Trophy Club Senior Photographer + Byron Nelson Closed by Covid
Wow, what a year. What a senior year.
I met Tanner last fall, 2019, just after I completed a summer of intense predawn workouts and Saturday meets on the Trophy Club Tritons swim team where his older sister, Isabel, was my amazing swim coach and teammate. We may or may not have been on a state winning relay together that was by far the highlight of my accomplishments. You know, we are better together… and yet here we are now, apart.
Before we get on to that part – the apart part - and Tanner, of course, a quick story about Isabel (sorry Tanner). While we were at that 2019 summer TAAF state swim meet at Texas A&M University, rocking the adult record boards and winning the team state title (no, I’m not shy about my 40+, I didn’t know I had type 1 diabetes sports successes), a random person made some comments about our more than stellar Trophy Club “mom” team. The town name of Trophy Club doesn’t always do us justice…
The comment was made was something to the effect of… “the Trophy Club adult team must be just a bunch of tall, blonde socialites, going to practice to sip ice tea”, or maybe it was cocktails. You know, at 5:00 AM, in a hot pool with hairballs at the bottom. And for the record, I'm a short home body with brownish hair that has to be died to cover the grays. Well, our strong, teenage coach and leader, Isabel, wasn’t going to let anyone think this way about her teammates. She assured this person that our group was a hard working group, there at 5:00 am multiple days a week and we all worked and worked out hard and we were amazing moms and role models to boot. And we were! A group consisting of teachers, engineers, a veterinarian, a nurse, a marathoner and me, the photographer and now, the diabetic. Take that random person! I’m so proud of her for standing up for us in the moment instead of just silently letting it pass. I’m so impressed with her courage and leadership to not let anyone talk that way about her team. And after that, just a month later, she called on my talents as she referred me to her family for Tanner’s senior pictures. Thank you Isabel! We are still stronger together, right?
So Tanner, I’m sorry I started off your senior story with an intro on your sister. It’s just the worst, right? That’s 2020 for you, isn’t it? 2020 – When you have your senior pictures taken and your photographer writes your blog post about your sister instead.
2020 was supposed to be your year and yet here you are getting kicked down again and again. Your soccer season, done before it was done. Your prom, cancelled. Seeing your friends in the hallways, nope. High fiving your teammate after practice, not happening. The race to the locker room, no one won that one. Saying goodbye to your teachers? Walking out of the school for the last time? Driving off the campus parking lot for the last time? Heading to Chipotle to celebrate with your friends? No, none of that.
The goals you set and yet you weren’t even given the chance to try… I cry.
You left Byron Nelson High School for spring break and never got to go back.
What you got was a slap in the face to let Covid steal your experience while you were doubled over and catching your breath, trying to figure out what in the world is going on. You were robbed of your experience. You deserved to have all those “senior moments” and they weren’t available to you. It’s called a right of passage because it is your right!
Instead you had to stay home day after day, spending the end of your senior year with your mom and sister, likely. A vacation that wasn’t a vacation. An empty parking lot. A brand new sports center that wasn’t seeing a lick of sports. A stellar soccer field, but no one was allowed to play on it. Class rooms with no one to sit in them. Empty desks. Empty halls. A school zone that wasn’t.
For the Marvel fans, it was a blip. A moment, a long moment in time, gone, lost and barely any of us seemed to be much a part of it.
What did you get though? The chance to do something different. The chance to stand up in the face of adversity. The chance to learn to adapt and move forward. The time with your family. The time with your dog. The opportunity to face a world of anger and fear and carry on with hope and determination.
And well, you did get some senior pictures.
These senior pictures represent normalcy. They are what your senior year was, before it wasn’t. They are what your senior year was supposed to be, until it was all ripped away.
Above all that though, these senior pictures are you - and no pandemic can take that from you.
