Senior Photos at Long Lake Regional Park
Time to share some of Laney’s pretty senior photos at Long Lake Regional Park. This beautiful park is located in New Brighton, Minnesota. I spent a wonderful evening with Laney and her mom, Pam. The big bonus here was that it was a glorious fall day in Minnesota!
Being asked to create Laney’s senior portraits is pretty special for me in a couple of ways. First, I’ve been the photographer for Laney’s extended family for many, many years. To continue to be asked to do so is truly an honor, to be sure! Second, and I didn’t know this until I saw Laney when she arrived at the park wearing her letter jacket. She’s attending my alma mater, Concordia Academy in Roseville, Minnesota! Cool!
A nice senior photo of Laney, sporting her Concordia Academy letter jacket (my alma mater).
Fall Colors at Long Lake Regional Park
I really enjoy creating portraits at Long Lake Regional Park, especially in the fall. It is a fairly large non-crowded park with a couple of lakes, one of them is, of course, its namesake, Long Lake. There are both paved and dirt trails, wooded areas, prairies, and a beach as well.
The pretty fall colors reflected in the water at Long Lake Regional Park.
There’s also a historic train station museum run by the New Brighton Area Historical Society. They have a caboose off the main tracks that I like to use as a prop from time to time. As you’ll see in her music video, we did just that at the conclusion of her session!
Over the years, I’ve photographed dozens of engagement photos, family portraits, photos of kids, and plenty of high school seniors there. Joannie and I have also created many wedding photographs at Long Lake Regional Park too! It’s a great all-around park with lots of “elbow” room.
Lightning McQueen
While it was a wonderful night, weather-wise, it was a very challenging night lighting-wise. Bright and sunny, with very few clouds. No problem. As usual, I had my trusty self-build lighting cart, Lightning McQueen, with me.
Here’s the setup image showing Lightning McQueen in action! This is the spot where Laney was photographed with her guitar just moments later.
The great thing about it being sunny, and late in the day, is that the leaves look amazing when backlighted. It is difficult to get good light on the subject to balance it out (Laney in this case). Well, with Lightning McQueen, I can wheel my powerful strobe light and softbox to most places that I want to photograph. There were a couple of times that the terrain did not allow me to roll McQueen into place. For those few occasions, I just disconnected the light stand and Pam hand-held it for me. No biggie deal.
Another pretty image of Laney in the fall colors!
Laney’s Senior Pics – The Music Video
Laney’s senior portraits turned out awesome! I especially love the images that included her guitar. I really like the black finish!
Another one of Laney’s pretty senior portraits. This time, with her guitar, and the beautiful fall colors in the background.
As I like to do with many of my high school seniors, I’ve put together a music video with some of my favorite images from Laney’s senior pics at Long Lake Regional Park. I think you’ll enjoy it! Thank you for taking time out of your day to read our post. – M&J