It’s a brief window and one Olathe, Kansas-based Kristina Carlson has fallen in love with capturing: that fleeting but transformative chapter between childhood and adulthood of senior year and high school graduation. After raising her own teenaged son, she realized she felt a connection with the young people in that phase of life. “They are definitely at the crossroads of being in two different places at the same time,” she says. “They’re still kids. They’re living at home, relying on their parents, their daily life is pretty much set out for them.” But one foot is out the door, ready to take charge of their future and shoulder adult responsibilities. “I think that tension of being somewhere in between those two worlds is a really great place artistically to try to capture that person, because that person is only going to exist for a very short time.”

IN REAL LIFE

In 2004, Carlson was planning her wedding while finishing her art education degree. When she realized a digital wedding photographer was too expensive, she invested in a digital camera, and her father-in-law documented the nuptials. After that, she put her new camera to work by experimenting with various niches of photography, including photographing weddings with her husband. “Eventually I got way better than he did, and I fired him,” she laughs. She also learned she preferred photography to art education. Today she focuses on two types of portraiture: high school seniors and families with older or adult children.

Carlson describes her portrait style as clean, crisp, and true-to-life, and notes that the parents who seek her out for senior portraits are looking for photos that capture their child just as they are. Everything about Carlson’s senior session experience speaks to that desire for authenticity.

The first thing she discusses with senior portrait clients is session location. When Carlson first began photographing seniors, she followed the trends, searching out the “coolest spots,” she says. “Wherever the graffiti walls were, that’s where we went, even though these kids maybe had never seen that part of town in their entire life.” These days she’s mindful about selecting a location that reflects that teen’s personality and day-to-day life rather than industry trends. “I try to be a little more intentional with asking them why they want to shoot in a spot and what they’re trying to get out of it,” she says.

As for wardrobe, she asks for three or four looks, but leaves those selections up to her subjects. “I don’t really consult over wardrobe,” she says, “and I know that’s a really big thing in the industry.” She wants them to wear the clothing they like best. “I know a lot of kids are going to go out and buy new outfits, but I also hope they’re going to show up in their favorite outfit, something they would wear on a normal basis.” If they ask for advice on which outfit is best, she asks them, “What would you wear in real life? What would you normally pick?” Her sessions aren’t styled fashion shoots, she notes. “I just want them to feel really good and comfortable in who they are.”

At the beginning of each senior session, Carlson asks the subject’s parent or parents if she can take a photo of them with their high school senior. She doesn’t ask ahead of time because she doesn’t want the mother to fuss over her appearance. “They always scoff, like, ‘Oh, no, I don’t look good. I wasn’t ready for this,’” she says. “That’s not the point of the picture. I want that kid to see that picture someday and go, ‘That’s what my mom looked like. That’s how my mom looked on a daily basis when she was lugging around my gear, taking me to sporting events, and being my Uber driver. Here she is in this photo, this real picture of how much my mom loves me.’”

GUARD DOWN

“I’ve taken dozens of posing classes over the years,” says Carlson, “and I still feel like that’s something we can always grow from.” That said, she describes her work as “not overly posy” and while there are certain poses that work for almost everyone, “I think you have to find out what is natural for each kid,” she adds.

“One way I work though this is to pose right along beside them,” she explains. She sits or stands next to them to physically show them what she’s looking for and “kind of build the pose together,” which is more effective than her yelling directions at them from a distance while standing behind a camera. By working out the poses together, “if something doesn’t work or looks weird, now I look weird, too, and we can laugh about it and move on,” she says. “Most teens, and honestly most people, can really get into their own heads during the session, and that’s when you start to see stiffness in expressions and posing.” Her method keeps that stiffness at bay.

Carlson says her personality tends to put teens at ease. “I’m a super awkward and kind of weird person,” she laughs. “I definitely don’t give off the cool photographer vibe.” And she doesn’t want to; she’s found the more she lets her awkwardness shine, the more her subjects relax and act naturally. “I think one of my superpowers is reading people and knowing what they would feel comfortable doing and who they are,” she says. “It’s really more about being able to build a relationship with somebody.”

BRINGING OUT THE SPIRIT

Carlson is proud of her use of true-to-life color, which is easier to capture when using off-camera flash. “Natural light can of course be really beautiful, but it also introduces a lot of variables through a session, like the cool tones in open shade versus the warmth of direct sun, or color casts from the surrounding environment, including the worst offender: bright neon green grass in the spring and summer.” Using a light allows her to capture “that rich color in their skin tones,” and prevents them from appearing washed out, she explains.

She photographs with a Nikon D850 with a 70-200mm lens and uses a Godox AD200Pro light with a Glow EZ Lock 42-inch white beauty dish carried by an assistant. In general, she places the light in the same area each session: about 45 degrees off to the side of her camera, slightly higher than her subject, and angled downward. “I rarely point the light straight at them,” she says. “I like to feather the light across my subject, so it wraps around them a little more and doesn’t feel so harsh.” She aims for a natural no-additive-light look, but when she wants extra drama, she simply moves the light closer to the subject, increasing the contrast between the light and the ambient scene.

To bring the focus to her subject’s face, she goes with a wide aperture of f/2.8 with her lens zoomed in at 200mm. “That compression combined with the 2.8 aperture really creates this buttery soft beautiful backdrop that no longer is competing for attention with the person,” she says. “Even if I want a wide scene, now I will just run across the street with my 70-200, so I can still zoom all the way in and get the wide scene. … My artistry is about bringing out the kid’s spirit, and if that’s competing with the background, you’re just getting a cool, pretty picture, and not necessarily a portrait.” 

Amanda Arnold is a senior editor.