Real quotes · Real chaos · Real memories
We all agreed to wear coordinating outfits. Three of us showed up in sage green. Brianna showed up in full hot pink and said she "thought we meant our own personal vibe." She is in every single photo and honestly she pops the most.
We practiced the jumping photo at home for two weeks. On the actual day, four of us jumped and Mia crouched down. Every single frame. She said she didn't want to look tall. She is 5'2".
We booked a sunset rooftop location. The building manager forgot we were coming and locked the door. We did the entire shoot in the parking garage below it. Somehow the concrete and harsh fluorescent light makes them look very editorial. We are claiming it was intentional.
Six people, one photographer, and a dog that belonged to none of us just wandered into the frame and sat down like he was booked. We waited for him to leave. He did not leave. He is in the final photos. We named him Duke. We will never see him again.
We decided to do a "candid laughing" shot. The photographer said "just laugh naturally." Nobody laughed. We stared at each other for thirty silent seconds. Then Noah fake-laughed so hard he started crying for real. That made the rest of us completely lose it. That photo is now framed at graduation.
We rented a vintage convertible for the shoot. None of us can drive a manual. The car rolled two feet while we were posing. The photographer caught the exact moment of realization on all three of our faces simultaneously. It is an extraordinary photograph.
One friend was 45 minutes late. We used that time to take so many good solo shots that by the time she arrived we had everything we needed and just wanted brunch. The group photos are fine. The solo ones are incredible. She knows. We don't talk about it.
Seven people, seven different interpretations of "casual but cute." We had: a ball gown, two sundresses, overalls, a full suit, jeans and a band tee, and one guy who showed up in his soccer uniform because he misread the group chat. He has never once explained himself and we respect that.
We planned matching outfits for weeks over a group chat. Showed up and discovered we had two separate group chats and the boys had planned their own look entirely. There are photos of us staring across a field at each other in completely different aesthetics. We call it "divided but iconic."
The photographer asked us to walk toward her naturally. We have walked our entire lives but in that moment none of us had any idea how arms worked. She showed us the preview. We retook it eleven times. They all look exactly the same. We kept the first one.
It started sprinkling halfway through. Three of us ran for cover. Three of us stayed. The photographer kept shooting. The three who stayed look genuinely beautiful and cinematic in the rain. The three who ran are visible under a picnic table in the background of frame twelve. We ordered prints of both.
We wanted to recreate a photo from freshman year in the same spot. We found the spot. We recreated the pose. Three of us had grown several inches. The tree we were under is now just a stump. The new photo is somehow more emotional for it.
We wanted to do a hiking trail shoot. We forgot the session was two hours long and we had to hike back down afterward in formalwear. Kylie wore heels because, in her words, "she wasn't going to let the mountain win." She made it. We have never been more proud of anyone in our lives.
Eight seniors, one photographer, two hours. Someone was always blinking. Someone was always adjusting. Someone kept making everyone else laugh. By shot 47 the photographer just said "everyone looked decent in frame 31." We accepted frame 31. It is a great photo.
We did a "looking into the distance" shot. The photographer stepped back and a tour bus pulled up and stopped directly behind us. A full bus of strangers watched us pose for four minutes straight. We held it. They started clapping when we finished. Best day of our entire senior year.
We wanted moody, dramatic, artistic. We had a whole Pinterest board. We showed up and the location was a children's birthday party. Balloons everywhere. A clown. We took the photos anyway. There's something genuinely haunting about five seniors in formal wear surrounded by balloon animals. We love them deeply.
She kept telling me to "be natural." I have never once in my life known how to stand. She finally said "pretend you're waiting for a pizza." That is the photo on my wall. I look cooler waiting for imaginary pizza than I have ever looked doing anything on purpose.
I sneezed right as the photographer said "okay, here we go — three, two—" and she caught the whole thing mid-air. I begged her to delete it. My grandma saw it and cried happy tears. It's on the Christmas card now. I have fully surrendered to its existence.