Senior year for the Class of 2020 has taken a completely unexpected turn, devastating many hopes and dreams as proms, graduations and in some cases senior pictures.
At the very least it has postponed them indefinitely and this year’s seniors are heartbroken.
I am hyper-aware of this as a senior photographer, even more so as a parent of a high school senior. Thankfully, we were able to plan ahead and get some of her portraits taken at the end of summer last year right before the school year started.
I just may have gone a little overboard with senior pictures!
But can you really go overboard?
Nah! My girl is an outside of the box dreamer, with music and art in her heart always- we wanted to plan a fun trip that also expressed her personality and charm.
For my daughter’s road trip session, we started from Phoenix to Palm Springs, California. The next day we hit Newport Beach and Balboa Pier, then onto a day in Los Angeles where we visited The Last Bookstore – has to be seen by any book lover- and the MOCA. Another day on the beach at El Matador and La Piedra for gorgeous sea spray and sand. We popped by the Rose Bowl to catch a DCI drum corps show one day, then we were off to one of my bucket list photo session spots: the Nelson Nevada Ghost Town and Eldorado Canyon Mine Tours.
We had many more adventures planned, from cap and gown portraits to springtime outings in her future college town that has been postponed due to the need to socially distance to protect everyone which has taken precedence.
To the class of 2020 — you are resilient!
While not every moment or event can be rescheduled, no one can cancel what you have achieved and your dreams will not be on hold forever.
When life has returned to normal, or a new kind of ‘normal’, what a celebration your schools, communities, and families will have for you. Spend this break wisely, completing schoolwork, meditating away frustration, looking up bizarre scholarships and essay writing. Working when you can, taking care of yourselves.
Nothing can keep you down for long, seniors — you will rise from this stronger than before!
Anjeanette is a senior portrait photographer in Phoenix, Arizona and beyond: Senior portraits, professional headshots, families, children.
She gives back to her community back as a volunteer for school marching bands, non-profits, and her open affirming church (everyone is welcome and we mean everyone).
When she’s not awkwardly writing about herself in the third person, she is praying, photographing, painting, reading, and exploring the world with her husband, children, and her trusty National Parks Passport.
