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Category Archives: Senior Photos Laramie & Cheyenne Wyoming

There are two words that are enough to thoroughly excite Wyoming senior photographers… fall session! Photographing seniors is always something that we love but when Mikayla contacted us and was up for all things Fall we couldn’t help but be CRAZY excited. We headed to Centennial, WY home of some of our absolute favorite spots for Fall color. Giddy like a couple of children we were super excited to photograph not only green scenery, but also yellow and if we were SUPER lucky… Red.

We decided to start at Snowy Mountain Lodge for our first location. For those of you who don’t know the lodge and all it’s gorgeous surroundings belong to Laramie Valley Chapel, our home church. We explored rustic bridges, tall grasses and even had a few picturesque stumps at our disposal. We braved logs and tried our best to get as close to that gorgeous river as we could without Mikayla going IN to said river lol. As Wyoming senior photographers we really love to incorporate places that seem like they could only be found right here in Wyoming. The lodge did not disappoint, we instantly fell in love with the golden overgrown grasses that we have grown to know and love as natives. We even found some foliage that had turned the brightest shade of red and of course had to shoot in it. After all the color red in the Fall is pretty much like the holy grail. Seems like we only ever find it super high up on mountains or on the very tip top of the treeline. Both of which are too ambitious for a senior session!

From there we headed up the mountain to chase wild Fall color. We happened upon the most amazing grove of aspens that wasn’t just yellow but had turned ORANGE. We adore shooting through Aspens. There is nothing like the sparkle of gorgeous rays of sunlight glittering through their leaves. That is nothing like it until those same rays are glittering through their ORANGE leaves. We could have photographed forever in this amazing spot! Loved the way no matter where we asked Mikayla to pose she was totally up for anything. This girl has such an adventurous spirit and we were excited to show her the spots we selected. Seems like she was totally our people and just as excited about the bold beautiful Fall color as we were!

As Wyoming senior photographers we often give people direction with their posing. We might ask our clients to look this way, put their hand in their pocked, cross their arms etc. Every once in a while though we have a client who is such a natural we pretty much just tell them where to be and let them bring the magic. Mikayla was this client lol. This sweet girl just exuded a quiet confidence. We would loosely place her in a pose after finding the composition, lighting and background we wanted. Then she would totally make it her own adjusting into a comfortable, confident and signature pose that was all her own! Rick and I always place a high priority on really capturing our seniors as they are. We want their photos to be genuine, authentic and so THEM! We love it when our clients feel comfortable making a pose their own by changing things up.

Mikayla, thank you so much for asking us to be a part of this exciting time in your life. You are only a senior once and we know just how important your senior photos were to you. Thank you for climbing on logs, sitting in aspens, adjusting your wardrobe and letting us bring you up and down our favorite mountain in our favorite season. We will be praying for you and your family and are so excited to see what BIG things are in store for you!

WYOMING SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHERSLOVE LOVE LOVE the gorgeous fall color in this one! Us Wyoming senior photographers always adore portrait sessions photographed in the Fall.
WYOMING SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHERSPosing Mikayla was absolutely effortless! This girl has natural style and a quiet confidence that made our job super easy!
WYOMING SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHERSWhat’s a senior photo session without a little danger right?! Just kidding this log was totally safely embanked into the river but we were so psyched that Mikayla was totally up for going out on it!
WYOMING SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHERSThere is that gorgeous golden rod scenery that we Wyoming senior photographers love. It just screams WYOMING to me. Glad we got to incorporate it into this sweet girls session. Helps that the light was also ridiculously gorgeous that day as well!
WYOMING SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHERSOk funny story behind this gorgeous portrait. Rick photographs most of our close ups. For this shot Mikayla had that cute top off her shoulders which is totally the style nowadays. Rick being a DAD himself took one her way then one his way with the shoulders up. We all had a giggle about the Dad Portrait that came out of it lol.
WYOMING SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHERSIsn’t the outfit she picked here just PERFECT for that Fall setting. As Wyoming senior photographers we don’t give a lot of direction on outfit selection. We tell our clients to start with something they feel comfortable and confident in and build from there. If they aren’t dressy then don’t dress up… Always dressed to the nines? Bring your tuxedo like Bradley 🙂 We want you to look like YOU in your photos!
WYOMING SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHERSAround here as Wyoming senior photographers there is one thing that we go CRAZY over in the Fall. That would be the color RED. Fall foliage, elusive red aspens, doesn’t matter anything red and you KNOW we will be photographing in it lol.
WYOMING SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHERS

