Lauren’s senior photos at the Marmalade Lily

I remember Lauren as an observant, quietly helpful, and relentlessly cheerful fourth grader. Eight years later, she is an observant, quietly helpful, and relentlessly cheerful high school senior. She smiles so naturally that on the few occasions I asked her to try a more serious expression, I realized unsmiling Lauren was almost unrecognizable to me, so I just let her be herself. Fortunately, Lauren being herself is absolutely lovely, so my job was rather easy.

We were at the unique Marmalade Lily, which is a flower farm and wedding venue. Yes, it is as picturesque and romantic as it sounds, and if you want the ultimate girls’ night out, you should check their calendar for their U-Cut Flowers events.  You can wander around the gardens with one of their baskets straight out of a Jane Austen novel, cut your own bouquets (priced per stem) and arrange them onsite.

Lauren has been coming to the farm as a child before it became what it is today, so she was right at home. I planted her among flower beds, against beautifully weathered buildings and fences, and among the trees while she did what she does effortlessly–smiling. Then she changed into her soccer uniform. Being a photographer and not an athlete, I picked the pretty, shiny ball out of the three that she brought for approval. This worked out great for the still poses, but when she started to juggle the ball for me, we found that the brand-new ball wasn’t behaving as her well-broken-in Old Faithful. So we switched balls and let her do her thing while my trusty assistant and Lauren’s sister beamed the photographic lights on her.

Even though I was having a great time watching her, I knew that between my model and my two voice-activated light stands, someone would eventually hit the wall. With the sun well below the horizon, I finally let Lauren pack up the ball and let her go. I hope she’s recovered, but hopefully her beautiful pictures will make it worth her hard work!