One of the great things about photographing graduating high school seniors is capturing their energy and optimism. As adults, we can often be pessimistic or hesitant about many things. Our life experiences frequently come with many hardships that make us reluctant or sometimes overly curious about things, and we can miss many opportunities out of fear. As adults, we take way fewer risks than we did in school. I can confidently say that I was bolder to do daring physical stunts back in the day than I am now! I didn’t use to think about injury or how sore I would be later. Now those thoughts fill my mind for some of the simplest things!
In some cases, I’ve learned that it’s just good wisdom to avoid senseless activities that risk injury. It might be fun for a moment, but surgery and twelve weeks of recovery can kill that fun pretty quickly. However, when photographing graduating seniors, I get to live vicariously through them in a way. I get to capture them in their element, having fun at an age where the risk is far less than if I were participating. Seeing some of these young people do what they do, and then freezing time for them with my camera, is a treat for all of us! They do the crazy stuff. I play with my camera. In the end, everyone is happy and safe.
That was the case when shooting for my dude Clayton. He’s a dirt bike rider. He knows the terrain. He has experience and mad skills. I am FAR past the days of my Evil Knievel impersonations. I had a great time watching Clayton show off, though. He wanted to show me tricks. I wanted to capture his tricks in epic ways so that he could look back and reflect on his glory days with satisfaction. It’s one thing to get a nice portrait of a graduating senior. It’s a whole other thing to capture them in their element, at their best, in memorable ways that will have impact for years to come. Here’s some behind the scenes that built up to this epic shot of Clayton mid-air in the road.
Clayton Blog BTS
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