Senior Portraits Dana Smith Senior Portraits Dana Smith

Porter - Eaglecrest High School - Class of 2025

Porter and Ashley - double shooting in the city. Porter’s mom, Lisa, booked Porter and Ashley’s session with downtown Denver for their location. Denver has a lot of goodies as far as spots to shoot, so I give clients plenty of time to do our “walkabout” and with two of them, we definitely needed the time.

So who’s shooting who in Denver. Literally, I’m shooting my client’s with a (camera), while someone else is shooting others with a gun. Seriously, just around the the corner from us, 8 or more rounds go off. We all stopped and paused thinking it was fireworks until we saw a bunch of people flee from around the corner, then you realize.

With that, our session was shot short. I never cut my client’s short on time and Porter really wanted his car with Denver in the Background. So, not only did we get nervous with the shooting situation, the pistachio Ice-cream had turned (weather) on us. RAIN!

I rescheduled another session with Portrer and Ashley to get their time in and shots with Porter’s car. Denver wasn’t an option at this point, so I suggested Castle Rock with one of their cool parking garages, yeah, it’s not Denver, but pretty sweet for second best.

I loved how Porter and Ashley coordinated their clothing! They are such a sweet couple and loved hearing how the meet.Porter is at EHS, and Ashley at GHS. I had great conversation with them and Porter’s parents. They were such a dream to work with.

PSA: Go with your gut. Be aware of your surrounding at all times. Hard to do when you have a camera in your face.For Denver shoots, I will bring a second person to be my look out. I was very grateful Porter’s dad was there with us, HE MADE THE CALL. Always look at people, make eye contact. Don’t have your face in your phone every moment, that makes you an easy target. Know your exit plan.


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Senior Portraits Dana Smith Senior Portraits Dana Smith

Hannah -Chaparral High School - Class of 2025

Hotel. Alfa. November. November. Alfa. Hotel. Hannah, my sky girl. When Hannah’s mom booked and put airplanes down on the intake form, I was keeping my fingers crossed for another airplane shoot. Ka-ching, easiest consultation ever! Yankee. Echo. Sierra.- airplane and girly time!

Sierra. Hotel. India. Tango - we have turbulence ahead. I meet Stephen (the owner of the plane) at Centennial Airport an hour before the scheduled session to figure out plane placement. The pistachio ice- cream had already turned, but the session needed to go on. Stephen and I thought maybe an indoor session with all the nice expensive jets would be a nice option, and we had access to it. Hannah wanted her session outdoors . . . cancellation ahead . . . down pour! My client’s all showed up on time for their session, but our chat was to figure out our next reschedule date.

No extra fees with Stephen! He was so awesome and very flexible with his plane and scheduling. Our next shoot started out iffy with the weather. We did have a short weather delay, but managed to get a 90+ minute session in. For our patience, we were rewarded with a rainbow and an awesome moody sky at the end.

Hannah was so, Foxtrot. Unicorn. November. to shoot. She went with the flow and popped out her own ideas and worked that camera!


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Senior Portraits Dana Smith Senior Portraits Dana Smith

Carston - Cherokee Trail High School - Class of 2025

Carston - cruisin’ his session, ROUTE 66 style. Carton’s my first born and it’s hard to believe he’s graduating HS. Wow, class of 2025. Since Carston was born, I have been snapping photos of him and it progressively got worse as he got older and even worse than that after I got my first DSLR camera in 2015. He has been my test subject for studio projects and location scouting. Carston’s very photogenic, so its not unwanted to have him as a subject. He is a guy and I would safely say, 8 out of 10 of my guys don’t care to have their photos taken and it’s mostly for the moms, me being one of those moms..

Carston has been photographed in many Colorado location, so I wasn’t too inspired to pick a spot for his senior portraits in the Denver area or anywhere in Colorado. And Carston was definitely unmotivated.

Carston is into vintage, old things and has quite the camera collection. I came up with the plan for Tulsa, OK (long story as to why I picked Tulsa) for his senior portraits. Carston perked up to that idea.

I compiled my list of must stops a month before our June trip. When we arrived, I was a bit overwhelmed with my list, but in the end we did a majority of our spots. We started out early the first morning to out first spot in downtown Tulsa and oh, my, it was amazing. NO PEEPS. The spot was better in person and it got me going for our next spots. Tulsa has a plethora of these hidden gems for portraits. I found it more appealing than Denver. I wish I could take all my urban/city kids here.

While I don’t disclose my exact spots, I did major research and a lot of Google - earthing to find these locations. I found a 50’s decor wall in the heart of Tulsa. The vintage sign of the Dancing Ballroom, an antique store, gas station and mural wall in Sapulpa. And one of my favorite spots, an old door in downtown Tulsa. This location was perfect for Carston.

In the end, I was so glad we made this trip for Carston. I enjoyed my time with all three of my boys. It was a sightseeing trip, too. Carston is still the worst client ever (put rolling eye and cheesy grin emoji here). Proud Mamma!

This will always be one of my favorites of Carston - on our way to the summit of Humboldt Peak. 09/2020

Mt biggest adventure with Carston - hike to the Summit of Mt St Helens 07/2018

My most epic trip with Carston - Lofoten, Norway - 06/2022

My farthest trip with Carston - Australia 05/2015

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Senior Portraits Dana Smith Senior Portraits Dana Smith

Jack senior portraits Eaglecrest High School - class of 2025

Jack - all smiles! At Jack’s consultation, Jack wanted the natural scenery, so we went through my list of locations and Jack and family settled on a location near Castle Rock. This was a new location for me and new locations can be intimidating. This location was more exposed to direct sunlight to the subject, so by scouting it out, I had ideas and my plan on where to place jack. I couldn’t be happier with how Jack’s photos turned out for this new spot. I actually love this spot! It’s perfect if you’re looking for a more rugged look without going far to get it.

The whole family came to Jacks session, even little brother, who was so freaking adorable - talking to me after the session about science stuff. Loved it! I always welcome families. Mom and dad can sometimes get their child to relax a bit by engaging with them, thus capturing those candid smiles.

I absolutely enjoyed my session with Jack! Jack was sweet as pie and engaging! I chatted with mom and dad about recent and upcoming vacations.


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