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Lehia Erger Photography & Design

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Summer Senior Portraits | Maddie | Xavier High School Senior Photographer

September 4, 2019 Lehia Erger
 

Wildflowers & Sunshine Senior Session with Maddie

Squaw Creek Park | Downtown Cedar Rapids | Senior Photographer

If you follow my Instagram (@Seniors_by_Lehia), you know my Insta-game isn’t very strong. I’ll be the first to admit that!! But when Maddie reached out and told me she found me on Instagram, I was so excited! In just the sentence or two that she wrote me, I could tell she was something special. When I met with her for her consultation, I knew I was right - she’s amazing! Maddie loves traveling and is SUPER busy - so much so that we had only TWO days in our calendars that matched up to schedule her senior session on. So we chose the first date for her session, and set the second as our rain date… but luckily we didn’t need it! It was a PERFECT night for her photos - I’m in LOVE!

Maddie senior package included professional hair and makeup with the amazing Krysta at Make Me Up and a free spray tan with my girls at Sol Sisters Sunless Tanning. So when she showed up to her session, I could TELL she felt like a rockstar. It’s crazy how much of a confidence boost a little pampering can give you. And it shows in her photos! I can’t get over how adorable she is!

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We started near downtown Cedar Rapids, at Green Square Park (those flowers… swoon!!) and headed on over to the Cedar Rapids Museum of Art. After a quick change of outfit in my handy-dandy pop up tent, we wandered around and used some of my favorite spots in the area.

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Maddie calls these her “power pants” so naturally, we’ve got to do the “power pose!”

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We left Cedar Rapids and headed towards the most popular park in the area, Squaw Creek Park. We drove in and I was in awe! I’ve never seen that many wildflowers there before. I could not WAIT to photograph Maddie here. The outfits she picked out were SO adorable and I knew the cloudless sky was going to give us that ultimate summer-look of golden-glowy goodness! It did not disappoint.

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When I showed Maddie a few of her photos from the back of my camera, she put her hand over her mouth. I got a little nervous but she assured me it was a good thing! (LOL, I’m so out of the “cool” loop now, by the way.) She ROCKED every.single.part of her session, as you can tell.

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We ended her session just trying out model-poses, running around and having fun. It was such a blast and I couldn’t wait to get home to go through her photos. Her family left for vacation a day after her session so I had to wait for what felt like a lifetime to show her the photos for the first time, but it was worth it!

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I definitely over-shared Maddie’s senior session, but I had so much fun during our session. It’s not often you meet someone 10+ years younger than you and feel like you could just chat for hours, but Maddie is SO down to earth and ready to take on whatever challenges and turns her life holds. Good thing I follow her on Instagram, because I’m so excited to follow her post-graduation journey - I know she’s going places!

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Your calendar likely fills up as fast as mine does and it’s SO easy to forget to schedule photos! If you are graduating in 2020, or a parent of a 2020 graduate - reach out with any questions or to start planning!! Check out my Senior Gallery or contact me for more info!

Name *
Thank you!
In Senior Photography, Iowa Senior Tags senior, senior photographer, cedar rapids iowa photographer, cedar rapids senior photographer, winter photography, snow senior photos, Cedar Rapids Iowa, graduation pictures, Iowa photographer, fall senior pictures, fall senior portraits, Kennedy High School, senior photographer near me
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Colorful Fall Senior Portraits | Olivia | Kennedy High School Senior Photographer

March 30, 2019 Lehia Erger
 

Colorful Fall Senior Session with Olivia

Marion | Cedar Rapids | Eastern Iowa Senior Photographer

Olivia’s October senior portrait session couldn’t have been a more beautiful day. Her mom and I had so many ideas, and Olivia’s only request was that we make a stop at Almost Famous Popcorn Company in Newbo and she wanted colorful trees. About a week before her senior session date, most of the trees lost all of their colorful leaves, and although I know I can create some Photoshop magic and fall color if needed, I still aim to please! As I was driving around, scoping out areas hoping to find ANY colorful foliage left, I came across a giant patch of my favorite tall, plume-y grass that occurs in the fall here in Iowa, pampas grass. I hadn’t gotten to photograph it ALL year and knew I HAD to try it with Olivia. The location wasn’t ideal, it was in the middle of a very public area, but I thought with some creative angling it could possibly block out the busy, bustling background scenery. So that’s where we started, and although it was a challenge to get into the middle of the crazy, deep grass, it was totally worth it!

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Since the grass didn’t allow us much movement, as beautiful as it was, we had to move on. The sun was starting to officially come out from behind the clouds, so we headed down to the Newbo District for the next part of Olivia’s senior pictures. Her outfit looked AWESOME with the colors and buildings there. And isn’t her hair gorgeous! (Ya’ll she just braids it while it’s wet and let’s it dry and it comes out all perfect like that!)

