Looking back

When J’s mom first asked me to do his senior pictures, she said she wanted images that captured his high school days, reflecting him and the things he did, the things he loved.  So on the day of our shoot, we took a trip to his high school in Elizabeth, CO and walked the campus.

From the baseball field and track where J would compete, to the lunch tables where he spends time with friends playing his guitar, I got a chance to capture him and listen as he and his mom told me stories from these last few years.  It’s amazing the things they both remembered, first games and dear friendships, even embarassing moments that can be looked back on now with a smile.

J’s mom, C, has two boys just like I do.  She assured me that what everyone says is really true, these precious years go by so quickly, and somehow you find yourself starting sentences with, “It feels like just yesterday…”

And I realized what senior pictures are really about.  Of course you want a nice portrait for the yearbook, but it’s more than that.  It’s being able to look at these images today, and tomorrow and years from now, and remember this sweet time in you life.  A time of learning and growing and building character, a time of preparing.  In a way, senior year is both an end and a beginning.  You’re saying goodbye to being a kid, and stepping forward to meet the future.

I’m excited for J.  He’s an amazing young man with big plans and an awesome family to help him find his way.  But for today, I hope he enjoys himself, drinking in these final days of high school, his senior year.