My sister-in-law reached out a couple weeks before my nephew’s prom to see if I was available to take photos for them. I was so excited that I was because it’s always so fun to take photos for family. My friend had posted her son’s prom pictures that they’d taken at the Harley-Davidson store and I thought it would be a really fun spot to take Carter’s. I always give a couple location suggestions to clients and try not to be too biased towards one, but I couldn’t help but try to convince them to shoot here and luckily they both thought it looked cool.

The store closes everyday around 5 or 6 which is nice because that’s before you’d want to shoot there and so the crowds (and all their motorcycles) are gone. There is a $20 photography fee that you have to go in and pay before the store closes the day of your shoot but it’s worth it! There are so many great options here. Carter and his friends were so fun to work with. They all showed up on time and were so creative. I love to work together with my clients when they have ideas for their shoots or poses they’ve seen online that they want to recreate. One girl had some pictures on her phone of what she wanted to do and others thought of fun ideas in the moment. It was my nephew’s idea to hang from the balcony and because I know him well I felt comfortable letting him do that…but I made sure his mom knew it was his idea! They also all looked incredible. The girls’ dresses were stunning and the guys did an amazing job coordinating with their dates.

It was a little early in the evening so we had some harsher sunlight to deal with but I actually like being able to see sunlight coming into a photo as long as there aren’t any weird shadows on faces, so I honestly don’t mind shooting in the brighter sun. I love studying other photographers’ work and I find I’m often drawn back to the ones with interesting lighting and shadow more than flatter images created in the shade. We got all their photos done in just a little over an hour and then they were off to dinner and dancing! I’m so glad high schools have been able to have all their dances this last school year!