When Life Hands You Rain, Bring Citrus: A Concept Portrait Session with Nakisha at Jordan River Parkway
ESTIMATED READ TIME: 6 MINUTES
When Nakisha first pitched me the idea for her session, she said she wanted citrus. Limes, lemons, oranges, the whole produce aisle. Bright colors, juicy textures, something that felt fresh and a little playful. I was in before she finished the sentence. A portrait session doesn’t have to be “stand here, smile, next pose.” It can be built entirely around a concept, a mood, a color palette, an inside joke, whatever makes you feel like you.
The Plan: Citrus, an Orange Dress, and a Sheer Yellow Curtain
We met up along the Jordan River Parkway Trail, which is one of my go-to spots for portrait sessions here in Salt Lake County. Lush greenery, winding paths, and enough variety in the landscape that we’re never stuck with one background for an entire shoot.
Nakisha showed up in a strapless orange dress that played perfectly against the citrus we brought along, and we strung up a sheer yellow curtain as a soft, dreamy backdrop so the fruit could actually be the star of the show. That’s the fun part of a concept session: everything gets to work together on purpose. The wardrobe, the props, the backdrop, the location. None of it is an afterthought.
Portrait Session
Starting at $225
- Session typically lasts 60 minutes
- 50+ edited images
- $100 non-refundable retainer to book
- Remainder due the day before the session
- Travel fees applicable if 35+ miles from West Jordan
Turning Fruit Into a Full Photoshoot
Once we had the setting dialed in, we got to actually playing with the citrus, and this is where a good concept really earns its keep. A theme gives you a dozen different ideas to shoot instead of just one.
Balancing acts. We had Nakisha stack and balance limes, lemons, and oranges in her hands and along her arms. It sounds simple, but it created some of the most playful shots of the day, with all that bright color popping against her orange dress.
Slicing and dicing. We brought a cutting board and a knife along, because why not. Nakisha sliced the citrus in half, and we used the fresh-cut pieces as props, holding them up near her face so the color and texture framed her features in a way no plain backdrop ever could.
Citrus in motion. My favorite shots of the day came from having Nakisha squeeze the fruit and let the juice run down her hands. It added movement to still photos, little droplets caught mid-fall, and it made the whole set feel alive instead of staged.
The taste test. For a little candid, unscripted energy, we had her actually bite into the citrus. Her reactions ranged from playful grimaces to genuine laughing smiles, and those are the frames that make a gallery feel like her, not like a stock photo.
Then the Sky Opened Up
Utah weather had other plans for us that day. Partway through the session, it started raining. If you’ve never had a photoshoot get rained on, here’s a secret: it’s not the disaster it sounds like. Instead of packing up, we leaned into it. Rain softens harsh light and gets rid of those unflattering shadows a sunny day can create, so the overcast sky actually worked in our favor. It added reflections, texture, and a sense of movement to the images, and against the citrus theme, it somehow made everything look even more vivid and alive. Nakisha let the rain fall on her skin and play with her hair, and that raw, in-the-moment energy shows up in every single one of those photos.
A few things made it work:
- We kept umbrellas, waterproof camera covers, and a towel on hand so gear stayed dry and we could keep shooting without a hard stop.
- We treated the rain as a mood-setter instead of a problem, letting it bring out a calmer, more intimate feel to the session.
- We kept the energy light and playful the whole time, because a rain-soaked shoot only works if everyone involved is having fun with it.
By the end, the rain wasn’t something we worked around. It was part of the story.
Why Concept Sessions Are Worth It
Here’s the bigger takeaway from Nakisha’s session: the best portrait sessions usually start with an idea you’re genuinely excited about, not just a location and an outfit. Citrus is a great example because it’s such a specific, unexpected theme, but the same approach works for almost anything. A favorite color. A hobby. A song lyric. A memory. An aesthetic you’ve been pinning on Pinterest for a year. If it means something to you, it can become the backbone of an entire shoot.
When a session is built around a concept, every choice, wardrobe, props, location, lighting, gets to support that one idea instead of being picked at random. That’s when a gallery stops looking like generic portraits and starts looking like a story that’s actually yours.
Ready to Build Your Own Concept Session in Utah?
If this citrus shoot has you daydreaming about a theme of your own, I would love to help you bring it to life. Whatever idea you’re sitting on, however weird or specific or “is this too much,” bring it to me and let’s build a portrait session around it. Head over to the contact form and let’s start planning your Utah portrait session.
