When it's a photographer's turn to celebrate her high school senior!
High school senior photos are an exciting right of passage! So when it was our family's turn for our oldest to be a graduating senior at Attleboro High School in 2020, we were all so excited for her! The summer before and that fall, Shelbie planned out a few locations that represented the things she loves and locations where she wanted her senior photos made. As a photographer, I was thrilled with being able to photograph one of my favorite people and give this gift to her!
We went to the beach and were given the most amazing sunset, an apple orchard, a sun-kissed field, the culinary kitchen at Attleboro High School because she was in the culinary program and perhaps the location that represents my girl the most, the public library! She has always had a love of reading and books. When she was in first grade she read the whole Harry Potter series and it became her absolute favorite. The movies themselves were on at our house constantly over her school years, even through high school. During spring break of her junior year we took a family vacation to Universal Studio's and the Wizarding World of Harry Potter attractions were our family's favorite. So so many good memories getting butterbeer at the Leaky Cauldron, riding the Hogwarts Express and seeing the dragon on top of Gringott's Bank in Diagon Alley. Her choice to wear a Harry Potter t-shirt while at the library was perfect! We were quiet, respectful and stayed out of other patron's way to be able to document her favorite location.
Senior year started off great! All the typical first half of the school year things and we were headed into the home stretch. March 2020. Her prom dress had been ordered and her date had is outfit complete with matching Converse. Outfits that they never got to wear to prom because of the Covid-19 pandemic stay at home order went into effect. We were able to go out to a field and do a photoshoot of the two of them in their prom attire later on however.
A drive-through graduation ceremony was planned and we all did the best we could. I watched her submit her last assignment on her laptop from the couch and officially become a high school graduate. We then had a Harry Potter themed high school graduation at home with just our family to celebrate.
Senior year may not have ended the way we all planned but as we are looking back, what a memory! She just kept saying over and over that she was so glad she had her senior photos and were able to still have those precious memories. Me too! All the other high school senior milestones were taken away, but not her senior photos!
Living in Massachusetts, going to the beach every summer is a longstanding tradition for our family. So when we were choosing locations for senior photos, the beach had to be included! Shelbie and I went to Horseneck Beach in Westport, MA for part of her senior session and the sunset was AMAZING! It went from a vibrant orange to the most amazing red I've ever seen! I was so glad I brought an off camera flash to be able to take full advantage of the sky. We left the beach and smiled all the way home, knowing we got some awesome senior photos!
Apple picking in New England is a yearly fall tradition for many including us. Shelbie's dad LOVES fall and fall activities. He's always the one encouraging us to go find a corn maze, a hay ride and loves picking apples so it was so fun to include Shelbie's senior year's fall family outing as part of Shelbie's senior photos. She brought along a cool hat and we had so much fun! What a fun memory and unique location for her senior session!
Attleboro High School offer's vocational programs including a fabulous Culinary program that Shelbie participated in throughout her whole high school career. She loved working with and learning about food and the kitchen. She loved working with the Chef's and leading. Working with food is what led her to major in Food Science in college.
She knew she wanted to include culinary somehow for her senior photos. Being big fans of shows like Chopped and Worst Cooks in America, I was excited to come up with a more dramatic and cinematic look for this part of her senior session. We used the kitchen from Attleboro High School's culinary program and added dramatic off camera lighting. Unique senior photos...check!
Having a Mom that is a photographer can sometimes be interesting. At anytime while driving around town I might yell out, "oh, look at that field!" and to other people it just looks like the side of the road. This field was one of them. It's just around the corner from our house and we drive by it all the time. This night it was perfectly lit and we took full advantage as we drove by! We had just finished doing senior photos at the library and we were on our way home. The light was perfect for a senior session and within 20 minutes we had completed our photos.
To finish off the Senior portraits, we did a cap and gown session at the end of the year! All of the other end of the year senior activities were cancelled but we were still able to celebrate graduation in our own unique way.
Leave some sweet words for Shelbie:
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