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As requested by Olivia, we popped (pun-intended!) into the cute little Almost Famous Popcorn Company shop for a mini photoshoot with their popcorn. With their vintage sodas and vibe, I knew the red dress that Olivia had brought would fit the decor well. We made this part fun and quick, I didn’t want to be too disruptive - but the employees were so nice about letting us use their space!

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We walked around looking for some more amazing spots (stopping to pet some adorable dogs along the way) and took some classic senior portraits with Olivia’s grandma’s necklace she had brought for her session (as a surprise for her dad!) And yeah, when you have hair like that, you better believe you’ll spend 50% of your session doing hair flips!

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As the sun started to get lower in the sky, it was time to head out for our last portion of Olivia’s senior pictures. We headed out Squaw Creek Park in Marion, which is usually FULL of photographers this time of year (because it’s an amazing park, obviously) but there was nobody there! (Maybe because all the leaves had already dropped?!) So we set up camp - sort of literally! LOL. I bring a pop-up changing tent for sessions so you don’t have to get changed in the backseat of your car. It’s pretty awesome. I pulled out my vintage-floral “grandma” chair and it matched Olivia’s romper perfectly!

The sun was setting extra quick it seemed, but oooh man, look at that gorgeous golden glow that I LOVE! And I seriously loved this location!! I wanted to photograph Olivia here forever! She ROCKED her session - aren’t her outfits so adorable?!

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Senior pictures are SO fun, and we party until there’s no more sun left in the sky. Olivia’s session was no exception. We did one last outfit change for a more comfy/casual look and finished up her session. We even found a tiny patch of flowers that I insisted she lay in, which happened to be her mom’s FAVORITE photo of her!

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A little behind the scenes, courtesy of Olivia’s mom! Thanks, Karen!

I LOVED every minute of Olivia’s senior portraits and her images are some of my all-time favorite senior pictures. We had Olivia’s ordering session, a few tears were shed, and her family decided they’d love a photobook of her photos. I designed her photobook using all of their favorite images, and they had me design a custom cover for it as well, and I just LOVE how it turned out!! Its too cute not to share; isn’t it gorgeous!?

Your calendar likely fills up as fast as mine in the summer and it’s SO easy to forget to schedule photos! If you are graduating in 2020, or a parent of a 2020 graduate - reach out with any questions or to start planning!! It may seem early, but I’ve had so many parents tell me they wish they wouldn’t have waited! P.S. I always run a special deal for Seniors who book their session for the summer. Check out my Senior Gallery or contact me for more info!

Name *
Thank you!
In Senior Photography, Iowa Senior Tags senior, senior photographer, cedar rapids iowa photographer, cedar rapids senior photographer, winter photography, snow senior photos, Cedar Rapids Iowa, graduation pictures, Iowa photographer, fall senior pictures, fall senior portraits, Kennedy High School, senior photographer near me
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Winter Snow Senior Session | Abbey | Cedar Rapids Iowa Senior Photographer

February 11, 2019 Lehia Erger
 

Winter Senior Session with Abbey

Palo | Cedar Rapids | Eastern Iowa Photographer

Abbey’s senior session was a first for me — in the SNOW! My calendar was fully booked for the fall, so Abbey decided do something different and have her senior photos taken during the winter, which sounded amazing. And I’ve never had a winter senior session!
I LOVE photos with snow! They’re ALWAYS gorgeous.

We chose a date knowing fully well that the weather in Iowa is super unpredictable. We can’t pick a day and guarantee to have snow, or sun, or whatever we might be hoping for, right?!

They week of the scheduled date approaches, the forecast says partially sunny and high of 27 degrees. We have no snow on the ground at this time, which is some sort of Iowa phenomenon. I reach out to see if they’d prefer to reschedule or just do her session snow-less, with the promise that we can try to use my snow machine. They decide it’s ok either way. So we make plans and guess what?! It snows the night before!!!

A light, perfect snow. I couldn’t have asked for a more perfect snow for Abbey’s winter photos!

Some behind-the-scene photos courtesy of Abbey’s mom. These two are two peas in a pod — I loved my time with them.

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Abbey’s senior session day started with getting pampered by Shelby at Mood’s Salon and Spa. She got her hair and makeup professionally done and LOVED it! It makes such a difference in your photos AND confidence level. I learned after the photoshoot that Abbey is not the type who loves getting dressed up, but she had a great time getting dolled up and was actually surprised that she loved the photos in her dress! And I mean, seriously, she rocked her WHOLE session. Look at her amazing eyes!!!

We traveled to 3 different locations: a park, greenhouse and downtown Cedar Rapids. And I convinced Abbey to change outfits 4 times. (I don’t limit how many locations or outfits you want- woot woot.) We sure froze our booties (and hands and ears) off, took so many stunning photos, and most important — we had a blast!

Check out Abbey’s gallery below!

