melanie M: chs class of 2023
Want to know one of my favorite things about photographing seniors?
I love when we switch from one class to the next. It’s like the slate has been swept clean and it’s time to start all over again from scratch.
It’s a time to try new things, experiment a little, and enjoy working with seniors who are excited about the year that lies before them. It’s almost like my own way of remembering how back to school feels each year for students.
My first senior for the Class of 2023 (yes, even beating out my own son whose session will be later this month) was CHS senior, Melanie. I first met Melanie and her family when she and Colin started preschool at Zion Lutheran Preschool. She’s grown up from an adorable little girl with curly hair to a beautiful young woman (still with curly hair) and such an interesting personality.
I love photographing spring sessions for seniors during the spring of their junior year. Does this seem odd to you? Let me explain.
Spring weather in unpredictable. When will the flowers be in bloom? I have no idea. I can guess, but we all know Mother Nature runs on her own schedule and doesn’t take into account the wants and needs of a photographer in the middle of America.
Why is unpredictable spring weather a problem? Can’t we just reschedule? We can, but we’re working on a time crunch in the spring. You need your photos done and back so you can order graduation announcements. Early-mid April is ideal for getting your spring portraits done and when nature doesn’t cooperate, your photographer starts pacing the floors and nervously twitching.
The end of senior year is B-A-N-A-N-A-S. Sports seasons are wrapping up, you’re prepping for finals, there are tons of end of year events with the school, and you’re likely planning for graduation and the parties that go along with that. Time and money can be tight in the spring of senior year.
So many of my seniors are over it all by the spring. They’re not interested in celebrating senior year with a photo session when mentally, they’ve moved on to their next adventure.
Ok, I went off on a tangent there. If you’ve ever worked with me, you know that happens.
Often.
Back to Melanie’s session.
After exhausting all my favorite spots at the Macoupin County Courthouse, we came back to the studio for some indoor shots in front of my new floral backdrop that I loved way more than I ever thought I would.
Here, we chatted about college plans, SAT scores, and Melanie’s love for history and (particularly military history).
So, it probably won’t surprise you to know that Melanie will be going to college after finishing at CHS to study…history. (As the mom of a current history/political science college student,, I approve this message.) We need people in our work force like Melanie who are educated about where we’ve been so we can move forward better and smarter. I can’t wait to see what she does in her career!
“Few will have the greatness to bend history itself, but each of us can work to change a small portion of events, and in the total of all those acts will be written the history of this generation. It is from numberless diverse acts of courage and belief that human history is shaped.”
