Senior Portraits with Phebe

I shoot all my senior portraits on location, so was pleased to get an email from Phebe asking if I could do her senior pictures at her farm with all of her animals. Phebe is an amazing girl, confident, talkative, relaxed, great in front of the camera, not to mention, beautiful. Fantastic hazel eyes and a very bubbly personality. Plays beautiful piano and loves her myriad of pets.

When I arrived, she had a variety of outfit choices to look over and then I asked her to give me a short tour of the farm so we could pick good spots for pictures. Her farm was a perfect location for a great senior portrait shoot. So many settings and so picturesque. We started inside so the sun could get a bit lower and shot at her piano. Eventually her one indoor cat came to be a part of the project as we had hoped.

We shot a few more pictures in the parlor then moved out to take out the horses. Phebe has two horses that she really adores. The first was a bit edgy and uncooperative, so we spent more time with the other. They are both beautiful animals and made for great pictures.

When Phebe had shown me around the farm, she said she particularly wanted some pictures down in an old tree covered roadway, so we took their huge white dog that guards their sheep from coyotes and walked down to this beautiful light dappled old road.

We picked other beautiful spots in the barn, on the front porch, and in the wonderful old swings that hung from the big maple in the front yard, finishing out by the roadside, accompanied by their pretty Golden Retriever.

It was a delightful afternoon shooting an amazing young woman. Thanks for a perfect afternoon and thanks for the delicious pears you sent home with me.

All images Copyright © George Cannon.

Getting familiar with Ohio

Now that my daughter is going to school in Ohio, we are, naturally making numerous trips there and back. Classes end for the term next week so I’ll head back again, after just traveling there to take her back after Thanksgiving. The trip is about eight hours but I don’t mind it since it always means I get to see my kid, and there’s no better reason.



We were there for a few days for Homecoming and Parents Weekend last month. Took in the football game and a soccer game (they won both fortunately). But another plus for me, of course, is new territory for photography. I love going to new towns when I have a little time to explore and Delaware, Ohio is a funky little college town with great old architecture, lots of antiques, and a college atmosphere similar to Ithaca where we live. I am always on the lookout for images that build on my many projects like my Ornamental America series, and Delaware provided one of the best finds ever for that collection.

I’ve also found a favorite breakfast place called “Famous Jack’s Diner” on the north side of town. A classic diner with all the amenities and colorful characters.

Returning after Thanksgiving, I stayed an extra day so I could drive down to Columbus, about 20 miles to the south, and see what that city was about. I had hoped to visit the art museum, but like many, it was a Monday and closed. I did make a stop at Franklin Park where they have a beautiful conservatory and gardens that must be spectacular in the spring and summer.

But my other main interest was the Columbus Zoo. I spent a little time there in the afternoon, then returned in the evening with my daughter and two friends to see the festival of lights. Everything around the zoo was lit up and bedecked with thousands of tiny lights. Lots of fun and a place for some creative touches.

The zoo itself was closed in many areas with animals no longer on display because of the colder weather now arriving. But I did get to see the mother lion with her three ten week old cubs, and their beautiful tiger. They also have a nice aquarium space with a couple of huge manatees, though it doesn’t compare to the Georgia Aquarium I visited in Atlanta a couple of summers ago. I particularly enjoyed the reptile house with it’s lizards, turtles, and snakes. I came away with what seemed to be formal portraits that I felt lent themselves to black and white.

I cruised around Columbus a bit, always on the prowl for good urban landscape stuff. Found some marvelous neighborhoods and a huge range, as might be expected, from mansions to shacks.

It’s a town that I’m sure I can spend a great deal more time exploring as my daughter spends her next three and a half years in Ohio and we keep rolling back again and again.

All images are Copyright © George Cannon, All Rights Reserved.

Please visit my website at http://www.georgecannonphotography.com.