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Your calendar likely fills up as fast as mine in the summer and it’s SO easy to forget to schedule photos! If you are graduating in 2020, or a parent of a 2020 graduate - reach out with any questions or to start planning!! It may seem early, but I’ve had so many parents tell me they wish they wouldn’t have waited! P.S. I always run a special deal for Seniors who book their session for the summer. Check out my Senior Gallery or contact me for more info!

Name *
Thank you!
In Senior Photography, Iowa Senior Tags senior, senior photographer, cedar rapids iowa photographer, cedar rapids senior photographer, winter photography, winter senior photos, snow senior photos, Cedar Rapids Iowa, graduation pictures, Iowa photographer
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Outdoor Country Senior Guy Session | Zeb | Alburnett, IA Senior Photographer

January 11, 2019 Lehia Erger
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Multi-location Outdoor Senior Photos with Zeb

Alburnett | Senior Photographer near Cedar Rapids

I met with Zeb’s family for a consultation and we knew right away this his senior session was going to be an EVENT! While Zeb laid back and just listened, we planned his senior session for November - in hopes for no snow. We lucked out and his senior session day was gorgeous!

Zeb has so many fun hobbies and interests that we wanted to incorporate into his senior photos. They wanted to incorporate their family land including the tree house his dad built, an old barn his dad was working on (his dad’s pretty handy, can ya tell? He owns Schneider Construction in Cedar Rapids), his truck, the gorgeous pampas grass that we see in Iowa during the fall, the Monroe Township fire station he volunteers at in Toddville, his hunting blind set up in a field, and his mom requested a cool “Friday Night Lights” scene on the Alburnett High School football field! Phew!

And we had to do all of that in less than 3 hours. That and 7 outfit changes! (Don’t believe me? Take a look through the photos below!) Luckily, for a guy, that just means changing the shirt out but for a guy who wasn’t particular excited to get his senior photos taken, I knew this would be a miracle if it all worked out. I had it timed down to the quarter of an hour. 30 minutes here, 15 minute drive there, 30 minutes there, 15 minute drive to the next location, etc. I was pretty darn nervous about keeping everything on schedule.

We started at his family’s property:

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Then we headed out the old barn. The barn was currently being renovated and was SO cool! And was a great backdrop to Zeb’s truck.

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This one was one of their all-time favorites! They decided to order it as a metal print - how cool is that!?

This one was one of their all-time favorites! They decided to order it as a metal print - how cool is that!?

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Then we pulled over started heading over to the fire station but made a quick stop at the pampas grass - which is my all-time favorite! I LOVE the look of it in photos!

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Pulling off into a little ditch off the side of the busy road… worth it! At this point, we were racing the sun! I had planned for the sun to set while we were at the football field but as we headed to the fire station, I knew we needed to be quick. But once Zeb had put the truck away, I couldn’t resist taking some more shots with the lights all shining bright! Then it was off to the corn field.

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The sun was golden and setting faster than I anticipated. I quickly pulled off the road into the freshly harvested corn field for his hunting/hunting blind photos. First things first, Zeb’s dad brought a giant ladder for a really cool “what the birds see” view. And then I finished this part of his session safely on the ground - haha!

Birds-eye-view.

Birds-eye-view.

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And then it was time to wrap up his session at the football field. It was starting to get a bit chilly with the sun setting… and dark! His mom got permission to turn on the football stadium lights and his dad used his construction light to help us create awesome and interesting lighting for the end of the night. They decided to order their “Friday Night Lights” photo on metal too, which is going to look amazing in their home, or maybe Zeb’s room if he’s lucky! :)

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What an adventure this session was! Probably my craziest one to date, and I’m so glad we did it! We got to include ALL of the things that are important to Zeb. but you know what? You're only a senior once, you only get to have your senior portraits taken once, so go big or go home. It was a big undertaking but it was worth it!

Your calendar likely fills up as fast as mine in the summer and it’s SO easy to forget to schedule photos! If you are graduating in 2020, or a parent of a 2020 graduate - reach out with any questions or to start planning!! It may seem early, but I’ve had so many parents tell me they wish they wouldn’t have waited! P.S. I always run a special deal for Seniors who book their session for the summer. Check out my Senior Gallery or contact me for more info!

Name *
Thank you!
In Senior Photography, Iowa Senior Tags senior, senior guy, senior boy, senior photos, senior boy photos, senior guy photos, football senior photos, country senior photos, outdoor senior photos, hunting senior photos, goose hunting, goose hunting senior photos, senior boy truck, graduation photos, senior photographer, cedar rapids senior photographer, iowa senior photographer, cedar rapids photographer, senior photographer near me, barn senior pictures, senior pics, fire truck senior photos, alburnett senior photographer, hiawatha senior photographer
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Lehia Erger Photography + Design | 319.310.5596 | lehia.erger@gmail.com | serving Cedar Rapids, Iowa and surrounding areas

Lehia Erger Photography + Design  |  319.310.5596  |  lehia@lehiaerger.com  |  serving Cedar Rapids, IA and surrounding areas