WGI Regional Competition | Anjeanette Photography Senior Anthem, Peoria, North Phoenix Arizona
As I write this blog, it was sadly just announced that due to precaution due to the coronavirus, WGI had to make the difficult decision not to hold World Championships this year. The Dayton Ohio competition is one of the most anticipated sporting events of the year, many of the performers are also members of Drum Corp International. It is understandable that Winter Guard International wants to make sure to protect the students and dancers by keeping them safe and following CDC guidelines, its still heartbreaking for everyone who has worked so hard and raised so much money to be on teams, especially high school seniors and age out members in their final year of competition. I have read the WGI is considering extending the age by a year - so that next year is still open for those ending their Winterguard season so abruptly. Have faith, I know the organization is heartbroken too as the plan years in advance to have the convention center and host areas planned and organized, they prioritized the safety of everyone's over a lucrative season. Watching everyone perform is an amazing experience, from seeing new young guard kids tossing their first flag to the precision and mastery of sabers tossed 15 feet overhead while executing a perfect Grand Jete! My daughter and I were remarking on how GOOD everyone was this season, it was like everyone had leveled up significant;y. I am heartbroken for you all on such a short season- and excited for how you will overcome this disappointment to thrive and shine in the years to come in winterguard or beyond.
Bella Class of 2020 | Anjeanette Photography Senior Anthem, Peoria, North Phoenix Arizona
Simply amazing session with fashion-forward beauty Bella downtown PHX! This soon to be ASU Prep Class of 2020 graduate is poised, polished, and ready to set off for NYC in drama studies- the absolute BEST place theatre in the world!!. Great to meet with her for fun mural art-packed senior pictures on a gorgeous Arizona spring day. After a walking trip around the best of the Roosevelt Row arts district and my favorite coffee spot BeCoffee, we took a quick trip to check out the architecture outside the Orpheum. We finished in the heart of Phoenix with cityscapes and neon courtesy of Lucky Strike bowling and Stand Up Live clubs off Jefferson Street. Congratulations Bella- excited to see all you will accomplish!
Macie SDOHS Class of 2020 | Anjeanette Photography Senior Anthem, Peoria, North Phoenix Arizona
Fantastic senior pictures session on a cloudy day with SDOHS basketball senior Macie in the Peoria Sonoran Desert! This sweetheart brought her bible as well, which was pretty magical under a sky full of heavenly dramatic skies and gorgeous smiles- congrats on your upcoming graduation Macie!
Logan SDOHS Class of 2020 | Anjeanette Photography Senior Anthem, Peoria, North Phoenix Arizona
The commitment Logan continues to make with everything he does is pretty exceptional. He heading to NAU as a top academic achiever while part of the Academy of American Studies (SDOHS's 4-year program focusing on civic engagement and advanced placement classes), which earned him the coveted Lumberjack scholarship. Additionally, he is an Eagle Scout, and a trumpet player in his school's competitive marching and concert band. On top of all that- he has the mindset, dedication, and made the sacrifices to push his limits in bodybuilding fitness. Amazing!
Three of Logan's images were picked from guys senior photos from across the country to be featured on
Senior Guy Style's Instagram account!
Larissa MRHA Class of 2020 | Anjeanette Photography Senior Anthem, Peoria, North Phoenix Arizona
Larissa rocked her senior portrait session wearing hip black ankle boots and skirts in Anthem Az! One of my favorite places to take senior pictures - a lush garden full of cultivated grassy lawns with musical waterfalls - was the backdrop for Larissa wearing her soon to be college sweatshirt and then boho tops to compliment her beautiful long hair. Even the nearby desert granted her wish with a vista of saguaro cacti and dense brush making the mountainside green as I have ever seen it for far as the eyes could see. How big are her beautiful eyes?? So gorgeous!
Congratulations on your upcoming graduation Larissa and your very bright future ahead!