There we go again with the cold shoulder top lol. I just adore this photo. Even though Mikayla is not looking it the camera I feel like you can just tell so much about who she is in this relaxed portrait. You bet there is some gorgeous yellow color in that background but we decided to go black and white for a more moody feel!

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Rick and I LOVE taking Cheyenne and Laramie senior pictures. Something about senior photography is just so amazing. We love getting asked to capture our clients as they are. Including their likes and activities is a much but more than just that you really want their personality to come through. Our goal is for their friends and family to look at their photos and come away saying ‘ That is so her’. That is why when we sat down with Chloe and her sweet Momma we were thrilled that it was easy for Chloe to let us know what she liked and what she was looking for when it came to her senior photos. She wanted city, grunge, graffiti and COLOR!

When it comes to Cheyenne and Laramie senior pictures we really are blessed when it comes to backgrounds. Both cities have such a rich downtown scene full of art and culture. Downtown Laramie is even blessed to have a rich mural project through which local artists are encouraged to use their amazing talents to help make our city lovely! When we found out that graffiti was right up Chloe’s alley we set out to see the best of what downtown had to offer. Finally we settled on bright bold colors and tried to steer toward a vintage cool type of vibe.

What makes edgy downtown senior pictures even BETTER? When your subjects shows up rocking a hot pink mohawk! Chloe’s hair and wardrobe were on point and just added to how amazing her set turned out. It did take a little bit of planning though. I had no idea but when you get your hair dyed initially it takes a little while for it to settle into the color that will be permanent. We took extra care to plan with this sweet girl so that the shade would be just right! Because senior photos are so forever right?

Another thing that we really enjoyed about Chloe’s session is that she was so comfortable and adamant about being herself. So often there is a pressure to dress up, smile the entire time and be this version of yourself that would look good in pictures. Chloe smiles, she is funny and playful but she is also serious, dramatic and intense. She asked us early on if she HAD to smile. I feel like we get that question a lot actually. We usually ask people whether they smile all the time or if they feel like they are a mix of serious and smiling. It would look totally weird for us to take a fun loving, bubbly, perky senior and ask her to Calvin Klein model pose the entire time. Conversely it would be way awkward for us to take a fiery, serious, intense senior and make her fake smile and laugh it up for their entire session. Chloe told us she smiled sometimes, and that sometimes she was more serious and serene. So we went with that. I feel like one of the things that sets us apart from other people who shoot Cheyenne & Laramie senior pictures is the fact that we aren’t afraid to try new things and play during our sessions. We had her smile, we had her try something a bit more serious, faced her away from the camera to focus on her hair and even had her look outside of the frame for a few model like shots. No matter what we threw at this girl though Chloe brought her ‘A’ game. She was so easy to work with!

Chloe, thank you so much for letting us be a part of your senior year. You are such an amazing girl and we just loved what you dreamed up for your senior session. We genuinely hope we did it justice. Cannot wait to see what the future holds for you!

CHEYENNE AND LARAMIE SENIOR PICTURESFashion posing can add so much to our Cheyenne and Laramie senior picture sessions. Chloe was comfortable with who she was and just EXUDED confidence. Loved putting her in her element and just watching the magic happen!

CHEYENNE AND LARAMIE SENIOR PICTURESThe walking bridge is so iconic here in Laramie. We loved it for the metal industrial feel that looks so amazing in pictures.

CHEYENNE AND LARAMIE SENIOR PICTURESWho wouldn’t LOVE to have this gorgeous mohawk even for just one day. SO cool and we are so glad she chose this before her senior session. Something so cool about capturing this for her!

