My oldest child, Nate, graduated May 2019. The summer before his senior year, I went into a tizzy trying to get all my parent-of-a-senior’s ducks in a row. I scheduled a college student who is majoring in Photography and Business, figuring that he wouldn’t be as expensive as a pro but should be able to get some good pictures. I was wrong. I was so disappointed in the outcome. Thankfully, it wasn’t a huge investment, and my family convinced me to buy myself a better camera to do the job myself.
I did some extensive research in obtaining the best senior pictures ever. Ok, I scoured Pinterest for ideas. I guess I have a really unique kid, because I never found any setting or pose that said, “This is Nate.” My guy is a bookworm, artist, and nature/bug fanatic. (He’s since moved on to native plants. You can see how geeked out he is by his new venture here: http://www.nate.venarske.wixsite.com)
Instead of black and white photos of a young man with his tennis racket, all hot and sweaty from smashing the ball in a fierce opponent’s face, we had to take pictures with Nate’s trusty…. butterfly net at the neighborhood pond where he first learned about Creation in our daily meandering homeschool nature walks.
Instead of a cool urban background with him peering through windows blown out from a violent (tornado?) blast, we had to take pictures of him at the farm we purchased back in 2009 so that he and his siblings would have a place to explore and visit with grandparents.
And instead of a serious looking young man, tie askew and top button wrenched open, carrying a load of heavy textbooks, we had to take a picture of a smiling, conservatively attired Nate on the campus of his adored high school, where he truly blossomed into a scholarly, remarkable young man.
Sure, Nate’s senior pictures don’t look like they came from a magazine. However, they are HIM. He’s not a generic, run-of-the-mill teenager by any means, and my desire was to have his senior pictures reflect his personality. I hope they do.
My next child, Eli, is a senior this year at Jackson Prep. He’s the middle child, and I’m thinking, “Wasn’t I stressed out about Nate’s senior pictures by this point?” Eli is into Legos. Period. What am I going to do about senior pictures???