Mya Class of 2020 | North Phoenix senior pictures by Anjeanette Photography
Absolutely fantastic senior portrait session with Mya last week! This bright and vivacious senior wanted a half the session outside with purple smoke and sunshine, as well as some indoor studio shots where she could show off her fashion sense with amazing poses and flair! She glows! If she ever wanted a modeling career, this lady has talent in spades. Mya is a young motivated entrepreneur who created the interview vlog blog ISSA MVT to showcase impactful individuals. Check out a few of my favorite of Mya's senior pictures taken in beautiful Anthem and my home studio in North Phoenix near Westwing Mountain.
Taylor ASU Class of 2020 | Phoenix senior pictures by Anjeanette Photography
I first met Taylor when she coached my daughter's winter guard team, and boy can this lady dance! However, I always associate Taylor with colourful sunsets- the first time I saw her was in band photographs taken by another photographer for a school we were checking out before we moved across the country to Arizona. So I guess you could say that even before we were introduced I knew that Taylor was amazingly photogenic!! I am so honored to have been chosen for her ASU college graduation senior portraits! Have a fantastic final spring term Taylor and congratulations on your upcoming accolades!
Michaela Class of 2020 | Peoria Az senior pictures by anjeanette Photography Phoenix
I have know Michaela and her wonderful folks since we moved to Arizona and they welcomed us into their high school marching band family! Michaela is an accomplished musician and leader in her top-rated competitive performance band, and one simply cannot give enough thanks to her parents for all that they give to the heart and soul of all the kids, band directors, and staff. The phrase 'countless hours' gets thrown around a lot- in this case it is a lot more like 'countless months' I am a big fan of Michael's art, her sense of humor, and her adorable smile. The cutest nose wrinkle! She did an amazing job at her session, from styling to all the silly prompts I asked her to do :) SO honored and blessed that she and her folks chose me to be her senior photographer!
Julia Class of 2020 | Peoria Arizona Senior Pictures by Anjeanette Photography Phoenix (Copy)
The mountains called Julia! Something adventurous and unusual- so we took a road trip to Rock Springs and Sunset Point for epic views and sunkissed wind in the hair moments. Julia is one of the esteemed Drum Majors at O'Connor, who helped lead her band in their return to Super State competition this fall. This spring she is performing in Regional concert band performances and auditioning for college music programs as a flutist.
Rock Springs (otherwise known as the "Pie Rest Stop" had little surprises around every corner, cute vignettes set up for weddings and events, tiny caves, and a mountain top view in the back. As well as excellent cream pie according to Julia and her family! After a little while, we raced the sun to the long grasses and vista just north of Sunset Point rest stop. It is no wonder why this spot is a favorite for photographers around the valley and beyond- and it was the perfect place to capture senior portraits of Julia who loves nature and the wind in her hair. It was chilly, but the warm glow of a deep sunset kept us warm enough until just after blue hour when we were able to get amazing views and sunbursts into the sky. I have often driven by this spot and longed for a session there each time. So happy that Julia felt the call of the long golden grasses there too and chose me to get photos of this special time in her life- graduating high school!
Projection: ra·di·ance in Music | Oonagh
Above: Projection of original cover art for Neon Bible by Tracy Maurice and François Miron for Arcade Fire with Merge Records.
There has always been a place for rhythmic sounds that can communicate our feelings." Exploring your mind: Psychology
My daughter has a very hectic schedule. No, we really are not one of those who overschedule kid's, not that there is anything wrong with being an active family. She has passions and drive all her own thank you and we support them. But behind every drawing, every book or math problem has always been music. When daily life stress overwhelms her, she soothes with music either dancing with her headphones or drawing to music. When she is elated-music! No surprise she plays like a thousand instruments.
And in between, she puts up with me taking thousands of photos and documenting her passion and life. We had fun playing with a projector last week! On the occasion of Oonagh’s birthday, for the very very very tentatively titled "Oonagh's favorite songs" project we have been working on off and on for over a year. This in no way encompasses all the music she loves…hopefully the project will continue on!
Above: Projection of original art by JR: Everything Now installation for Arcade Fire. More about the artist JR and musical artists Arcade Fire here. This photography by Anjeanette Photography. Visit Arcade Fire
Above: Ólafur Arnalds albums “Re:Member” (in blue) and “For Now I am Winter” (grey).
