Lena Karabushin
Class of 2018 Senior Photo Session: Amber
I remember the tiny 7-year-old Amber on stage in a sparkly costume, next to my daughter, dancing with such spunk and joy. They remained dance friends through all these years, rehearsals, recitals, competitions, and celebrations. Amber's parents became dear friends of ours too, and we even recently all (children and parents!) performed in the Nutcracker Ballet.
When Amber asked me to do her senior photos, I was delighted not just because this girl is so special to me, but also because Amber has unique style and taste, and I couldn't wait to capture that through my lens. Amber decided on a downtown photo session (yay!), and we narrowed it down to the LoDo area, which has such great variety of structures, architectural styles, and history.
On the summer summer afternoon of our photo session, the weather was warm and sunny. As we met by the beautiful white Millennium Bridge, one of my favorite photo spots, the wind picked up, black clouds rushed in as if from nowhere, and fat rain drops began dropping on our heads. Amber, her parents, my daughter (the assistant), and I ran under the bridge, and the real downpour came down. In a few minutes, we were standing in puddles, and the rain was seeping through the bridge cracks. So, we covered Amber's head (and her beautiful hair) with the photo reflector and sprinted into the foyer of a nearby loft building. Everyone but Amber was soaked our shoes, clothes, and hair absolutely wet and dripping. It was a magnificent Colorado flash flood. And just like it does in Colorado, in 15 minutes, the rain abruptly stopped, the ominous clouds disappeared, and everything glistened and shined under the deep blue skies, building windows all around us reflecting the water and sunshine. We could begin Amber's photo session, and the city never looked more beautiful and magical!
We walked all over LoDo, over two bridges, multitude of old and new streets, through alleys, and past the Union Station. Amber looked confident and radiant. We didn't get a lot of serious photos because Amber couldn't restrain her smiles and giggles, just like she couldn't when she was a little dancer so many years ago, leaping and twirling across the stage.









