There are certain sessions where I have to remind myself that this is, technically, my job.
Photographing Abby and Sarinah with their horses was one of them.
We met at Whispering Willow Equestrian Center in Durham, Connecticut, on one of those summer evenings when the weather couldn’t quite decide what it wanted to do. There was a little rain, limited light, two horses with their own opinions about the proceedings, and somehow, it all worked.
Abby and Sarinah have spent so much of their lives around horses that I didn’t want these to feel like senior portraits with a horse brought in as a very impressive prop. The relationship was the point. The quiet moments leaning against them, riding through the property, walking together, and laughing when things did not go exactly according to plan became some of my favorite photographs from the session.
This is exactly what I want a senior portrait session to feel like. Not a formula or a checklist of poses, but photographs rooted in what you love and where you feel most like yourself.
Sometimes that means a field at golden hour. Sometimes it means your dog or a place that has been part of your life for years.
And sometimes, if I am extremely fortunate, it means horses.
If you’re thinking about senior portraits of your own, I photograph clients throughout Woodbridge, New Haven, and the surrounding Connecticut area. I’d love to hear what would make the session feel unmistakably yours.
