It’s the season for high school seniors to be getting their photos done, anxiously hoping to capture themselves and their uniqueness to share with friends and family! I’ll admit that I had never shot a senior session before and wasn’t particularly interested at first, until a beautiful family friend offered to help change my mind. And change my mind, she did! The session ended up being a really great time and was such a fun mix of portraits, that I’m excited to work with more lovely young souls out there!
I shot three rolls of film for this session…one on Portra 400 for classic colors, another on HP5 for the nostalgia of black and white grain, and a final roll of Kodak Gold 200 to soup for some wild fun. I was really pleased with how my color scans came back (holla at The Find Lab!) and getting back into my own makeshift darkroom for the B&W negatives felt good. I’m so glad that there’s been a push for more authentic and whimsical portraits in recent years. I still remember my senior photos done with a white feathered boa and my head turned *just so* ::cringe:: Below are my favorite images from the session, and I feel they are the antithesis of my generation’s experience!
For those interested, the Kodak Gold 200 roll of film was souped in boiling water, vinegar, lemon juice, dish soap, flower petals, baking soda, and salt. I bring all of the ingredients to boil with the roll of film in it, except for the baking soda. I add the baking soda after the “soup” has been boiling for about a minute and then removed from the heat (otherwise, your pot WILL overflow with foam :-p). I then let the film canister sit in the soup for an hour, agitating it every 15 minutes by rotating the little knob at one end of the roll. This ensures that most/all of the emulsion gets wet. After the hour is up, drain and rinse for at least 5 minutes before setting up the canister to drain on a towel overnight.