A little about the images I photographed: For the B0RNS album, we built the cover design set with nothing but painted paper- even the white shirt is white lacey paper! Ok, ok the suit is fabric, and her hair obvs. Next for the remaining album or single track art homages, we used a projector, not Photoshop. I love PS, this just wasn’t how we got the album art up for this ;) Other tools used were strobe Flashpoint falshes, a triangle prism, plastic sheets and blue gel squares. Originally the idea to do this began from recent experiments with gel lighting, then later I looked it up and saw that there is so much truth to the saying "there is nothing new under the sun"- because it seems like everyone is getting some awesome artistic photography going with projectors recently!! Heck yeah! Don't worry about that, don't let the fact that there is nothing new that hasn't been done discourage you. Do it anyway, play with your art because it has never been done by YOU, and your voice like music is what unites us. SO, ANYWAY, I was checking out some Jake Hicks gel lighting tutorials on ProEDU (as recommended by David Byrd) ...and I saw a Jake Hicks projector mini tutorial. Then I started playing! I held up a piece of clear plastic for the ghosty white in two of these, and a prism for the one (bouncing it off the projector light because I was standing right next to it in that one- don't think it would work from another angle bc besides the strobe to light to light her face no light in the room) So you can totally get flare and prism and those effects really easily in PS and I do all the time, art is art! We were just playing and sometimes its fun to see what can happen “in real life” I tried a projector that was basically my phone in a fancy cardboard box and it did NOT get great results. We used an Epson digital for this that I borrowed from my husband's studio. The colour was fantastic! I ran into issues Jake mentions like chromatic abrasion on wall image (esp with BW lines etc) and the ‘screen door effect’ where you see pixels so I pushed the projector as close to her as possible and unsharpened (blurred) the focus a tiny bit and that helps. I would love to try with a film slide projector! I still have slides of my old work!! One part I love less but is basically a PART you cant control is shadows- so she def is going to cast a shadow duh hahahh! I didn’t want just straight ahead perspectives however so ya gotta live with those. A few others I used a second gelled strobe and that was really great. Sooooo much angling so that the strobe doesn’t wash out the projection! We got clear mod heels and the white painter coverall from Amazon. It was the smallest they had but still 10 sizes too big for my girl so there are a lot of pleats and a tape belt. Smoke and mirrors baby. Oooh, I should have used some mirrors! Staring camera info (I changed it up as needed throughout- play with it!) iso100, 35mm, f/1.4-2.8, 1/200ss Epson printer tethered to Mac using HDMI cord. Sometimes we messed with the perspective and blur knobs. All rights and respect go to the music and artistic directors and original artists of the original images! DIrect credit as I could find it below each image, original images projected are only belonging to the artists created them and those they have agreements with etc. None of the original artwork projected belongs to me..
Steven Class of 2020 | Phoenix Senior Pictures | Anjeanette Photography Arizona
Steven is a kid after my old early 90's chick heart- at home in the city surround by sick art, hanging on garage buildings with friends messing around with cameras, skateboards, and ideas dreaming about the future. He is into authentic fashion and vintage clothing so he had some great pieces picked out- and yep I must be vintage because they were clothes many of my North Detroit friends would have worn 'back in the day'. I def think he has an awesome eye for threads!!
When they started looking for photos to match his unique rad personality, Steven and his mom looked to Insta for artistic style senior pics. I love Instagram- all the pretty photos- less of the drama and politics. So glad they found my seniors only IG in all the amazing Phoenix senior photography options! Steven and his family were fantastic, I am so happy to meet them and honored to capture some cool shots to celebrate Steven's last year of high school!
