Kayla
      Lakewood, Colorado
      July 25, 2007

      Kayla and I had a perfect evening for her senior portraits! A storm was developing, giving us such beautiful light and dramatic clouds that I was almost giddy. Kayla was a fabulous model, and I think she looks gorgeous in these photos. I hope she’ll love them as much as I do.

      Technical info for those inclined:
      I used natural light for all of these photos. I paid attention to the quality of the light in each location, and I had her turn her face up toward the naturally diffused sunlight. In a few of the photos, Kayla’s mother held a reflector for some fill light on her face.

      Kayla, congratulations on the start of your senior year! Thanks for being such a lovely model. 🙂


      We started with a few traditional headshots for the yearbook.

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      Well thanks for the recommendation! 🙂

      I told her I thought you traveled. I haven’t talked to her in awhile, but I think she may have found someone. I do know she was checkign out your website!

      I’d love that, thanks! We travel all the time, so 6-8 hours is no problem at all. 🙂

      How wonderful! Congratulations on the new baby! 🙂

      Hi Lauren!

      Of course I remember, hi! My website is a customized template from http://www.livebooks.com. Livebooks isn’t cheap, but their websites are gorgeous, and their customer service is top-notch. Good luck!

      🙂
      Charlotte

      What a wonderful compliment, thanks! No one has ever described it that way… I like it.

      Hmmm… maybe one day I’ll sit down with a scanner and give it a go. 😉

      I love the way the storm makes the sky look… my senior pictures were taken at dawn in July 05… I love way these ones look so much better.

      i started scrolling back through some of your old posts and just read this.

      it would be so much fun if one day you posted old pictures of you 🙂

      Nice to meet you too! Apologies for the delay; have a new baby and am back to work, so I’m slow these days. If you’re interested in reading my journal, let me know since I friends-lock most everything…

      I’d really appreciate that, thanks very much! It’s great to meet you. 🙂

      sure thing. yeah, it probably won’t be for a while (would probably help to actually have a bf first, haha) but i’m going to go ahead and add you, hope you don’t mind. & if i know anyone getting married, i’m definately going to tell them about you. 🙂

      Thanks so much! It would be great if you added me, thanks!

      She’s gorgeous, and my camera loved her. 🙂

      I would love that, thanks! Please keep in touch. 🙂

      That’s great, thanks for your interest! It’s wonderful to meet you. 🙂

      you do lovely work; I’d like to keep watching! Hope you don’t mind that I added you?

      Miss Kayla is a natural beauty, you’ve caught the essence of her well.. your photography is amazing!

      hi. i was browsing around and saw the photos you posted to the reallifewedding community and just thought i’d let you know that if and when i ever get married, i must have you as my photographer. your pictures are just amazingly breath-taking.

      Sorry, haha. That was me. I tried to stop it when I realized I wasn’t logged in but apparently it posted anyway.

      You take some of the most beautiful photographs I’ve ever seen. Would you mind if I added you?

      You take some of the most beautiful photographs I’ve ever seen. Would you mind if I added you?

      that picture of her blowing the seeds is a definite stand-out.

      Hey Charlotte,

      You probably won’t remember this, but I’m a photographer in the Washington, DC area and I was going to try to get you to take pics of my (then fiance) and i as engagement portraits, but timing didn’t work out.

      Anyway, I am trying to redo my site, and I love how simple and clean yours is. Who was your web designer? I’d love something equally “plain”, it’s great use of flash so I love the way your portfolio reads.

      Thanks <3

      Lauren

      Hey Charlotte,

      You probably won’t remember this, but I’m a photographer in the Washington, DC area and I was going to try to get you to take pics of my (then fiance) and i as engagement portraits, but timing didn’t work out.

      Anyway, I am trying to redo my site, and I love how simple and clean yours is. Who was your web designer? I’d love something equally “plain”, it’s great use of flash so I love the way your portfolio reads.

      Thanks <3

      Lauren

      Amazing shots, seriously.
      How will she ever choose which one to include in the yearbook?

      I was telling my friend that your style of photography would be so awesome for her wedding next year. Of course, you’re at least 6-8 hours away from us!!

      You are the only photographer I know who can take pictures that look as if they are breathing!

      not sure if it’s exactly the same thing mentioned above, but https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/3905

      That sounds so intriguing – where would I go about getting one of those add-ons?? Thanks!

      Well captured and great use of light! I particularly like white dress shot #3 and the one where she was blowing the cattail.

      I absolutely LOVE the 3rd white dress shot… gorgeous.
      Fabulous work!!

      Fantastic! You made her look like a fairy tale. 🙂

      Wow, those are fantastic! The ones in the white dress look like they could be on the cover of a country album 🙂

      Her head shots are beautiful! She looks great in red!

      I bet her mother will want huge copies of every single one, I know I would!

      Just fyi, so you know that that wasn’t just a really good guess, I have the Opanda add-on in Firefox so I can right-click an image and view the EXIF data, which is how I knew it was taken at 15mm.

      Me too! It would have been so fun to get professional photos of that time when I was young, thin, and fabulous.

      Of course, I was a senior in the early 90s, which wasn’t one of the finest eras in hair and clothing. My prom pictures make me shudder. No one’s sleeves should be bigger than her head.

      That’s the inside of a cattail! She ripped one open and blew out all the seeds. I had never seen a cattail close up, so that was pretty cool.

      That’s right! I used a 15mm fisheye for those photos. I’m not typically a fan of Photoshop tricks, so most of what you see is how my camera saw it.

      I’ve always liked how you can get that posed look with shots that seem far more candid.

      Very nice! I’m not a huge fan of the fisheye pictures, and I prefer the pictures of her smiling to those where she is looking moody and/or sexy – it looks a little unnatural or posed on her. My favorite is the one of her blowing dandelion fuzz, though – beautiful! (I also like the first “head shot” and the one where she’s leaning up against the bridge.)

      I’m guessing that it’s just an effect of using a 15mm lens (as in that first shot). That is extreme wide angle.

      I love the sky in these!

      these may be my favorite portraits of yours ever. she makes a great subject, it seems, but you just captured her and the space (and sky!) so incredibly beautifully. wow, as always 🙂

      These are so fabulous!!!!!
      She’s gorgeous & you did an awesome job! (as usual 😉

      I noticed that as well. Many looked like a very slight fisheye type effect, or rounding. I’m curious too!

      wow, loved these!
      shes so pretty!

      oh these are fantastic! If there’s one thing I would go back and do over again in high school, it would have been to get some great shots like these for my senior pic. Or any pics at all really. 🙂

      Stunning! You’re right, the stormy sky is just great.

      beautiful! :] they’re so fun.

      I love the white dress ones!

      i love the one where she’s blowing feathers or flower dust or whatever it is she’s blowing!

      I’ve noticed the same barrel distortion on a lot of your wide-angle shots. Is this because of the lens you use for these, or is it something you’ve chosen to add after the fact?

      Charlotte Geary

      CHARLOTTE GEARY

      Lifestyle, event, and portrait photographer with a vibrant, joyful style and 17 years of professional experience.

      Located in Reston, Virginia near Washington, D.C. and available for travel.

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