Introducing… Mackenzie Page, Miss Stanly County’s Outstanding Teen 2018!
Mackenzie was originally planning to come to us back in December and through a string of things ended up needing to reschedule. That gave her mom the idea of waiting until March, when the Winter weather would be behind us (well, at least for the most part – it was still pretty chilly) and we could mix up the session with some looks indoors & some being outdoors as well. I could not be more pleased that we waited for time to be right!
When Mackenzie arrived for her session, not only did her Mom come – but Dad & Sister too! Honestly, this would probably normally freak me out a little to have that much of an audience/folks ‘up in the space’ while we’re doing our thing… but nope, it was awesome!! They came & went periodically, but when here – everyone was so down to earth & great to spend time with… a genuine addition to the experience. It was pretty special to see how tight their family is and what a beautiful relationship they all have together!!!!!
We did QUITE the array of looks on this beautiful gal! Mackenzie first had a floral off the shoulder jumper that we wanted to capture outside, so instead of fighting crowds at parks – we simply stepped out back of the studio onto my patio and captured these right there! I’m not sure we’ve ever shot one look so quick & seriously easy peasy as this! We then did 2 pageant looks – fun & beautiful cocktail dresses… some with & some without her crown. And oh my did we have fun with all that fabulous hair of hers on these!!! She brought a red lined, black dress with gloves to do a stylized look inspired by one of her icons, Audrey Hepburn! Well… this is right up both mine & my HMUA, Denise’s alley! YES, please & thank you very much!!! Denise whipped up a fabulous updo in a matter of minutes, some winged eyes, red lips and back into the studio we went to have FUN! For this one we did some as is; some with a fabulous vintage hat I’ve been dying for someone to use; and then some with a huge flower Denise pulled out of my flower bin & knew exactly what to do with! Our time was about up… but… we were all having SO much fun & somehow ALL had the rest of the afternoon free… and it was my birthday weekend… sooooo – we kept on shooting! Denise brought in this black & white 50’s DREAM gown she had with her and Mackenzie whipped out her point shoes and we all just hung out & ‘played’ for a while… because we could. I was in absolute heaven!!
Last but not least, before we did finally wrap things up… was a very special look! They came up with the idea for us to do a remake of Mackenzie’s childhood dance portraits, which I was ecstatic to help with!! Being that they came from hours away, we obviously weren’t going to be able to use the same location but with a little pre-session research I found some fabulous spots along the Neuse River! Granted, they weren’t the ‘easiest’ to get to 😉 buuuut we’re all the type to do what we need to do… safely, of course (though I was quite pleased Dad was there to help her into place). While I worked on the location… her Mom was able to secure the EXACT same costume design!!! How seriously cool is that?! Once we were out there, her Sister flipped through the reference images on my cell phone and called out/demonstrated all the proper poses for Mackenzie to replicate. It was quite the awesome team effort to accomplish!
I love pretty much each & every one of my sessions… they are each so different and unique to that particular client – that is my thing & so very important to me! But yeah… for a variety of reasons, this one is certainly one that will probably always hold a very special place high up in my memories of fav sessions! Hope you all enjoy viewing these as much as we did creating them!!!…
MUCH THANKS to Mackenzie & her incredible family… they just melt my heart! To my dear Denise Hutter, Images by Denise for Mackenzie’s INCREDIBLE Hair & Makeup! AND for the extra time and use of her fabulous black & white dress!! As well as my sweet friend & peer, Elaine Bryant of Windmill Photography for assisting, doing our behind the scenes coverage & staying for some extra fun! I hope that each of you look back on this session, light up & smile even half as much as I do!!
For more images & fun behind the scenes moments, you may also catch highlights from Mackenzie’s Reveal Video on our YouTube channel!