Amy SDOHS Class of 2020 | Phoenix Senior Pictures by Anjeanette Photography Peoria Az
We started with overcast desert vibes under hazy warm skies...to coffee shoppes, cityscapes, & smoke grenades in downtown Phoenix! Fantastic senior picture session with bubby and charismatic Amy! It was pretty obvious right from the start that Amy has a solid theatre background, she had all the best poses and smiles! I am here to help if needed, giving ideas or examples for seniors during the session without looking too 'posed' or fake of course… Amy did not need very many prompts at all! She flowed through a variety of looks in seconds which made my job of culling down the number of images to a reasonable number that takes less than a few months to look through rather tough! SO. Many. Awesome. Shots!!! Check out the Instagram profile puzzle with more of Amy's sneak peeks here- and don't miss her senior session video is right above! #starstruck
Rylie's portrait featured in International magazine! | Shutter Magazine | Anjeanette Photography Seniors Peoria & Phoenix Arizona
Check out Rylie’s senior portait session at the Desert Botanical Gardens here!
I loved this session with Michigan gymnast Rylie over the summer- one of my first seniors Class of 2020! And cool news today- international photography magazine Shutter Magazine featured one of her portraits in its pages for the Beauty Issue! The magazine founded by Sal Cincotta is an educational tool for photographers around the world, featuring articles and how to's by top photographers. It is just a really gorgeous built magazine as well, velvety cover and gorgeous glossy photos inside- I am just so stoked to be a part of another edition!! Find Rylie's image in the "Inspirations" section of the January magazine- it is sold at Barnes & Noble as well as anywhere magazines are sold, or check out their online site https://www.behindtheshutter.com/store/
Ben Class of 2020 Shadow Mountain High | Paradise Valley Senior | Anjeanette Photography Az
Awesome senior portrait session and awesome conversation. Great meeting up with Shadow Mountain Matador Ben for his senior session this month! We checked out the Scottsdale Civic Center plaza area with the incredible Contemporary Art Museum, a very, VERY, green grassy quad, and one of my favorites for golden honey light- the parking garage with an amazing view of historic Olde Towne Arizona! I met Ben a few years ago through the SMHS Marching band, where he is an accomplished trumpet player. Ban's band is a fantastic organization where kids learn, laugh, and find a home with music. For this year's Band Senior banners we designed custom posters on vinyl to hang in the stadium. We went for epic and determined expressions on blue to partially match their show theme of space- and it was no surprise to me when the Marching Matadors qualified in State Competition to moved onto Super States! During his session, I enjoyed chatting about cameras and gadgets, and hearing about Ben's adventures in New York with his family, his music, and GCU plans for the future! A bright future ahead for this sharp kid!
Soccer Matadors | Shadow Mountain High Sports Banners and portraits | Anjeanette Photography
I had such a great time designing custom Senior banners for the Shadow Mountain High Varsity Soccer ladies! I met up with the entire team for individual and group team photos on the field for SMHS, and then just the seniors had an exclusive portrait session where I captured several images to combine for their individual senior banners to hang in the stadium on game days. This PVSD school also wanted a large 36x48" team banner to recognize the Varsity & Jv teams. Dynamic student-athletes- dynamic sports banners! I love shooting action events for Deer Valley and Paradise Valley school district as well, but there is something so amazing about classic and edgy portrait photography to highlight the hard work and commitment that goes into extracurriculars like sports and band that I just love. these students work HARD, they deserve to be celebrated! Go Matadors!
Paradise Valley Sports Individuals
Paradise Valley Sports Senior Banners
Paradise Valley Sports Team photos & banner
Fun & Silly buddy photos too!
Autumn Class of 2020 | Phoenix Senior Portraits by Anjeanette Photography Peoria Az
Amazing senior picture session with the amazing Autumn! We had been planning this session for a long time- Autumn is lifelong friends with one of my Class of 2019 grads Morgan, and her mom Christine and I had fun planning the perfect session for her! This lady is so poised and polished, with a gorgeous glowing smile and flawless looks- she sure made my job super easy! Such a pleasure meeting Autumn finally in real life, your a wonderful young woman and I am happy for all the future success you have headed your way girl!
