Angela. Senior Class, 2017.

On the outside, senior pictures might appear to be “just a pretty picture”.  One by one, seniors set up appointments with photographers across the globe and stand in front of the camera to capture this moment in time.  I think it’s easy to pass by a senior pictures and think it nothing more than a simple pretty picture.

Because I feel so strongly about capturing moments and documenting time, I never take on a job lightly.  I don’t ever take a job simply to check something off a list or to collect a paycheck.  When an individual, family, or couple stands in front of my lens, I want to capture for them something that they will treasure for a lifetime.  Senior pictures are no different.

There is no time like your senior year of high school.  The senior year is filled with endless lasts that will, so very shortly, be followed up with so many firsts.  Senior year marks the end of a chapter of life that included many of the same friends and many of the same surroundings.  It is the final chapter of young men and women living so closely under parents watchful eyes, the chapter from which they will catapult into the big wide world.  It is a beautiful time, a time like no other, a time that is marked by endless bittersweet feelings for both parents and children.

Spending time with Angie reminded me of all the feelings that come with senior year.  Feelings of excitement for what is to come as well as feelings of grief for what she will be leaving behind.  Her friendships that have meant so much to her and the early mornings and hours and hours {and hours} she has spent on the basketball court.   Angie was so delightful as she talked about the future she hopes for herself, but with enough grounding to know that her feelings might change with time.  Angie is close to her family and feels home in her community.  She oozed kindness and respect.  My hope is that, as the years pass, she and her family will look back over these pictures and remember all that had brought her to this moment and all the things that defined these days.  I hope she will remember her close friends and her basketball practices.  I hope she will remember the way she dreamed about the future.  I hope she will remember the way she laughed easily with friends and the talks she had with her parents.  They are so much more than pictures, these pictures represent a important moment in time.

Angie, I am so glad to have met you. Congratulations on your senior year!