Somehow we lucked out with a warm-ish early November day for this one. This incredible senior is in a band with some friends from school, so he brought along his guitar and we captured some awesome images with the mountains, trees, and stumps in the background. Normally, the water level is at least a bit higher, but the lake itself is more like a large puddle or pond at this point. Nevertheless, I’ve always considered these kinds of areas far more interesting for what they reveal without the water. In fact, there used to be a small logging community over 100 years ago exactly where the lake is now. Pretty crazy. When they created the Chester Morse dam upstream, water seeped in, flooded the town and created Rattlesnake Lake.

We explored the area and found plenty of cool, dramatic areas (when the water level is that low, there really is so much area to explore). I loved his casual outfits, including a black jacket that worked well against all of the browns out there on that day. And we even got some really great natural smiles too, which his mom was very happy to see! He and his band are in the process of recording and mixing their first album, which is super exciting! And quite an accomplishment for still being in high school at that!

Thank you for the wonderful session and congratulations to an awesome senior and the rest of the class of 2026!