When I first saw this submission by Kasey Mikelle Photography, I thought to myself, “Where in the world did they come across a zebra?” Kasey didn’t explain in her write up, so partly out of curiosity and partly for the post, I wrote back and asked. It turned out that this senior was obsessed with zebras and knew of an exotic animal farm. A little bit of planning goes a LONG way.

Kasey also offers REALLY great tips for photographing seniors at the end of this post, so be sure to check them out.

From Kasey Mikelle Photography – Tips for photographing seniors:

1. Ask a lot of questions to determine their personality. I have a questionnaire that each senior fills out before their session. (How will you ever know they’re obsessed with zebras without asking?)

2. Incorporate their favorite things/hobbies into the shoot. Can you tell this senior loves pink?

3. Dare to be different. I always try to use trees and walls as a last resort backdrop.

4. Tell them to bring a friend. This senior had over 8 outfits! We needed an an assistant just to keep up with her shoes and jewelry. Plus, they feel more natural around a friend and they can make them laugh.

5. Always be on the lookout for new locations! – Everyday I go to town I pass a farm with exotic animals. I lucked out when this Senior knew the daughter of the owner, who generously allowed us to take some photos with one of his zebras. You can’t tell in the photos, thanks to the magic of Photoshop, but we were in a small enclosed pen with the zebra and my senior was strategically throwing feed to him behind her back.

6. Get out of bed EARLY! – We arrived at the farm for the zebra shots about 30 minutes before sunrise. This was fortunate since he didn’t start to get comfortable around us for about 30 minutes. Can you tell by the photos that it was also 40 degrees out?! Frequent trips to a warm car also came in handy ;)

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