CHEYENNE AND LARAMIE SENIOR PICTURESLooking for things vintage for Cheyenne and Laramie senior pictures is always a treat. We stumbled upon an old 7 UP truck that was just PERFECT for her session!

CHEYENNE AND LARAMIE SENIOR PICTURESI know what you are thinking… How on earth were we lucky enough to be able to find her name in graffiti. For this amazing girls session we asked a favor of our favorite local artist, Dan Toro to spray paint her name just for her photos!

CHEYENNE AND LARAMIE SENIOR PICTURESLoved that Chloe chose to mix in some girly elegance with all of her punk edginess. Her shoes were so fab and she really pulled off this fancier look quite nicely.

CHEYENNE AND LARAMIE SENIOR PICTURESOnce again ladies and gentleman the vintage 7 UP truck for the win! Thanks to Chloe for totally bringing it when it came to posing!

CHEYENNE AND LARAMIE SENIOR PICTURESRick and I have a daughter named Chloe! She too loves all things bright, cheerful and as vibrant as her own BIG personality. Wonder if all Chloe’s share this same love? In addition to large wide out photos that really showcased the graffiti and murals as also opted for some close ups of this amazing girl. She has such a confident and genuine smile don’t you think?

CHEYENNE AND LARAMIE SENIOR PICTURESAgain with that CUSTOM mural. That’s right just call Ardent for all your Cheyenne and Laramie senior pictures, they include completely custom artwork for your session. Just kidding, it was really fun to include it for Chloe however.

CHEYENNE AND LARAMIE SENIOR PICTURES

I just absolutely ADORED the colors from this entire set. We see a lot of changing aspens, or golden rod grasses. It was neat to photograph in such a bright, bold and artistic setting. See we are totally spoiled when it comes to photographing Cheyenne and Laramie senior pictures.

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When it comes to high school senior portraits Laramie always keeps us on our toes. We’ve had a few clients choose a downtown, city, urban feel for their photos. Their sessions are filled with bright, beautiful grunge and lots of graffiti! Bradley loved the city feel but also really like natural outdoor settings as well. So when it came to planning out his session we wanted both settings (city and natural) to be classic and timeless.

We started out with Bradley down by the Laramie river. We were blessed with some stunning fall colors and of course that amazing water! Rocks along the river’s edge gave us some wonderful sitting spots and those tall golden rod grasses gave us something interesting to layer through. We spent quite a bit of time

photographing Bradley in a more traditional manner. We took many photos with pleasing classic compositions and of course lots of smiles as he looked at the camera. After we took advantage of all the beautiful scenery the Laramie River had to offer we headed downtown.

While at the river Bradley had let it slip that he brought a TUX for our next location as well as his Saxophone. When photographing high school senior portraits Laramie clients love to surprise us and we love it every single time. He also mentioned that he wasn’t going to be wearing a clip on bow tie, he had plans to tie his own tie which is like unheard of right? As we headed downtown we found ourselves in the middle of a super cool alleyway trying to You Tube exactly HOW to tie your own tie. Bradley brought Dad along who had a go with it and Rick even tried but no matter what it was to no avail. Making the most of the moment we photographed a bit more of the session sans tie and made a plan to meet again downtown for senior session part two (which included a fabulously tied bow tie lol).

Taking photos that included his saxophone was such a treat. There was this vintage classic musician feel especially with the downtown scene. Bradley was such a trooper as we walked him down shady alleys and sit on dive stairs. He was so confident and just amazing about trying any pose we asked of him but really communicating with us what he wanted.

So true story Rick and I are big fans of black and white photography. We have a recipe for how we process our black and white photos and it really is something that sets us apart. We like rich blacks, bright whites and a lot of contrast throughout. We add in film grain to give it that timeless classic feel that is such a throwback to when photographers used real film and all of our photos had to be printed. Every once in a while we will run across a session that is just MADE for that kind of processing. Quirky Ardent processing meet Bradley’s amazing downtown photos complete with Tux. Its just like a match made in heaven. These photos in black and white are so stunning. These are the kind of photos that will remain timeless for generations to come. These is the kind of high school senior portraits Laramie has never seen!

