My Vintage Prom Dress, Her Senior Year, and a Shoot at Garden of the Gods
When my daughter told me she wanted to wear my prom dress to her senior prom this year, I didn't hesitate for a second. That dress has been sitting in storage since 1991, and honestly it deserved another moment. So did she. What happened next was one of those ideas that starts small and turns into something you'll never forget. I planned a family trip to Colorado Springs over Spring Break specifically so I could photograph her at Garden of the Gods, because the second she put on that dress I knew exactly what those images needed to look like.
The shoot was dramatic and bold, which is exactly what that location calls for. She wore my vintage early-90s prom dress with a silk scarf that caught the wind perfectly against those massive red rock formations and wide open blue sky behind her. The images have a weight to them that you just can't manufacture. That's what happens when the location is extraordinary, the light cooperates, and your subject is completely comfortable in front of the camera.
There's a personal thread running through this session that I can't separate from the work. In 1991, the day after my own prom, my friends and I drove out to Two Buttes, Colorado and did our own version of exactly this. Our prom theme that year was Hotel California. My daughter's theme in 2025 was An Evening with the Stars. Thirty-four years apart, the same dress, a completely different sky, and somehow the same impulse to mark the moment with something more than a snapshot.
One of the images from her session is now a large canvas portrait in a gold frame hanging in my studio. When clients come in for their consultations, they see it on the wall. It's one of the pieces I'm most proud of, not just because she's my daughter, but because it shows exactly what this kind of portrait can be when everything comes together.
If you have a senior who deserves more than a standard portrait session, I'd love to create something this meaningful for your family.
Wondering about my after-prom photoshoot from ‘91? Here you go!
1991, Two Buttes. photo by Darci or Brandon, I’m not sure. Photoshoot planned and coordinated by Brandon. (SCSH class of 1993).
Jenny in blue, Me in fuschia. 1991.
