Friday, Aug. 15, 2008

Senior Moment

Portraits capture high school seniors in action

By AMANDA ROGERS

News-Mirror Writer

Jo Anderson knew what she wanted for his son’s senior photos - Glenda Beckwith.

Beckwith, owner of Alexander Portrait Designers, had photographed Anderson’s daughter, Kaylee, two years ago.

"They did such a good job with her," Anderson said. "They brought out her smile."

Senior photos capture a rite of passage in a person’s life, explained Corri Robinson, owner of Corr Images.

"It’s a transition from child to adulthood," Robinson said. "They’re documenting that."

Parents, students and photographers go all out to be creative and capture each senior’s personality. Senior year is one of the major photographic events in a person’s life, usually only upstaged by their wedding.

So Anderson wanted the same results for her son, Corey, who is about to begin his senior year at Mansfield High School.

Corey, however, wasn’t as interested.

"My mom made me," he admitted.

That’s how it goes with seniors, Beckwith said.

"Girls are the ones who bring in suitcases," she said. "Guys are pretty simple. They’ll bring in three or four outfits that Mom picked out."

Still, Corey Anderson wasn’t having such a bad time. The basketball player posed patiently and watched with interest as Beckwith dabbed a basketball with rubber cement, then set it on fire.

Beckwith and Robinson admit that they will go just about anywhere and try just about anything (that’s legal!) to capture a student’s personality and interests.

"Most senior photos are not in the studio," Robinson said.

The two have trekked to barns, golf courses, soccer fields, tracks, volleyball courts, football stadiums, lakes, beaches and parks.

"Senior photos are about who the kids have grown into," Beckwith said.

Some of her favorite places to shoot are Mansfield’s linear trails, Katherine Rose Memorial Park, R.L. Anderson Stadium and the historic downtown.

"We had one girl in an old prom dress stand on top of an air conditioning unit with the dress blowing up like Marilyn Monroe," Beckwith said. "It was her personality."

Beckwith posed the same girl in front of the 90-year-old Farr Best Theater and put her name on the marquee.

Robinson does a consultation with each client before the photo shoot to get to know them and their personality.

"We talk about who they are and what they enjoy doing, what their interests are in high school, how their parents remember them," Robinson said. "I want to know where you’re comfortable. If you’re a theater kid, that’s who you are and that’s where you’re comfortable.

"My approach is to continue to interact with them to ask them to make a serious Vogue face, then they’ll laugh. And it’s a genuine laugh," she said. "I won’t ask someone to smile."

Favorite props include sports, pets and cars.

Robinson photographed one senior in her home, wearing her grandmother’s sweet 16 dress in front of the lace curtains her grandmother gave her mother.

"There are layers in every photo about who that kid is," she said.

Both photographers spend a couple of hours shooting each senior. After that, most kids are exhausted and the photographers have plenty of good photos.

Digital photography allows photographers to be even more creative, Beckwith said.

"You can do the edgy looks," she said.

Although she could Photoshop in the flames, Beckwith still sets things on fire in her studio, including footballs, basketballs, tennis balls, softballs, baseballs and drumsticks.

"The kids wouldn’t have the experience," she said.

Because it is traditionally one of the major photographic events in a person’s life, senior photos are big business. Beckwith says senior photos make up 65 percent of her business.

Robinson, who has photographed births at Methodist Mansfield Medical Center since it opened in December 2006, has spent more energy photographing families and children. She says senior photos still make up 35 percent of her business, and she is planning to start marketing to bring in even more business.

The average senior will spend $1,200-$1,300 on photos, the two photographers say. Packages at both studios begin at $250 and go up.

Both are marketing to the kids. Beckwith has hired young photographers to keep her up to date on props and fashions. Robinson belongs to the Senior Portrait Artists, a group of top photographers that stay on top of trends and how to photograph them.

Alexander Portrait Designers also has sites on MySpace and Facebook. Beckwith and her young photographers have begun designing coffee table style books with a variety of the student’s senior photos.

Robinson also sells books of photos for seniors and parents who can’t narrow down their selections.

Both photographers say they aren’t out to gouge their clients.

"I never wanted to be a studio that would lure someone in with a great offer then hit them so they are uncomfortable," Robinson said.

Beckwith agrees.

"I want lifetime clients," she said. "Let’s not gouge them and run. Let’s build relationships."