Meet Ethan, Chiawana High School class of 2023!

It’s not uncommon for the people I meet to have never done professional photographs before, let alone be the one and only subject of ALL the photos.  I get how terrifying, and uncomfortable that can feel!  At the beginning of Ethan’s session, I could tell he was new at this, and feeling a little nervous about being in front of the camera, so I assured him that I’d let him know exactly what to do, and that we’d have a lot of fun, and he wouldn’t have to worry about a thing.  There’s a little saying about photos that we have around here, and if I’ve taken your photo, you’ve probably heard me say it:  

“Feels weird, looks great”

Sometimes posing for photos can feel really weird!  I get that!  I’m probably making you stand in ways or do things that you normally would never do, but I promise you, I’ll make you look great!  So if you’re in front of my camera and feeling a little weird, you’re probably doing it right!

Once we got going with things, Ethan was a natural, and he was so fun to work with!  I was trying my best dad jokes, which you know were terrible, to get him to smile and laugh…I probably looked like an idiot, but it’s all in the name of making my subjects comfortable.

We had a chilly, but beautiful day down at the Chamna Preserve in Richland, and the fall colors were really shining bright!  I just love the color pops it brought to Ethan’s portraits.

Ethan attends Tri-Tech Skills Center and is pursuing an electrician apprenticeship for next year.  I think it’s so great that young people have hands-on opportunities at Tri-Tech. They can really get to know an occupation before making big decisions about it, and then be able to start their career with some skills already learned.  It’s so cool.

Ethan is so sweet and humble, he has an awesome smile, and he’s just a genuine, great person.  Ethan, thank you so much for being such a good sport, trying all my wild ideas, and letting me get to know you, and take your senior portraits.  I know your mom is happy you went along with it, and I know someday you’ll appreciate it too.  If you look back on this session and think about how weird it felt, it just means you did it right, because you look great!