It was June 2023, once I learned it was time to do senior photos I sort of had a me moment. I sat back and thought “Wow time really flew by”. My mother was very excited to start planning out how she would want my photos to look. I am her only daughter so of course she has to go out with a bang. In my head I started thinking of all the outfits and senior pictures I wanted. My mother wanted to incorporate the French Club I used to be in since I would be going to school for Business Management and a minor in French. This is where the fun begins!
My mother and I look up photos on apps like Pinterest and Instagram. Pinterest was our top motivator. It had all the senior photo ideas that you could think of from decorated jeans, to white corset tops, to books as props for your photos. After a while we decided to order a mini Eiffel tower to sit on top of books that had popular African American authors on the spine of the books. We also ordered a beret hat in relation to the French. My mother designed my green senior sweatshirt for the photos as I found some poses that I would like to do. The days get closer and we pack everything up in bags to be prepared.
The next day I get up early to do my makeup and I make sure to take my time with it because this day was only once. I finish my makeup after an hour and ten minutes. I put on my first outfit change at home in my all black dress with the cut off shoulders for the yearbook picture part. My mom stares at me in awe and is in straight mom mode. Once we get to the school there is already a line of students waiting to get their pictures taken. After a while it was my turn and you get a nervous rush of excitement because you hope for the best pictures and if you did your makeup right to correlate with the lighting of the cameras. It took us about thirty minutes to finish the first photos from holding the fake rose close to your chest to wearing your cap and gown in your black dress.
Furthermore, my mom and I head to the bathroom to change for outfit number two which was light ripped jeans and a button white shirt tied at the bottom. These photos felt more pure and I was barefoot for these pictures. We used the chair in the majority of the pictures and these were actually my favorite with the light blue background. These photos only took up to fifteen minutes. For our last photos we then headed to the bathroom for one last outfit change and this was more difficult.
I kept on my white button up shirt but put on my green senior sweatshirt that my mom had made custom prior to the day of the photos. I put on a white tennis skirt and a pair of Jordan 1’s that had a mixture of color but the majority green. These photos took the longest up to forty minutes. The photographer was having a hard time capturing poses because he wanted it to be perfect with the props in the frame. I had my Eiffel tower on top of the books on the floor with my beret hat on and a diploma in my hand. This was the fun part because I got to do poses on the floor with my legs crossed and a few leg kick up photos. After a while the third photographer successfully made it work and we were excited and couldn’t wait for our photos to come in.
At the end of the day, the day had to end and it was all worth the stress and work because the photos came back beautifully. As of April 2024, we are sending them out to family and friends. My mom and I got waffle house after for a little celebration and it was all such a bittersweet moment!
