I have to admit that photographing high school senior boys may not always be as easy as photographing girls because I don’t often run into boys who are just dying to pick out several outfits for the shoot, are readily willing to give up a couple of hours of their time and be the center of attention. I get it, but just like I have to adapt to meet the different personalities of all of my clients, boys are no different. Typically, at the beginning of most shoots, a boy’s mother will warn me, “Good luck with this one” or “I’m just going to apologize now for his attitude.” Those lines always crack me up because in the moment, those mothers have likely forgotten that their children are almost always better behaved around others, I’ve done this a few times and I have a few tricks up my sleeve, including encouraging the moms to go for a walk or maybe go shopping if we are in an area suitable for that.
What was asked of the boy featured in the shoot below was not unlike what most high school seniors are asked to do. He was asked to get up very early in the morning, drive into downtown Boston on a school day before school, stand in front of throngs of staring people he didn’t know and smile at times. When we met he must have wanted to tell me “where to go,” but he didn’t as they never do and before you knew it, we were painlessly getting it done and even having some fun. On this particular morning, we ran across and had the opportunity to speak with one of the Bruin’s captains which only happened because we were where we were at that time. Bonus.
Loved this kid and want to say thank you again to him for the early hours, doing everything I asked, letting his mom put sunscreen on him and not telling me where I should go.
