatever environment you're given. Instead of allowing it to interfere with our session, we simply changed angles, explored different parts of the park, and continued searching for locations that gave Jadyn's portraits their own space and personality. The wedding could have easily felt like an obstacle. Instead, it pushed us to explore and because of that, we ended up discovering some incredible little hidden gems throughout the park.

The Fallen Tree

One of my favorite discoveries from the entire session was a fallen tree that someone walking through the park might normally walk past. As a photographer,

my brain immediately started putting a frame around it. Even better, photographing around a fallen tree was something Jadyn had always wanted to do.

Suddenly, this random piece of the landscape became part of the story. We experimented with different positions and compositions, photographing Jadyn both on and around the tree and using the natural environment to create something that felt much more adventurous than a traditional senior portrait.

That's something I want to continue bringing into these sessions. If you have an idea you've always wanted for your senior portraits, tell me. Maybe it's something you saw online years ago. Maybe it's an outfit, prop, location style, book, hobby, or completely random concept. Those ideas are often where some of the most memorable photographs begin.

Chainsaw Man!

Another one of my favorite moments came when Jadyn brought out a manga volume from Chainsaw Man. Senior portraits shouldn't only show what someone looks like during their senior year. They should preserve pieces of who that person actually is at this moment in their life. Interests matter. Hobbies matter. The books, music, movies, games, art, sports, fashion, and little obsessions that make someone themselves matter too. So we incorporated the manga into her photographs. There we were photographing Jadyn with Chainsaw Man, surrounded by the natural environment. Photography has taught me that sometimes you create the moment. Other times, you simply have to recognize when the moment has created itself.

Testing the Pop-Up Pod Tent

This session also allowed me to finally test out a new addition to my senior portrait setup: my pop-up pod changing tent.

Outdoor senior sessions can create one annoying problem. Where do you change outfits? Sometimes you're miles away from a convenient restroom or private changing area. Changing inside a vehicle isn't exactly the most comfortable experience either. I wanted to find a better solution for my clients. The pop-up tent creates a portable private changing room that I can bring directly to an outdoor session. When Jadyn needed to change outfits, we were able to set it up and give her a comfortable, private place to change without leaving the area. It seems like a small addition, but these little details matter to me. A photography session shouldn't only produce beautiful photographs. The experience itself should be comfortable too. And after finally getting to use the tent during a real session, I can safely say it has earned a permanent place in the My Only Visuals senior portrait kit.

Learning to Accept a Helping Hand

There was another first during this session that didn't happen in front of the camera. For the first time, I had people helping me while I worked. A huge thank you goes to Erica and Dylan Roush for coming along and documenting the day. Having behind-the-scenes coverage means people can see more than the finished photograph. They can see the equipment, the setup, the posing, the laughs, the walking around looking for locations, and everything else that goes into creating the final images, but there was a funny moment that taught me something too. There I was trying to carry everything myself. Camera equipment. Gear. Everything.

That's normally how I operate.

Then Erica and Dylan asked if they could help. My first instinct was probably exactly what anyone who knows me would expect: "I've got it."

Except I didn't actually need to have everything. They weren't only there to document the photoshoot. They were there to help. So I handed some things over.

It sounds incredibly simple, but for someone who is used to working independently and carrying everything himself, having that second set of hands felt surprisingly good. As My Only Visuals continues to grow, I'm learning that growth doesn't necessarily mean learning how to do more things alone. Sometimes growth means learning that you don't have to. Having people there to help allowed me to put more attention toward Jadyn, the photography, the lighting, and the creative process instead of worrying about carrying every piece of equipment from one place to another. That is something I'll definitely remember moving forward.

This Is Why I Love Senior Portraits

Every senior portrait session I've photographed continues to show me what I want this service to become. I don't want these sessions to feel like walking into a studio, standing on an X, smiling at the camera, and going home. I want them to feel like experiences.

We explore. We experiment. We find weird fallen trees. We work around unexpected weddings. We bring things that represent your personality. We change outfits in a portable changing room in the middle of nature. That's the beauty of it. You can't manufacture every little moment.

You create the environment for something interesting to happen, keep your camera ready, and see where the day takes you.

Thank You, Jadyn

Jadyn, thank you so much for allowing me to capture this chapter of your life and for being part of the growing journey of My Only Visuals Senior Portraits.

Thank you for trusting my ideas, exploring the park with us, climbing around a fallen tree, bringing pieces of your personality into the photographs, and making the entire session genuinely fun. Once again, thank you to Erica and Dylan Roush for documenting the experience and, perhaps more importantly, reminding me that I'm allowed to let other people carry things once in a while. Every session is another photograph in a much larger picture of where My Only Visuals is heading. We're still creating. Still experimenting. Still learning. Still growing.

And I'm incredibly excited to see where this journey takes us next.

Ready for Your Own Senior Portrait Experience?

If you're a senior or parent looking for senior portrait photography in the Pittsburgh and Western Pennsylvania area, I'd love to create something that represents who you actually are.

Bring your outfits.

Bring your ideas.

Bring your favorite book, manga, instrument, jersey, hobby, or whatever represents this chapter of your life. We'll take care of the photography and figure out the adventure along the way, and yes, we now have a changing room too.

My Only Visuals

Here we tell stories to never be forgotten.

Because You Are The One.