Ashley and her mom had toured the Washington National Cathedral when they last visited Washington DC, and Ashley fell in love with it.  It would be an amazing location for Ashley's senior portraits.  A 4-5 hour drive from their home in Pennsylvania?  These DC senior portraits would be worth it!

"Why me?" I asked.  "For whatever reason, your senior pictures looked like just what we're looking for.  They're the best we've seen yet.  It's a no brainer!" Ashley's mom said to me.

It was September, in the midst of the pandemic, and kids, especially high school seniors, were having a tough time of it, and so I gifted Ashley a virtual makeup & hair styling lesson with a professional makeup artist & hair stylist, to really make her feel special and roll out the red carpet experience.  She loved it!  We also met up over Zoom for her style & concept consultation to plan out the session and pick out Ashley's outfits for her Washington DC senior portrait session.

I applied for the Cathedral photo permit, and they drove in to DC the day before our senior portrait photography session date and stayed overnight in a hotel so that Ashley could get ready here the next day.  I started to get a little nervous driving in to Washington DC that afternoon because it startled to drizzle, but true to the forecast, the drizzling had stopped by the time we met up at the Washington National Cathedral's beautiful Bishop's Gardens.  The flowers were in full bloom, and it was truly spectacular!  After photographing in the gardens, we walked around the side of the cathedral to capture some of the amazing architecture of the cathedral itself.  And at the end, Ashley's mom and brother took the opportunity to pop in for some family portraits with the to-be-graduate so that they would all also have those priceless memories!

Check out some of my favorites below, and check back later for photos of Ashley's folio box and mounted prints from her Washington National Cathedral senior portrait session!