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Senior Portrait Photographers: Jon’s Industrial Senior Portrait Session

A steam plant?!?  Yes please!!!  You won’t want to miss the intense shadows, colors and light in Jon’s modern senior portrait session…
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When we first met, Jon shared, “You did such a great job photographing my brother, Nick, a few years ago, so I really knew you’d do a fantastic job with my senior portraits.  You are very versatile as an artist and offer high-quality work, I also really appreciate how you are willing to go anywhere to capture a person authentically.”
While I love to capture a full scene, in the case of the photo above, one full of intense shadows and vibrant colors; I also really like getting up close and personal and photographing more traditional portrait like this…
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I will go pretty much anywhere and thought with him wanting a more urban, industrial look, and wanting to stay in Shippensburg that finding some way to incorporate the old University steam plant would be really cool.
We hopped inside and it was a total playground for me– so much interesting light, texture, shadow– such a treat!
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Jon shared, “There are really two different sides to me– one is very casual and laid back, enjoying art and nature.  The other side of me is more academic and serious, going to business school.”
He continued, “You really brought both sides out throughout the session, putting on the suit jacket really helped, too.”
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Jon said, “Going into this, I knew that I could totally trust you, and that something really cool would come out of whatever inspiration you found.”
Here I saw this intense light streaming through the window, catching on the dust and creating cool rainbowy orbs:
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Jon continued, “Even if I had no idea what you were seeing at the time, I was up for trying whatever, and am so happy I did.  It didn’t feel like I was changing up my poses or expressions enough to be all that different or interesting, but the photos are so creative!”
Here I noticed the snow melt creating interesting reflections and bokeh– this is actually Jon’s reflection:
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Jon shared, “I just committed to studying marketing in college.  I’m so excited for the future and to see what it will bring.  Change is always good.”
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For this photo I shot through a hole in the wall from a level above– I liked the dramatic look of that framing and the shadows, even how the American flag was illuminated.  When I mentioned something to Jon he commented about his brother, who has a real interest in politics.
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Jon explained, “For me, this series of images captures my growth in Shippensburg and all the facets of who I am today.”
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He continued, “I guess it’s that I’m growing up, maturing, I feel so different, almost like a different person.”
I snapped this photo of him adjusting his jacket in the mirror– I joked if he ever comes out with an album this would make a great cover…
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I love the intensity of this image.  I like the saturated colors and the cool tones and reflections on one side with the warm tones and shadows on the other.
If you look closely you’ll see Jon, a set of stairs and even some of Old Main through the window.
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Again, intensity…
central-pa-best-creative-senior-portrait-photographers-shippensburg-chambersburg-carlisle-12I thought it’d be fun to write something in the session.  We first tried writing Jon with an extension cord, but found this chain to be more flexible.  He created a letter J.  I like how well this plays to the industrial aesthetic.
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Classic:
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When I showed Jon this shot, he thought it was cool, but when I shared that I used a John Deer tractor to create it (you can see some of the signature green) he laughed out loud!
He smiled, “John Deer, yep, that’s my home town!”
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I played with depth of field and compression here as well as perspective.
I shot through a grated metal floor allowing me to have this levitating sort of perspective.  I used an 85mm lens here, it gives is that soft structure that surrounds Jon.
I also kept his eyes and the colorful lines from the stairwell in sharp focus.
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I like how soft this shot is as well, again, more snow and snow melt.
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All business… 🙂central-pa-best-creative-senior-portrait-photographers-shippensburg-chambersburg-carlisle-36Jon explained, “There is a part of me that is really outdoorsy and adventurous.  I like that you caught that, too.”
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Jon cleverly shared, “Tunnel Vision” about this image:
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Jon concluded, “I think the steam plant really worked perfectly for me.  I’ve always into mechanics and engineering, and it will soon be the home of the new engineering program at Shippensburg University.  I’ve always been so curious as to what is inside there and now I finally know, haha!”
The vibrant blue of the sky, the intense golden sunlight casting the tree’s strikingly clear shadow onto the steam plant… this photo could look incredible blown up on a canvas.
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Jon I hope these were just the sort of modern, creative, industrial photos that you were looking for and that they captured all the many facets of your growing personality!   I feel lucky to have photographed you and your brother, and can’t wait to see what the two of you achieve in life.  The sky is the limit!

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