Bradley, thank you for being so amazing and letting us photograph for you. I bet you will absolutely never forget how to tie a bow tie and have a newfound skill for life! We had so much fun with you and will be looking forward to seeing what the future has in store for you!

HIGH SCHOOL SENIOR PORTRAITS LARAMIEWhen it comes to high school senior portraits Laramie usually gives us one of two clients. We get seniors that adore the city and love fire escapes, murals and downtown alleys. Other clients will love all things natural and mountain. Tall trees, golden rod grasses and mountain streams. When it came to Bradley’s preference he really enjoyed both so we didn’t ask him to choose!

HIGH SCHOOL SENIOR PORTRAITS LARAMIEThe Laramie River is just such a gorgeous place to take photos. Love how golden and twinkly the entire scene is. What a great setting for classic senior portraits!

HIGH SCHOOL SENIOR PORTRAITS LARAMIEThen there is this whole other side to Bradley, the side that plays the sax, sports a tux and belongs classically photographed downtown. We loved exploring the downtown alley ways to find the perfect location for this cool senior. Love how this alley is so real (complete with dumpsters lol) yet so non recognizable. This could be any alley in any city and we just loved that anonymity.

HIGH SCHOOL SENIOR PORTRAITS LARAMIERick and I are sort of fanatical when it comes to our black and white processing. We like our blacks black, our whites bright and film grain throughout. I feel like this processing was just MADE for Bradley’s tux wearing photos. There is something so classic and timeless about this shot don’t you think?

HIGH SCHOOL SENIOR PORTRAITS LARAMIELove this traditional classic portrait. When photographing high school senior portraits Laramie totally has us spoiled. This unbelievable scenery is right here within 5 minutes of anywhere in the city. I grew up just outside of Denver and I remember having to drive at LEAST an hour to see anything that resembled mountain scenery. We definitely do not take this for granted, it makes our job so easy!

HIGH SCHOOL SENIOR PORTRAITS LARAMIEPlaying an instrument requires so much focus and dedication not to mention massive amounts of time spent practicing. Playing the Saxophone was something that was important for Bradley to include in his senior photo session. We loved getting to incorporate it into the city scenery, it felt right at home!

HIGH SCHOOL SENIOR PORTRAITS LARAMIERick and I do take quite a few edgier senior photos. Photos with our subject looking off camera or even showcased in a really cool composition. We aren’t afraid to shoot wide out or even get up close. For every session however we make sure to also focus on classic traditional portraiture that will never go out of style. What an amazing smile he has and we are sure that his parents and loved ones will adore this one!

HIGH SCHOOL SENIOR PORTRAITS LARAMIE

Rocking a tux for your senior photos takes guts. Everyone who passed us by during Bradley’s session thought we were out photographing a celebrity. It was a BOLD choice for sure but it added such a cool timeless feel to his session. We are so glad he had the guts to pull it off!

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Rick and I LOVE photographing high school senior photos Laramie always keeps us on our toes with unique fun loving clients. When we received a message from Morgan, all the way from California we were so excited to take her to our FAVORITE locations that just scream WY and help welcome her to Laramie in style. She flew all the way to Wyoming with her sweet Momma in tow.

We do photograph a lot of city and urban locations but if you were to ask us what out favorite type of location is, hands down it would be natural wide open spaces every time. We just love the Happy Jack area in between Laramie and Cheyenne, WY. You can find gorgeous meadows where you can see for miles, aspen trees that light up like heaven and that token sagebrush that we have come to love living here. When we asked Morgan what type locations SHE preferred she gave us just one word, Wyoming. This sweet girl will be attending the University Of Wyoming this Fall after being accepted into their fantastic AG program. When you ask for Wyoming, Wyoming is totally what you are going to get! We knew that fullfilling her dream for true Wyoming senior session would be a challenge. Challenge totally accepted 🙂

