Amie's Raleigh Senior Session


This senior session was super special because it was with my intern, Amie! Amie is a senior at Broughton who has been working with me for the past year and I absolutely adore her. She is such a sweetheart and I did her family’s photos this spring and I have done countless photo shoots with her. She’s been just absolutely wonderful to work with as I’ve been growing my photography business, and I was so excited to shoot her senior photos!

Senior portraits at the Raleigh Rose Garden
Senior portrait of Amie between rows of roses.

Picturesque Raleigh Rose Garden


We started at the Raleigh Rose Garden, which is near and dear to my heart as it’s right down the street from my house. It’s one of my favorite locations to shoot at and the roses stay in bloom through the heat. Plus, there’s a lot of variety in locations so it’s great for a summer session.

Senior girl smiling at the camera through a bush of white roses
Amie walking through the stone shelter, looking back and smiling
Senior girl leaning in to smell the blooming roses

We did lots of shooting around the roses, which looked absolutely adorable with Amie’s first dress, as well as the vines climbing up the stone walls. I absolutely love these!

Senior girl peeking around the stone columns with vines climbing up
Senior photoshoot at Raleigh Rose Garden. Girl leans against vine-covered stones.

Golden Hour Magic at Raleigh Little Theatre


Next, we moved over to the amphitheater right behind the Rose Garden at Raleigh Little Theatre. The stone went so well with her second dress!

Amie standing on stone seating in a bright blue dress

Of course, it was golden hour so the pictures turned out wonderful! Amie is a very photogenic gal so it’s not hard to catch her great photos of her, but we had lots of fun with posing and working with our locations.

Senior girl poses in the amphitheater at Raleigh Little Theatre
Closeup senior portrait in Raleigh Little Theatre
Senior girl posing at Raleigh Little Theatre

Fairytale Photos at Pullen Park


For our third location, we drove over to Pullen Park — I’ve been wanting to shoot a senior session here for a while because of the beautiful greenery and bridges.


I absolutely love this location and Amie shared a story with me that we were laughing about the whole time: when she was little, her parents told her Pullen Park was the North Carolina State Fair, so they wouldn’t have to take her to the real thing. She thought she was so lucky to go to the fair all the time with her family and she didn’t find out the truth until a kid at school told her otherwise!

Amie reaches for the tree behind her and looks back at the camera.
Closeup of Amie at her golden hour senior session
Amie laughs and poses casually for her senior portraits

These are some of my favorite pictures that I’ve ever taken. They really show off what makes senior sessions so fun - the creative posing, catching the right moments, playing around with the backgrounds and outfits!

A Dreamy Location for Senior Photos


We had to stop for a few pictures on the train tracks. These are so adorable!


Disclaimer: train tracks are typically illegal to take photos on for safety reasons. These tracks are only used for the little train ride that goes around the park, and its operating hours were long over by the time we got there.

Girl tiptoes on train tracks, carrying her pink sandals behind her
Amie looks back over her shoulder as she walks on the train tracks at Pullen Park

One of my favorite parts about senior sessions is planning the outfits and how they work with the locations. Two hour sessions like this one are perfect for four outfits and four locations to get lots of variety in your gallery.


I absolutely love this white dress Amie chose for this location. I think it’s so sweet, innocent, and feminine, and just perfect for all the flowers, the train tracks, and the bridge.

Amie poses casually in her white dress for her senior pictures among the flowers
Wide shot of Amie on the Pullen Park bridge in Raleigh, North Carolina
Amie laughs and dances as the wind blows in her hair for a candid senior photo
Amie leans over the bridge railing and poses for senior photos

Iconic Raleigh Skyline Photoshoot: Boylan Bridge


Finally, we drove down to the Boylan Bridge for some iconic skyline photos before the sun went down. My boyfriend and second shooter, Jack, loves to run downtown so this was actually his idea (he was there doing some BTS shooting for me so head to my Instagram or TikTok to see those videos!). This bridge is such a perfect location for seniors, and these are some of my favorite pictures from the session as well.

Senior photoshoot with Raleigh skyline in the background
Amie plays with her hair and looks out over the Boylan Bridge in Raleigh
Amie looks over her shoulder for a portrait with the Raleigh skyline in the background
Amie plays with her hair and smiles as she leans against the bridge railing in Downtown Raleigh

One of my favorite backdrops for a golden hour session is greenery with string lights. A lot of restaurants with outdoor seating will have string lights, and I love catching those in the background behind my seniors!

Amie sits on the sidewalk and poses for her senior portraits
Amie smiles for a senior portrait with greenery and string lights in the background
Amie sits on the sidewalk of the Boylan Bridge

Your Senior Session Experience with Merveille Photography


This senior session was such a great time. Summer might not seem ideal with the heat, but it really can be so much fun! The best part is just getting to know each person individually and catering the shoot to their personality. Then they’ll have tons of pictures to choose from for graduation announcements or whatever they’d like to use them for! I just shot Amie‘s graduation party and she had a bunch of the pictures that we have taken printed as decorations as well as on the posters she and her friends made for graduation! 


I can’t wait to do more senior sessions this summer!! They’re definitely becoming one of my favorite types of shoots. I love getting to know my seniors, playing some music and just having a great time while we walk around and get gorgeous photos! If that all sounds good to you, hit me up! I would love to take your senior pictures. I’m based in Raleigh, but I’m always down to travel ;)

Amie laughs and plays with her hair with orange and purple flowers in the background
Amie laughs as she playfully gets in a clawfoot tub left behind a building in Raleigh

If you liked this blog post you can read about Megan’s Chapel Hill senior session from last month!