It’s the end of summer here in Calgary and as I reflect back on this past spring and summer one session in particular stands out for me. My nephew, Jacob, finished high school in June and booked us for his personalized grad session. He is an aspiring singer and songwriter and we really wanted to highlight this important part his life in his Calgary grad photoshoot. A lot of time and thought went into the planning of this session, and I think it is a great demonstration of how to creatively capture the essence of a grad at this time in their life. In this post we will breakdown a bit of that process and the elements that made it a success.

The Creative Process

I have obviously known Jacob his whole life, and while his ability as a singer has been evident since he was young, his interest in it has grown immensely in the past few years. We applaud him for his resourcefulness in figuring out how to record, edit and also get his music streaming online. I have seen so much growth in his vocal ability in the past year and also as a lyricist. The fact that he was willing to publish music at a young age when peers take pleasure in criticism takes so much courage. I think any commitment to trying something, and working hard to get better and better is incredibly commendable in a young person.

Last year he and his bandmate Josh wrote a song called Dirt Roads. It was born out of a writing and recording session that took a silly turn and what they created was a bit of an ear worm. Everyone in my house was talking about this song, and then we would catch ourselves humming it weeks afterwards. I was live streaming a show he was performing for his senior project and when he sang this song, everyone in the crowd started singing along. As a fellow musician this thrilled my heart. There is a lot of imagery in this song and as I was thinking about this shoot and how to make it special the words of this song kept coming to mind. When I pitched the idea to Jacob his response was “Really? That song?”. Knowing he has written better and more serious songs, it was a bit of a sell, but when I gave him the whole concept of the shoot he was totally game. Here are some of the lyrics that served as my inspiration.

🎵 Time is ticking,
got a tractor full of gas and a bucket of chickens….
Wheat in my mouth,
Got a little red barn and a nice farmhouse….
I’ve seen the light,
Got my Chevy keeping me up all night….🎵

Next my resourceful sister started looking for places that would work as the perfect setting. She came across a venue in Airdrie called The Barn at Prairie Lane that has a restored Chevrolet truck. They had the dirt road, the truck, the red barn and most importantly a bucket of chicken! If you are looking for an amazing event venue and a beautiful location, you need to check out this gem.

The Shoot

Jacob’s entire family, including grandparents on both sides were able to join us on this beautiful June evening. We were quite the entourage walking down the dirt road. While Aiden and I were shooting the grad session, my mom took the opportunity to take family photos for my sister. There was a lot going on, but everyone was having fun and pitching ideas as we went.

The owners of the property were amazing to work with and even helped us source a few extra props to really help tell the story. The big sky was in spectacular display across the farmers fields that night, creating a magical setting.

The Results

When we got home from the shoot we quickly got to editing because we were so excited to see these photos come fully to life. One of the best things about photographing grads is being able to capture them in the best light. To really show them how amazing they are. Even Jacob’s older sister had a funny comment about how good looking he turned out. High praise from an older sibling!

Jacob and Josh were so happy with the pictures and we are dreaming for them that this will be inside the liner notes of their next album. Jacob is off to college in Edmonton this fall and we are cheering him on as he starts this next phase of his life.

I loved everything about this photoshoot. From the creative brainstorming, to the birth of an idea, to the collboration with our client this really was a dream shoot for both Aiden and I. A personalized grad photoshoot does not have to wait until grad month, it can happen anytime in your grade 12 year or even after the fact. If your story is better captured in the fall or winter we are here to help you out at Laura Perron Photography. Let’s start the dreaming process and bring the story of you to life!