I’m super excited to share Ella’s outdoor senior portraits in Portland! She is wonderfully sweet. She braved the cold in her cute denim skirt. Followed me when I took us down the wrong path, and didn’t panic when we almost lost her glasses. Needless to say, I am thoroughly impressed.

I’ll start by mentioning that we ended up rescheduling her session because of the weather. We initially scheduled Ella’s session a week earlier but as I packed up, a huge downpour swept in and I panicked. I immediately called Ella and we went over some options. Do we take our chances? Risk drenched hair and makeup? Do we just move forward?

It wasn’t an easy choice, but we ended up playing it safe. Time was on our side for the yearbook deadline and we used it to our advantage.

We managed to get the timing right the second time around. The date was confirmed & the weather held. We met at Hoyt Arboretum and started our leisurely stroll.

I visited this location a few weeks prior, but was glad to arrive early and find a few new areas. This time, I ended up walking up a slightly less used trail and found a bench surrounded by greenery. I was determined to photograph Ella there.

After a quick outfit change, we headed up to higher ground. I wanted to get open sky for some sunlit portraits before the sunset. I definitely think it added to the variety of photos the session.

This was fun. I was nervous and excited when Ella suggested we take some throwing leaves photos. It was great! She would grab as many leaves as she could, then I’d pack another bunch above that and count to 3. We ended up getting some really great action shots!

We ended the day at “the tree” which obviously deserves some type of notoriety.

Thank you again Ella & Maricel for hanging out with me. I appreciate your flexibility and trust in Ella’s outdoor senior portraits in Portland. Congrats! I hope nothing but amazing things for you.

See more senior portraits here.