Back in August Trevor and his mom came into my studio for their Mother/Son photo for the Lake Dallas High School football program. We chit chatted about the upcoming season and his upcoming senior year. When I asked him about senior photos and his vision for them he thought for a split second and then his face lit up! He explained how he would love to be in his cap and gown and be on his wake board. Seeing how his face lit up when he talked about it I knew we HAD to make it happen!
So we did....
We met at a boat launch area on the Hickory Creek side of Lake Lewisville. Trevor and his crew loaded the boat into the water while I prepped my equipment. All the time knowing I had to get on the boat... I was doing a good job of suppressing my fear of water!
We loaded the boat, my son Ryan was my assistant, he had the lighting and I had the camera equipment, and off we went!
We found the perfect location for the images we were wanting to create. We needed the sun/sunset behind him and plenty of room in front of us for boat acceleration and room for Trevor to maneuver.
His first task at hand was to get in the water while keeping his cap and gown dry. Trevor had a plan and executed it amazingly! He got out onto the water, settled on the board, and had the gown and cap handed to him one at a time. First was the gown, he slipped it over his head, and then the cap. Viola! He was on the board with a dry cap and gown!
Now that Trevor had done his job it was my turn to do my job! The second task was keeping Trevor close enough to the boat for my off camera lighting to light him but far enough away from the boat to keep him in the wake. It was hit and miss as the boat moved and he moved from side to side. But we managed to get perfectly timed photos.
The third task was keeping the cap dry! We all know what cardboard does in water! We knew if he went down he had to save the cap if we wanted to continue with the shoot and have the cap in the photos. Trevor did a great of job of grabbing the cap as he was going down to keep it above water! It got wet, but not horribly wet and we were able to use it for a several runs!
As much fun as it was Trevor was a trooper! He did awesome! Being October in North Texas you never know what the weather will be. On this day it was chilly! The water temperature was 70 degrees and the air temperature at the start was 72 degrees and went down to 69 degrees by the time we were wrapping up!
Was it worth it? Heck yes! Trevor has an infectious smile, you would never know just how cold he was by looking at the photos!
Like what you see or read? Leave a comment and let Trevor know how awesome he did!
6 Comments
Oct 21, 2019, 11:31:12 PM
Kathleen - This was an epic photoshoot! I love how you took his dream for the perfect senior photo and brought it to life! Photographing a senior in a cap and gown on wakeboard? Yes please!
Oct 21, 2019, 11:22:58 AM
Shannon Holland - Wow! That is so impressive on so many levels!
Oct 21, 2019, 11:20:52 AM
Brandi - So cool!
Oct 21, 2019, 10:55:24 AM
tonya - This is amazing! I love that you included the pictures of him keeping the cap above water. This wake board session is so fun.
Oct 21, 2019, 10:40:49 AM
scott - These are AEWSOME... WOW... So cool you could capture his vision and do it so well
Oct 21, 2019, 10:31:11 AM
Jodi Major - WOW!! What amazing senior pictures for this high school senior. Cap and gown on the water!?! Looks like he chose the perfect photographer to make his picture dreams come to life!