I’m an Aberdeen family photographer, specialising in portraits. I cover the city of Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire up here in North East Scotland. I’m excited to share this post and the heart behind my school leaver’s sessions!
This time of year I just LOVE shooting school leaver’s photo sessions. Photos pop up on my phone as memories and the main thing I’m struck by is how much older my children look in the iphone memory video! Maybe it’s a slideshow – ‘this day last year’ or ‘summers over the years’ or whatever the headline is, I’m always so grateful when I get them! It just brings me back – there and then, to a memory that had slipped to the back of my busy mind. They remind me to take a breath, be present and soak in all the memories as they happen.
So many clients invest in professional portraits newborns or when they have little kids. Then the years slip past and our phone images fill up with our kids doing selfies and posing! They never get sorted, never get printed, never get framed. They just pop up randomly and rarely on our phones and we take a little breath and wonder how the time goes by so quickly! Time to book a session with an Aberdeen family photographer to capture memories in all seasons of family life! You can view my other galleries here.
In my school leaver’s sessions I really work to get to know and capture the true, authentic person your youngster is. They might prefer posing in selfies for Insta and filtering themselves like crazy but as a mum and as a photographer I want more. I want to see the essence of the person, the person who has just finished exams, has taken off their school uniform for the last time and is about to step into their new life as a university student or into a new job. It’s the end of an era, the beginning of a new chapter, the road to independence, the start of letting them go!
TOGETHER RIGHT THROUGH SCHOOL
This is one of my favourite school leaver’s sessions – seven friends! They grew up together, some even met as babies in nursery! They have been together ever since. Through school at Ashley Road and then all the way through their years at Aberdeen Grammar. They travelled paths side by side and now at this junction they’ll go their separate ways for the very first time in life.
They’re off to Glasgow, Edinburgh, various cities, courses and futures. But just now they’re together in all the glory of their beautiful youth just being themselves on a sunny evening in Cults, Aberdeen. On an evening that happened to be the summer solstice! These young women are celebrating a special milestone, coming to the end of their school days together. School leaver’s sessions have become a real favourite of mine!
A WOODLAND WALK IN CULTS, ABERDEEN
I’m spoiled for choice for walks near where I live in Cults. I picked this spot so they could easily get a bus from town straight out North Deeside Road and just meet me. But hey, it turned out that any location would have worked because lots of these girls have wheels! They drove themselves and as soon as I met them I was so amazed at how grown up they all seemed for their seventeen years! I did a quick calculation of how long it would be until my eldest daughter would be a school leaver! Wow, I wish time would just slow down!
Golden hour is the time just before sunset and it gives the most beautiful, soft, flattering and glowy light. We were so lucky with the light and the weather, the amazing evening glow just shines through in these images. The girls looked so natural as they linked arms, walking along giggling and having an amazing relaxed and memorable evening!
As we walked along Fox lane in Cults, we took full group shots, individual portraits and some smaller groups. We could have shot for hours but we were chasing the light towards the end. As the sun started to drop we headed back along our path on the longest day of the year. I will always recall one of the girls had to dash off to meet her family to climb Brimmond Hill, Westhill to watch the sun go down for the summer solstice. I hope that when my little ones are big enough to be up late and waiting for sunset at the summer solstice, that I remember to make time for memorable walks at sunset on special days of the year
THE OUTFITS
I’m sure you’ll agree that the girls absolutely nailed it with their styling. I try not to be too prescriptive with styling tips. My tip was to think more along the lines of family BBQ party style rather than a night out at a club and they got it SO right! I just love the variety of styles, their colour palette, everything was beautiful right down to their hair, makeup and accessories. They blew me away! They were a photographer’s dream!
SCHOOL LEAVER’S SESSION TIPS & FAQS
When’s the best time for a school leaver’s session?
May and June are great months for school leaver’s sessions. Generally school is all wrapped up and exams are over, you might already have had your last school day for the rest of your life! It’s also great in terms of longer evenings and better weather so you can plan outfits that don’t need a big coat!
Should parents come too?
Parents are welcome to come! In fact, often they are paying for the session so of course they want to be involved. My mission is to get to know the person in the picture. I’ll spend most of the session chatting and getting to know the young person so that their personality and energy can come across in their portraits.
What should I wear?
Once you book I send you a client experience or styling guide. It has lots of helpful tips on what to wear, how to coordinate with friends in the group and tips for an outfit change. I always carry a pop up privacy tent for changing on location so you can easily change from a dressy outfit to something more casual. This gives you an opportunity to really dress up! It also means you get lots of variety in your images!
How are the sessions priced?
I review my pricing regularly so I don’t publish it on a blog post as it could be out of date quite quickly! I love to offer sessions at an accessible price for young people so I always offer mini sessions as well as full sessions. Keep an eye on my website and social media for more details or send me an email or DM.
Where is the best location?
There are absolutely loads of amazing locations for sessions in Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire. We can do portraits at the beach, in the countryside, in the city, outside your school, up the mountains – anywhere! We can discuss where suits you best based on your interests and the time we have and the light.
Can we take selfies on our shoot?
Yip, no problem. I want your session to be a memorable and enjoyable experience and it’s fine to whip your phone out occasionally – maybe at the start and end of the session. Remember though that the whole point of the session is to get professional photographs that aren’t selfies! When you get your images you can post and share them, just remember to tag me if you can!
How many friends can be in a group or can I do a session just on my own?
I love the variety of images we can achieve with groups of friends to interact. I normally say that three to five is a pretty good number for a group but hey, we can chat and add more people if your friendship group is bigger.
Yes, you can absolutely do a session on your own! Have a look on my website or Instagram for some examples of portrait sessions.
What if it rains?
Well, North East Scotland may not be quite as rainy as the West coast but it can still be rainy in May & June when we usually do these sessions. Client experience means everything to me so I keep a careful eye on the forecast. Neither you or I will enjoy a photo session in high winds or driving rain so be assured that I do consider the weather and will not push ahead no matter what! If it’s not enjoyable you’re not going to love your photos so I will reschedule for certain weather.
I do hope you found this blog post useful and if you have any questions or want to know more you can always reach me at donagh@donaghcostellophotography.co.uk or find me on Instagram or Facebook
