Senior photos earn WV student a modeling stint in Las Vegas

Danielle Ball on the catwalk at the SPA model program.

By ALYSSA PATRICK
UNLEASHED STAFF

Danielle Ball decided to get her senior pictures taken at PhotoNuvo for no other reason than a suggestion from a friend.
How was the West Valley student to know that the owner of the  Ellensburg studio, Linda Hamilton, was a member of the Senior Portrait Artists?
She didn’t until a few months later, when she went from one of thousands participating in a end-of-high-school tradition to one in 15 working as a model at the SPA convention in Las Vegas.
The annual SPA convention focuses on training and techniques for up-and-coming photographers through the teachings of industry bigwigs.
“They want the professional photographers to use high school seniors as models, since they are different to work with than professional models,” Hamilton says.
SPA members can enter seniors in the organization’s modeling contest. And “ … after photographing (Danielle) I thought she’d have a good chance of getting in,” Hamilton says. “She was incredibly easy to get along with, had her own ideas, an obvious modeling background, and left an impression.”

Danielle Ball

Ball’s modeling experience started at the tender age of 10.
“I’ve been with different modeling agencies who have helped me build a portfolio, but I’ve never been tall enough to really get into the industry,” the 18-year-old  senior says.
“In September (Hamilton) called to ask if I’d be interested in the contest. I said yes, so she had me come back to the studio for some different pictures.”
The second shoot made Ball’s entry stand out against about 300 others, and landed her an all-expense-paid trip to the Red Rock Hotel in Las Vegas in January.

In addition to being one of 15 models selected, Ball was also asked to be one of six to attend the pre-event photo shoot.
“Photographers who wanted some individual time with the big photographers paid a little extra money to attend the pre-event,” she says.
The six models — decked out in clothing picked by a Seventeen magazine stylist — posed for some of the nation’s most renowned senior portrait photographers at the Neon Sign Museum and in Red Rock Canyon.
“The main photographer would take pictures and talk about the techniques he was using to the group of learning photographers surrounding him,” Ball says.
Hamilton says she loves this part of the conference; it’s the chance to watch and learn from big-time photographers who aren’t shooting trained professionals, just high school kids like the seniors she photographs for a living.
Workshops for photographers filled the second day. Hamilton attended presentations about business and marketing while Ball spent the day in fittings and meetings about what the next day’s shoot would look like.
“It was not what I thought it’d be,” Ball says. “I thought we’d take a few pictures and then my mom and I would go shopping, but I was going nonstop. I was blown out of the water, I was working hard and really felt needed. I’ve never felt like such a VIP.”
On the last day, there was an award ceremony and fashion show. One of the most prestigious photographers Ball worked with received an award with a picture he took of her.
As for the fashion show, it was Ball’s first one, and she loved it: “I modeled eight outfits, and each one was an example of an upcoming trend the photographers should expect to see in the next year. It was so fun.”
While this experience embraced Ball’s one-time dream of becoming a model, she says she’s on a different path.
“Modeling is not as realistic for me now,” she says. “I want to further my education, but this was still an amazing experience I’m glad I had the opportunity to take.”

• Alyssa Patrick is the student editor of the Yakima Herald-Republic’s Unleashed team. She attends Eisenhower High School.