We started with a location that we adore because of the pines that can be found there. Lush, BIG and so breathtaking. They survive and provide lovely locations for us through the summer as well as the winter and to us these evergreens are a big part of our WY landscape. We were also sure to include open meadows filled with golden rod ‘wheaties’ as we call them. In addition to our classic portraiture we also encourage Morgan not to look at the camera but to walk the dirt roads, twirl in the fields and jump in the sagebrush. When it comes to high school senior photos Laramie sessions are always fun loving and hardly ever stiff and boring! We loved that Morgan brought balloons with her that spelled out ‘YAY’ and allowed us to have her jump and be crazy for a few photos with them. God even stilled that Wyoming wind for us so she didn’t blow away!

A lot of people ask us what they should wear for their senior photos. We usually recommend they DO find outfits they feel confident in. Clothes that say something about who they are. What we DONT tell them to do is feel pressure to dress up, change their style or choose things that think would look great for photos even if they would never wear it in real life. Morgan knocked it out of the park when it came to outfit selection. She was a little bit Fall with a gorgeous scarf and the bergundy she chose was so perfect for the natural scenery. A little bit of country style crept into her session when she paired a lovely wildflower printed sundress with the cutest cowboy boots! Love how when she changed into this outfit she was kicking her heels up in glee. Isn’t that the amazing thing about clothes, how they make us FEEL? She really did think of everything including some awesome Brown and Gold gear repping the University of Wyoming proudly. She fit right in with her POKE PRIDE don’t you think?

Morgan, thank you so much for reaching out to us all the way from California. It was such a pleasure to work with you and to meet your sweet Momma. We were so touched with just how PROUD she is of you and how she would go on and on telling us of your achievements and how special you are. We genuinely hope we gave life to your dream of Wyoming Senior Photos and did it justice. We will be praying for you as you complete your senior year and are excited to have you headed out West in the Fall. Don’t forget those cowboy boots!

HIGH SCHOOL SENIOR PHOTOS LARAMIEWhen picking outfits for high school senior photos Laramie girls often rock boots and jeans. Love that Morgan styled this up a bit and chose boots and a gorgeous wildflower print sundress! This was just perfect with all the gorgeous sunshine we had for her session! There is just something about Wyoming scenery paired with warm golden light, what an absolute gift we had for her day!

HIGH SCHOOL SENIOR PHOTOS LARAMIEMorgan came to visit us all the way from California! She is planning on attending UW and wanted that goldenrod Wyoming feel to her photos!

HIGH SCHOOL SENIOR PHOTOS LARAMIEWhen it comes to high school senior photos Laramie has some AMAZING options for beautiful locations. When you can pair those gorg locations with ethereal sunshine things just turn out so lovely!

HIGH SCHOOL SENIOR PHOTOS LARAMIEDon’t you just ADORE Morgan’s glasses? This girl knew how to rock her own style for her high school senior photos Laramie watch out!

HIGH SCHOOL SENIOR PHOTOS LARAMIEWe love to showcase many photos of our clients looking at our cameras in true portrait fashion. There is also something so lovely however about more editorial photos like this one. Where our clients are moving, looking off somewhere else or doing something other than smiling for our cameras. Love this field and sundress combo for sure!

HIGH SCHOOL SENIOR PHOTOS LARAMIEMorgan is such a fun and spontaneous young lady. She brought along balloons that spelled ‘YAY’ to celebrate this new season in her life. We loved getting to incorporate these into her session. Love it when clients choose to infuse some of their personalities into their session.

HIGH SCHOOL SENIOR PHOTOS LARAMIEWhen we photograph high school senior photos Laramie girls wear UW gear all the time. Morgan was no exception, this California girl fit right in rocking her brown and gold! GO POKES right? SO excited to have her on campus and living here in Laramie very soon!

HIGH SCHOOL SENIOR PHOTOS LARAMIE

There is something about real life genuine laughs in a photo. Love it when our clients relax, forget we are photographing them and instead just interact and be themselves. You can just hear Morgan’s laugh in this portrait and boy do we adore it!

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