Michaela senior photos – turning the page
Michaela is bright, fun and colorful. Oh and she loves books. These are the photos we took together while letting loose a couple of laughs.
A bit of “Alice in Wonderland” feel in this last shot. It’s just not the same taking photos of someone reading a “book” on a tablet… We hope you love these photos as much as we loved taking them!
~OWSP~
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Rocking Senior – Downtown Pittsburgh
It feels like forever since we’ve last done a senior portrait shoot. Most of our work is family photography, which keeps us busy chasing the action with little ones running around. And I love the photojournalism aspect of our work, but it’s definitely a nice change of pace being able to slow things down and do a little posing.
Jack was great to work with. He’s working on an electric guitar with his dad (the very funny Peter McKay), with some nice hand-painted details, so he brought it along for a few shots.
Oh, and this was one of three shoots we did together with fellow photographer Ian Shiver. He’s going to help us with a few weddings this October along with Nick since Heather’s belly is now HUGE!
Photo by Ian Shiver.
Photo by Ian Shiver.
Just as we asked Jack to play a few “tunes” one of those ducky buses drove by full of people who started cheering him on. I guess you’re drawing a crowd already! Who knows how many people will come watch you play once you get that guitar playing for real…
You were a great sport Jack! It was really great working with you. Thanks for bringing along your guitar and pretending to play a few tunes for us! haha
-OWSP
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Paige – Senior Pics
We had a fun time with Paige and with a little help from a friend we were able to do some shots inside the Grand Concourse. I just love that big rounded ceiling!
Hey Paige, give me “angelic.” Nailed it.
This was the first time we actually had the parent ENCOURAGE us to do something a bit risky. Usually they have to restrain me! Paige’s mom was all about doing photos in the middle of the Smithfield Street Bridge.
We treated that median like it was our catwalk!
Thanks Paige for being so fun to work with!
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Second round with Jourdain
So this is our second photo shoot with Jourdain. Unfortunately the images from our first shoot were lost, so we get together for another round. We made it a quick one, but I like the look of these shots.
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Danielle at the Cathedral
This a wonderful shoot to do for several reasons! I actually really like doing senior pictures photo shoots. I find them to be really low-pressure and cool, and it’s usually with “models” who are a lot more willing to have fun and goof off a bit! We did the shoot at the Cathedral of Learning because Pittsburgh’s weather is so unpredictable during these months. In fact, it rained all day.
We actually saw several photogs working around the Cathedral that day. Nice location!
I did this photo shoot together with Nick Smarto of Smarto Studios. Nick is our new “intern” — though I almost feel weird calling him that cause he knows just as much about photography as me and Heather. But we’re thrilled to have him on board and get his help on a few weddings this summer. We worked really well together, moving lights around and trying new things on the fly!
For most of the shoot we used two lights (an SB-900 & SB-800) with a few exceptions, like the ones in front of this grate. If you’re an interested photog, we use Phottix Stratos to trigger the lights wirelessly. These little guys are extremely reliable. Both Nick and I were popping shots left and right and we didn’t have a single misfire (except, of course, when I forgot to turn on a flash). We used to use the Cactus V4, but I say stay away from those!
Danielle did an awesome job modeling for us. She was really comfortable and herself!
She wasn’t afraid of being goofy either!
We went up to the top floor, known as the Honors College lounge, and incorporated the beautiful stairwell and woodwork into some photos.
I love how the black leather jacket gives a strong clash and contrast to these shots!
Thanks for being such a great sport, Danielle! You did wonderful and the various outfits you picked out were really rocking! They worked out great!
Peter the Rock
Peter was such a rock of a model for this shoot! Not only was the temperature in the 30′s, but he gave us such great looks! He looks way more mature than a high school senior. He definitely could sell some stuff with his modeling skills.
Because it’s funny… that’s why.
Loved photographing in this spot! Yet another great find by Heather.
What a smile! Should definitely make his mom proud! Which by the way, Peter’s parents were really great! At one point the went and picked me up some coffee to warm up. That was awesome of them. Coffee is always much appreciated. I never refuse 
This is Peter jumping for joy since we finally ended the photo session in the cold!
You were a great model Peter! We love working with people who are so easy going like you!
Senior Photos: The Rock-star Ballerina
This is by far one of our favorite senior photo shoots. Miss TL is so photogenic and just a genuine person. She is a student at a performing arts school and has a passion for dance and for music. So we decided not to just take one of those roads, we did all of them! Enjoy—this is a good one!
TL you are absolutely stunning and we hope that we can work with you again in your future! We wish you the best of luck in the media industry–we think you’re definitely made for it!
Jourdain – Mr. Vanilla Lighting
Jourdain is another great kid that Heather’s had the pleasure of working with at City Oven. The title from this post is in honor of a self-proclaimed nickname that Jourdain wanted people to call him. I figured I’d give it to him for this post since he did such a nice job posing for us. Otherwise, I usually call him by own making of his nick name: Vanilla Pudding. But for these photos, Jourdain was all flash.
Looking good kid. Looking good.
All the credit for the photo edits goes to Heather who continues to do an incredible job. Well done, babe.