Jake Class of 2020 | Roosevelt Row | Phoenix Senior grad portraits Anjeanette Photography Peoria Az
Jake is just really effortlessly cool- like a little bit fashionable B0RNS, a little bit rock n roll- and classical pianist twist. Had a fantastic time shooting his senior portraits in downtown Phoenix at BeCoffee and hitting all the new the RoosRow murals. Awesome backdrop for an awesome guy!
His mom Kerry is an accomplished photographer as well, (check out Native SKy on IG) and we had a blast walking around posing him and setting off Enola Gaye Smoke bombs. How GQ IS this guy??? Great session Jake- thanks for choosing me as your senior photographer!
Oonagh's Image featured on 7Seniors.com | Phoenix Senior Photographer Anjeanette Photography Peoria Arizona
Thank you 7Seniors for the Epic Picture Award!
So excited to be a part of 7Seniors.com
a website directory of America's Top Senior Photographers!
Project Lunacy | Shutterfest Photography conference | Anjeanette Photography Phoenix
Took a few days off for the Project Lunacy photography conference sponsored by Shutter Magazine & Shutterfest created by Salvatore Cincotta Photography. There is always more to learn and new ways to grow by challenging your work as a photographer and artist through photography education, connecting with vendors, and networking with other professionals. I brought my own gear, but everyone also had an opportunity to use the Profoto B10 & B10 Plus - and while I love my Flashpoints it was nice to experiment with some other industry leaders in off-camera flash.
I had the chance to spend the first day in small groups at the Superstition Mountains with Sal himself, as well as ProPhoto reps and instructors, then spent day two soaking up Photoshop knowledge and gel lighting tips with instructor David Byrd. A fantastic way to get reinspired and amped up for part two of the fall & holiday season- and cannot WAIT to hone new techniques in this springs Senior season!
Models in order as pictured:
Madison Rieck (lights)
Te’Aria Jones (Blue/Purple Gels)
Emily Trosclair (blue)
Malia (black lace)
Anna Paula (magenta Pink)
Ladiluhve (red)
Project Lunacy sponsored by Shutter Magazine and Sal Cincotta
David Byrd of Reality Reimagined
Prophoto lighting and gear
2019 Fall Marching Band Season Scrapbook | SDOHS SMHS
I have been in love with the marching arts for over 20 years- and this fall was no exception. Proud to have helped capture memories for Deer Valley School Districts Sandra Day O’Connor and District Invitational, as well as Paradise Valley Schools districts Shadow Mountain Marching Matadors! Can’t wait to start taking more keepsakes for bands in fall 2020!
The Marching Matadors
Proud of the Shadow Mountain High School Marching Matadors for finishing a successful season! The marching band performs at school pep assemblies, varsity football games (home and away), parades, and marching band invitationals and festivals. This year under the direction of Santa Clara Vanguard alumn Natan Simon, thay ended their season in November by being selected after state preliminaries for the 2019 ABODA State Marching Band Championship Super State Competition performing with marching bands from across the state of Arizona. This year's show was a fun alien-themed performance titled "Keep Looking Up" Every year this Paradise Valley high school band gets better and better, I can’t wait to see what they do next year!
Eagle Pride Band
Congratulations to the Eagle Pride Marching band on a successful marching season with their show "Wanderlust" under the direction of new fine Arts Music Director Amy Frost. The Sandra Day O'Connor high band trained from early July and back into back in Super State completion to complete their season, finishing 6th in the state of Arizona. This year Anjeanette Photography partnered with the OC band boosters to donated the design, photography, and printing for all 21 senior banners- the first time the band had banners on the main football field fences alongside Cheer, Pom, Football. It was fantastic to see the senior's faces as they saw their faces under the Friday Night Lights! there are a lot of kids on the field on Friday nights from Sports Therapy students to the student yearbook staff and teams...everyone out there is working hard and deserves recognition! I had a great time following the team as a part of the OC Media Team headed by Scott & Tracy Benjamin. My own daughter was a marching senior- so although I love all the kids I was above and beyond proud to see her perform from the sidelines. Wonderful memories were made for 200 plus students, parents, and staff. Excited to see where you go next- Go Eagles!
SDOHS Senior Night Program
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