Why your senior year of high school is so important.

With all the graduations happening right now I was reflecting on my senior year of high school. During my senior year and really the summer before my mom made it a priority to ensure that I had fun. Not going out and getting in to trouble fun (I may have done a little of that too…), but letting go of all the pressures and responsibilities and enjoying what really was the last of my childhood fun. She helped fill out all my college and scholarship applications so that I could just do the essay portions and spend less time doing “responsibility items” and more time with my family and friends before I moved away to college. She would take me shopping and to the movies every Sunday. She took me to concerts with my friends. Why did she do this? Because she was a 16 year old single mom in high school that missed out on the “normal” high school experience. She understood that this was my last year of being a kid. I would soon be an adult, with lots of responsibilities, bills to pay, job(s) and eventually children of my own to care for. My parents also knew I was going to have to work really hard through college to maintain my scholarships, and I was mostly on my own to pay for what wasn’t covered and hold a job (multiple jobs at times). Your senior year of high school should be about preparing for your future, but equally about embracing still being a kid. Have fun. Enjoy the freedoms you have while you can. Spend time doing the things you love with your family and your friends. And to all the moms of high school students out there: these kids have so much pressure each and every day. Help them to enjoy the last of there childhood. Enjoy it with them. Make time to do things together, because soon your baby will be an adult.

What do senior portraits mean to me?
My journey as a family and high school senior photographer in Colorado Springs is that like many: trial and error, successes and failures, joy and frustration. It is with all of these things, years of experiences and many stories that I came to the conclusion that while I love to photograph just about anything, my passion and my heart are in capturing one of the biggest milestones we will experience both as a adolescent and again as an adult: senior portraits. It is a pivotal time for both the parent and the soon to be graduate as they find themselves at the brink of adulthood. It is at this moment that I am able to capture what will be the last of their childhood and the first of their journey as an adult, determined and ambitious as they pave their way into the future. It’s a surreal and incomparable milestone with every type of raw emotion surfacing. Still being young enough to readily remember my own graduation and time as a high school student, I can relate to the excitement I myself had as I forged into the unknown. Only now I have two young children so I can also understand the tremendous impact these milestones have on the mother, father and rest of the family. Using my understanding of the younger generation, I create a bond with each of my seniors. They want to know they are valued, and special in a world that moves faster than any one person can keep up with. I take the time to understand what makes each one of my senior’s tick, what they love, what they hate and the end result? I become their friend, well, slightly older friend. It is equally important that I understand the family dynamic and the impact of this transition on the parents. What are they most proud of? What worries them? What are their favorite memories together? Owning a photography business is much more than just taking great pictures. It is long hours and lots of hard work, fluid and constantly evolving. It is important to truly understand the needs of the client, relate to them on a personal level to deliver a service and a product that are sustainable. As I watch the interactions between the families I reflect upon my own both current and past and treasure that I am a part of what will be one of the biggest events of their lives. Just as I have taken chances, made mistakes, shared successes, cried tears of sorrow and tears of joy; so will each of these young adults as they set forth on their journeys to becoming who they will be.