Iowa City Senior Portrait Session | Mae - toreyrohdephotography.com

This Iowa City senior portrait session was so much fun! Mae’s mom reached out to set it up, and after chatting a little bit about a few ideas for locations, Mae chose Hickory Hills park in Iowa City. I had absolutely zero objections to Hickory Hills because it is one of my all time favorite places to go in Iowa City – whether it’s to shoot a session or to go with my boys and hike (aka “adventure time” because if I call it a “hike”, they will recognize it as a chore – you know, all that walking). Another major plus, it is right up the street from my house.

We did do a lot of walking during this session, but it was so worth it! I don’t mind, and I love it when clients are down to do a little hiking with me. Hickory Hills is this winding maze-like forest with tons of walking trails, many different entrances, creeks, prairie, clearings, bridges and beautiful nature all around. I encounter deer about 90% of the time that I’m there and they are just not that scared of humans in this area, so you get to just kind of coexist in the forest with them.

We started at the east side entrance on 1st Ave, using the paths in the forest to get the first cute shots of Mae with her first outfit. We made our way up to the top of the hill where the sun was shining so gloriously, and eventually worked our way back down to the lovely flower field before heading back to the east entrance. I had a wonderful time with Mae and her mom and love the way we were able to capture these portraits for Mae!