Senior Pictures at a Private Lake Michigan Beach
One of my favorite parts of photographing seniors is getting to explore places I never would have found on my own.
Collin and Avery, twins from St. Joseph High School, invited me into one of those hidden gems tucked along the Lake Michigan shoreline in Southwest Michigan. Their family lives in a lakeside community with its own private green space overlooking the bluff and a beautiful beach below. For years, I’ve walked the public shoreline and looked up at a pavilion perched above the lake, always wondering what was behind those steps. This session finally answered that question.
It was absolutely worth the wait.
St. Joseph High School Senior Photography
What made this location even better was how much variety we found without ever needing to drive anywhere. Within a short walk, we had wooded paths, open green space, shoreline, dunes, and the beach itself. That’s something I always look for when planning senior sessions. The more different backgrounds we can find in one location, the more your gallery feels like several sessions rolled into one.
Before their session, Mom warned me that having their pictures taken wasn’t exactly at the top of either boy’s list of favorite activities. You honestly never would have known. Collin and Avery rolled with every idea I threw at them, trusted the process, and absolutely knocked it out of the park. We kept things moving, laughed through the evening, and before long had a gallery full of images that felt relaxed and natural instead of stiff or overly posed.
Including the Whole Family
One of my favorite parts of the evening was taking a few minutes to bring their sister into some of the photos as well. Senior sessions are usually all about the graduate, but adding a few sibling portraits gave Mom and Dad updated photos of all three of their kids together. Those are the kinds of images that tend to become favorites years down the road.
Senior Pictures in Berrien County, Michigan
Senior pictures don’t always have to mean driving all over Southwest Michigan. Sometimes the best sessions happen in one thoughtfully chosen location. This private Lake Michigan beach in Berrien County gave us wooded trails, open greenspace, bluff views, dunes, and shoreline, all within a short walk. Instead of spending time in the car, we spent our evening creating a gallery with a wide variety of looks while keeping the session relaxed.
Collin and Avery, thank you for trusting me to capture such an exciting milestone. It was pretty special to finally discover the place I’d been curious about for years, and even better getting to photograph two awesome guys and their family while I was there.
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