SeniorPictures

Senior Pictures

I'm a photography enthusiast. In August of 2013 I purchased my first DSLR, a Nikon D3200. After taking numerous photography classes on Lynda.com and lots of practice, I decided to start taking my own family (children's) portraits (usually outdoors, no studio lighting). When my oldest child reached her senior year, I talked with her and we decided that I would make her senior pictures. I was comfortable getting good quality shots but did not have much experience with senior pictures (I took some for one other friend). Below is the research results for the types of shots that I wanted and ended up getting. I have since done senior pictures for my next oldest child and decided to document the shots since I had to re-research it from the first round. My goal was to end up with about 20 different final pictures in different locations by taking about 100 shots. I also had them wear different clothing (about 5 different things), the more, the better. The list below includes ideas that I may also use for the future. Almost all photos are outside, they look way better than indoor shots.

blogs

2024 Zildjian Custom Special Dry Pack and Zildjian K Sweet Pack (posted 11-09-2024)
2024 Kirks A400 Traps Drums Drumset (posted 09-29-2024)
2024 Tree Project (posted 09-05-2024)
2023 Oculocutaneous Albinism (posted 03-28-2023)
2022 Allocate Time Log (posted 09-02-2022)
2022 Setting Up Your Mac (posted 07-30-2022)
Emmaus Music (posted 01-29-2022)
2022 Gretsch Catalina Maple new drum head sound check (posted 01-22-2022)
2022 Griffin Remote Hi Hat Stand (posted 01-22-2022)
2022 New Amedia Cymbals (posted 01-08-2022)
2021 Hi Hat Fun (posted 08-30-2021)
2021 Senior Pictures for Seth (posted 08-28-2021)
2021 August Worship Drummer Weekly Freebie (posted 08-01-2021)
2021 July Worship Drummer Weekly Freebie (posted 07-27-2021)
2021 June Worship Drummer Weekly Freebie (posted 07-19-2021)
2021 Doug Dunaway Memorial Motocross Junior Track (posted 06-27-2021)
2021 Father's Day (posted 06-20-2021)
iPhone 11 Pro Max camera vs iPhone 12 Pro Max camera (posted 06-03-2021)
2021 20 inch Zildjian EFX cymbal (posted 06-02-2021)
2021 Floor Snare Debut (posted 05-15-2021)
2021 Drum Desk Light (posted 05-11-2021)
2021 May Worship Drummer Weekly Freebie (posted 05-02-2021)
2021 Remove Drums for Practicing (posted 04-18-2021)
2021 Amedia 19 inch Thrace Series Crash (posted 04-08-2021)
2021 Zildjian Gong Sheet (posted 03-29-2021)
2021 Microphone Challenge - Samson Q2U vs MacBook Pro (posted 03-27-2021)
2021 Audio Quality Test for Screen Recordings (posted 03-25-2021)
2021 Cost of Video Editing (posted 03-31-2021)
2020 2nd Hand Hammered Snare Drum and Big Fat Snare Drum (posted 11-10-2020)
2020 Drum Lights (posted 11-03-2020)
2020 Cymbal Garden (posted 08-30-2020)
2020 Gibraltar Rack (posted 08-18-2020)
2020 Hand Hammered Snare Drum (posted 08-12-2020)
2020 Yamaha MOTIF XS8 key transposing demo (posted 07-04-2020)
2020 Refinishing d2 ddrums (posted 06-19-2020)
2020 Djembe Sampler (posted 06-06-2020)
2020 Floor Tom End Tables (posted 06-06-2020, updated 07-22-2020)
2020 Bass Drum Ottoman (posted 05-13-2020)
2020 Drum Kit Sound Test (posted 05-09-2020)
2020 Paradiddles (for Bob Packwood) (posted 05-09-2020)
2020 Big Fat Snare Drum demo (posted 05-09-2020)
2020 AKG vs CAD Pro Bass Drum mics (posted 05-09-2020)
2020 Amedia Galata and Dervish Stingray cymbal demo (posted 03-15-2020)
2019 Kirk's Gretsch Energy Drum Set (posted 12-31-2019)
2019 Studio Upgrade (posted 12-31-2019)
Kirk's (Tama) Drumset as it went to Tim Terry (posted 12-07-2019)
Engagement Photos (posted 10-19-2019)
2019 Recording Audio for Cross Country video (posted 10-07-2019)
2019 Nikon Follow Your Passion Video Contest by Kirk Hopkins (posted 08-10-2019)
2019 Church Drumset (posted 07-17-2019)
2019 Drum Cage (posted 06-19-2019)
Camera Comparison (posted 05-25-2019)
2019 The Making of Light Background Music (How I Record Music) (posted 05-12-2019)
Church Stage Design (posted 03-16-2019 with updates for each new design)
2018 GoPro Hero6 Black vs Hero7 Black (posted 10-23-2018)
2018 21 and 17 inch Zildjian K Custom Special Dry EFX cymbals (posted 05-01-2018)
2018 Capo Review (posted 05-04-2018)
2018 Gretsch EQ test (posted 03-31-2018)
Kirk's Zildjian Dry Cymbals (posted 03-31-2018)
2018 GoPro Hero 5 vs GoPro Hero 6 (posted 03-05-2018)
Kirk's (Tama) Drum Lesson Drumset (posted 04-03-2017, updated 03-08-2018, updated 03-31-2018, updated 02-09-2019)
2017 New Driveway (posted 04-01-2018)
Senior Pictures (posted 01-10-2018)
College - Does it make financial sense to go? (posted 11-30-2017)
2017 Harrison Junior High Cross Country (posted 11-10-2017)
UNI Journal (Private) (posted 11-04-2017)
Countdown Creation (posted 10-23-2017)
Sanctuary Remodel (posted 06-18-2017, updated 03-05-2018)
Outdoor Movie Screen (posted 06-12-2017)
iPhone 7 Plus Audio Test (posted 05-02-2017)
Worship Leading Song Selection Methodology (posted 04-17-2017)
Church Presentation Software Comparison (posted 04-15-2017, updated 08-13-2017)
Kirk's Wuhans and Zildjian Cymbals (posted 04-10-2017)
Kirk's Dream Drumset - Gretsch Catalina Maple - Satin Deep Cherry Burst (posted 04-03-2017, updated many times)
Song Database Journal (posted 04-03-2017)
2017 Timelapse Spinning in 4K (posted 02-22-2017)
2017 Timelapse and Duzi Slider Testing (posted 02-22-2017)
2017 Camcorder and Camera Comparison (posted 02-12-2017)
2017 GoPro Hero4 vs iPhone 7 Plus (posted 02-12-2017)
2016 Cigar Box Guitar (posted 02-14-2016)
2015 Camera and Camcorder Comparison (posted 09-17-2015)
2014 Drum test with new small tom drum heads (posted 01-04-2014)
2013 How to Mic a Large Drumset (posted 04-04-2013)
2012 Using GarageBand with an MBox 2 Mini (posted 10-15-2012)