JDP senior Gabrielle is a self professed tom boy with a hidden girly side! She fell in love with the studio options for wardrobe and it was time for her girly-girl side to shine in full force! Mom said she wanted this to be special for her girl, she wanted an awesome memory attached to the portraits created. That’s where we shine because my mind doesn’t stop seeing the possibilities and I crave the best from every set up for my seniors. Watching Melinda and Gabrielle laugh together through the session and and mom beam as her girl was glowing, was an absolute delight!
Click here to chat about your own custom senior portraits. 
Gabrielle is a musical soul. She brushed it off like it was no big thing; however, playing several instruments is a huge deal! Maybe it’s just that I’m obsessed with the ability to create beauty where the was none…to move people with sounds, sight, smell and touch is a gift! Gabrielle’s been playing cello for 7 years and also plays piano, guitar and trumpet. She plans to add violin to her repertoire in the near future. I asked her (as I do all musicians) to play me something while we were creating portraits. She played the Jaws theme song, which of course makes sense given her great love and infatuation with sharks!
Gabrielle traces her love of sharks to her being born in Hawaii and watching Kenny the Shark as a little girl. Her mom can relate as she loved watching Jacques Cousteau, who many of us of the mom generation remember watching weekly! Jacques took us to explore ocean depths and created a deep love for the underwater in so many of us who journey with him via our televisions. He made me think I was going to be an oceanographer for a while as well! Cousteau said, The sea, once it casts its spell, holds one in its net of wonder forever.
Click here to chat about senior portraits. 
She may not have a fin, but Gabrielle’s adorable springer spaniel Emmy is near and dear to her heart and was eager to be a part of the portrait time as well!
Really Gabrielle is just an animal lover of all kinds and envisions herself with a future as a marine biologist or a Steve Irwin like job. Her love of sharks (and don’t even ask her to do anything when Shark Week is on tv!) has led to some pretty incredible experiences for her. When she was younger she had a sleepover at the Baltimore Aquarium in the shark room. More recently, she was able to return to her birth place of Hawaii where she had an opportunity to swim with 16′ long Galapagos sharks for 20 minutes! This confirmed for her her desire to work in marine biology.
As I learned more about Gabrielle’s love of sharks during her pre consult, my wheels got to spinning. I thought, wouldn’t it be cool to create a scene with her and sharks I photographed at the Atlanta Aquarium last year! Thanks to JDP senior Jordan for allowing Gabrielle to borrow your surfboard!
Going in the water and under the water to create portraits is popular with JDP seniors, but what should be noted about Gabrielle’s night is that we were in a cold snap at the end of summer. However, the cold was not dissuading Gabrielle, she was still eager to go in and under. The air temperature was 57 and the pool water was 67. Her mom went to get a sweater and a blanket so she could watch in comfort. After I got in I said, “Ok, it’s going to take me a minute!” Fortunately when I’m in shooting/creating mode I become mostly oblivious to discomfort and Gabrielle wasn’t bothered one bit!
Gabrielle is also a lacrosse goalie and loves being a part of a team. She loves helping to direct the field in play and doesn’t mind getting hit by balls. She even has her brother wing tennis balls at her, not wearing pads, to help acclimate her to being hit. Gabrielle, you are one tough cookie and I’m quite sure there’s a lifetime of adventure just waiting for you to embrace it! Who knows maybe you’ll be the next Jacques Cousteau 21st century fierce female version! 😉