While that seems like a great ending, I want end with Tanner’s successes. While I’ve been hibernating at home this summer, Tanner stood up to Covid and went and got a job, at a law firm no less. I already knew Tanner was hard working and intelligent because goodness he is heading to Texas A&M in the fall to study computer science. But by refusing the sit idly by and getting a job during a pandemic proves he has something even more valuable - motivation and determination. Well done, Tanner. I know your years in College Station will be some of the best years of your life because you are going to take the experience by the reins and make it happen, regardless of Covid, but with a mask on, of course ;)
And lastly, thank you to your family for brining me along on the journey to capture your senior story. Thank you for taking all my direction and for all the smiles you brought that day – and all the non smiles too. For putting up with the rain and all the awkward posing I insist on. You are a model photo subject and you truly look like a model in them.
Now give your Mom, Dad, Sister and dog a big hug and go kick Covid in the butt for all of us! Fighting Texas Aggie Class of 2025!! Whoop!
Flower Mound Senior Photographer + Founders Classical Academy Senior
Dylan is one of my seniors from a few years ago, but I still love, love, LOVE the photos because he wanted, and got, something different. He wanted to be a bad a$$ (as most senior boys do for their senior portraits) and he certainly had the look to back it up! We tailored his shoot to do a few things different and create as cool of a cool-kid-model-vibe as we could.
We found the smallest window in his house at the back of a dark media room and stepped over his siblings toys scrunched in a backdrop and created some intense low light, dramatic portraits and basketball shots. He totally rocked them, right? Then we headed to his school, Founders Classical Academy of Lewisville, with his MOTORCYCLE. So, maybe Dylan already was a bad a$$, but he just wanted to make sure his photos reflected that as well... And as an aside, let me tell you how much photographers love props. Love them. It makes our photos fun and engaging Dylan's props certainly help create the vibe we were going for.
Oddly enough, at the time I hadn't heard of Founder's Classical Academy, but was intrigued by the concept and even went on a tour at a later date! It was too far away for my kids to attend, but low and behold in 2019 they dropped one down in Flower Mound just 17 minutes from our house in Trophy Club. Both my kids got in on the wait list the year it opened (they just finished their first year despite COVID)! Absolute, foreshadowing or enlightenment for me! I know Founder's served Dylan well and now its serving my kids well too. It's just amazing how some people and experiences can change your life for the better. It never would have occurred to me to do anything other than the district provided public school.
Like so many kids, Dylan's step dad had a sweet car and we used that to its fullest. We finished with some standard senior portrait shots and Dylan ended up with a spectacular, well rounded set of senior portraits. He's on with his life now, still in the Flower Mound area and attending pilot school. How cool is that? I'm hoping for a photo shoot on the runway one day... but until then just feeling blessed to have photographed this kid.
Trophy Club Senior Photographer + Sunfilled Senior Splendor
This is honestly one of my favorite girls senior photography shoots. This yellow barn in Illinois, the blue sky and all the warm yellow tones from the setting sun and flowers plus smiles, giggles, turns, and a natural, barefoot senior girl to bring all this elements of nature to life. Thank you Olivia for playing along and being you!
Colleyville Senior Girls Photography + Natural Beauty
The rustic outdoor elements at the Colleyville Nature Center and the amazing architectural elements at McPherson Park were the perfect senior portrait backdrop for this beautiful girl with her sweet, natural look and soft smile. The dappled, directed light on the bridge creates subtle tones and a soft glow highlights her flowy dress and her ethereal nature. The leading lines of the bridge are a photographers dream and frame her to perfection. The bright blue silos and McPherson I just can't even get over. They're the perfect background for a photography subject with a pop of color thrown in with the breezy tall grass and plants. Jane was a photographers dream too, ready to take all my awkward direction and use her acting skills to create her amazing images. Smart, beautiful, talented and now an amazing model too!
Senior Girls Photography
I love photographing senior girls. Why? Because they love to be photographed. Yes, they all have their uncertainties, but with a little direction and know how they are the perfect subjects. What I love even more than photographing them is knowing that they see how beautiful they really are in my images. You are beautiful Emma! Thanks for being one of my seniors!
