This beautiful Red Mountain high school senior wanted some gorgeous outdoor portraits at the Salt River with her dog, which is one of my favorite outdoor high school senior portrait locations in the Phoenix area. Whenever I have someone ask to bring their dog- for any type of session- the answer is always YES! I love dogs. We have three at home and had them in our wedding & engagement session if that tells you how much I love dogs. I get a little overly excited when people bring dogs on to their sessions. I even wrote a blog post about dogs in sessions & weddings. Ok, enough talk about dogs. MacKenzie was a dream to work with and had this quiet grace about her that I loved. I could tell she didn’t believe in her own beauty & strength, but I hope these photos maybe worked towards changing that. She rocked her outfits which had a slight modern 70’s sort of flare which worked so well with her long blonde hair. The Salt River is hands down my favorite spots to shoot any type of session- you just get such a huge variety in a small area. There’s beautiful mountains that light up at sunset, riparian habitat with lots of non-deserty trees and stuff, areas with a rocky beach, the Salt River, some desert areas opposite the river, and the potential to see wild horses. Of course that’s not guaranteed, but in spring I typically see them 40-50% of the time. You can learn more about the lower Salt River horses through the Salt River Horse Management Group.
The best time of year to do senior photos, in my opinion, is fall, October-December. It’s cooled off by then, and there’s no last minute rush like what happens in spring. Spring is busy all around- with school, it’s when the majority of seniors get their portraits done so there is high demand and it’s also peak wedding season. So if you’re looking to avoid the rush, get them done in fall and get them done & out of the way! Or if you really want to wait until closer to graduation, get them done in January & February which is typically MUCH slower than March-April. Trust me, you won’t regret getting it done a little earlier!