Love all the leading lines coming down with him and his checker-board shirt.
Rock the Cookie Monster shirt. Well done Mr. Vanilla.
I think Jourdain had more change of shirts than any photo shoot we’ve ever done before. Hey, we like it.
You could model for men’s cologne here Mr. Lighting. Vanilla flavored cologne. Manly.
These stairs when on for freaking ever! They started off by Route 28 and went all the way up to Troy Hill! I thought they might never end. We like to multitask I guess: photo shoot and hard core workout.
Great job man! Now if everything goes well, expect another photo shoot w/ Jourdain. The next one — if all goes well — will make you say WOW!
Jake rocks the shoot
Jake is a great kid! As soon as we met him, I knew the photo shoot would go well. We have yet to meet any seniors who are stereotypical teens, and I would say that Jake certainly wasn’t! He seemed very mature and easy going. We got a bunch of great looks out of him, and once again we used some off-camera lighting to make the most of the ambiance as we did this shoot pretty late in the day.
I have to admit, I loved Jake’s hair. Because I’m in the Army, I don’t get the benefit of growing my hair much … so I lived vicariously through him a bit here. I had him mess with his hair a lot and got some pretty slick shots out of him.
Jake’s parents bought this ’57 Thunderbird which made from some pretty classy photos. Which, by the way, the T-Bird is for sale if anybody’s looking!
Because Jake seemed so mature for his age, we wanted to do some photos that reflected that. I think for hte most part kids like more “grown up” photos. But don’t worry, we got plenty of smiling shots for Jake’s mom to keep!
I really dig this shot! And the next two with the sky…
Thanks Jake! You did a great job posing for us, and thanks for letting us play around a bit and have fun with us!
Ollie’s Twist
I’ve been bugging Ollie all spring to get to do his Senior Pictures over the summer. Finally we got the opportunity to photograph him. Ollie is such a nice kid, real pleasant to be around and … well, photogenic. He made our work easy! Kudos goes to Heather for picking out the photo location. She was driving to Cranberry one day and her eye caught this abandoned barn. Perfect! Very styling, I thought.
Ollie really worked some natural expressions. He barely needed any guidance as we shot. Looking like a country star in this shot.
Even though there was a good amount of natural light in the barn, I wanted to make sure that Ollie popped in the photos without having to overexpose his surroundings. Strobist to the rescue once again! For you photogs out there, I just used one SB-600 strobe on a stand (bare) for most of my shots, while Heather shot with natural light only.
This is just your typical, good ol’ senior picture. Gotta make moms out there happy while we shoot their kids, of course
Great spill of light here, hun! I love how you worked the natural light around Ollie in your shots.
Heather’s eyes is just so wonderful sometimes when we’re out on shoots. I may be more comfortable with the camera and gear, but Heather’s eye catches some of the most joyful details. In this shot above, Heather saw the cross at the top of the barn with all that light spilling through. With Ollie being a Christian we thought it was a perfect fit on the shoot!
One compound word for you, Ollie: Smize!
Okay, so I wanted to get in on the jumping fun
You did an awesome job on your shoot Ollie! We really enjoyed ourselves with you!
A girls’ day out
On Monday, Heather got to go out with a few girls from work to play around with the camera while I was away for Army training. She was worried that none of the shots came out that great, but I was floored the great job she did. She did an awesome job scoping out some creative locations for the shoot. Sarah, Kara and Lauren were great models, too! Just in time for summer for all you soon-to-be seniors to check out some of our work.
Enjoy!
This picture looks like it belongs on an album cover.I see you rocking that pose in the back there, Sarah!
Nice eye on this one, Heather! I really like the vertical composition of this one
This is one of my favorite shots with the sun coming through the branches and the trees. It’s got a touch of elegance and intrigue.
Wow Lauren! You look so powerful and stunning in this image. Great hair too! You make that wall look good, haha!
Kara, your hair is so wonderful! I love how wavy it is and how it gives this image an extra pop!
Hun, this shot is just phenomenal. That grass looks like so much fun, and I love how the sun lights up Lauren’s hair like that.
Stunning angle and great mood on this one. Sarah, you definitely pulled off that pose.
This one is cute! I love how playful this shot looks.
Again, another album-cover-like shot! The composition of this one is really creative, babe. Great job on this one. It’s just really enjoyable to look at.
That water looks so blue! That can’t be a Pittsburgh river!
Haha, that tree makes me laugh. It looks like some king of mutated lobster creature. All the green leaves really add a fairy-like feel to this image, and Sarah’s shirt goes perfectly with it! Adds an extra layer of color.
Wow! I love this shot, especially because you can tell it was shot in Pittsburgh with the skyscrapers in the background.
Sarah, that is a pretty darn good stank face there! I hope I never get to see that in person.
Powerful! That’s all I have to say about this one.
You girls are such outlaws! Breaking all the rules and ignoring all caution signs! I love how you purposely posed her next to the “Do not sit on steps” sign.
So at the end of the day, Heather rewarded the girls with some coffee. That’s a pretty affordable price for such great models! You girls did a wonderful job. Heather, so proud of you for doing this shoot all on your own!
