Monday, August 25, 2025 | By: Kelli Gowdy Photography
There's something bittersweet about watching your child begin their first day of high school. Wasn't it just yesterday you were watching them step onto that big yellow bus with a backpack as big as they were clutching a lunch box, looking back over their shoulder wondering if everything was going to be ok? I absolutely do. I also remember holding back the tears wondering how those first five years went by so fast. I then proceeded to rush up to the elementary school to capture that first day of school as they came off the bus into their new home away from home for the next six years.
For a few of this year's Krew kids, we kicked off this back to school senior season with a playful school bus and painted jeans photoshoot, capturing the energy and excitement that senior year brings.
The first day of senior year
Senior sunrise
The first football game
The first pep rally
Homecoming
Senior night for your sport
Prom
The list goes on. These are the last times your child will experience these moments as a high school student. Take the photos even if they give you the "Look". Keep a journal for them or a scrapbook. These will be the memories you treasure when the house gets a little quieter next fall.
Between college applications, part time jobs, and senior activities, your teen's schedule is full. Find intentional moments to connect like a brunch out or a special shopping trip. These little moments will be so meaningful before your kid heads off to college.
In one of those moments you can reconnect, pull out the old family albums or home videos that make you laugh until you cry. Revisiting these times will help you remember how far you all have come from that very first trip on the school bus. And this year, you can add senior portraits to the list of soon-to-be fond memories of how far your kid has come. If you haven't scheduled thise yet, let's do it!
Absolutely you should take as many selfies and snapshots as you're allowed! But senior year only happens once. Your baby will only be eighteen once. It will be the last time they are a teen living full time in your home. Isn't it worth it to freeze this time with professional, priceless images that freezes this milestone? Holding onto those memories in a timeless album prevents those selfies from getting lost in the scroll and gives you a tangible memoir of this season.
Senior year is a mix of emotions for everyone. For parents, you're balancing the emotions of getting ready to let them go, helping them make independent decisions, yet holding on to every fragment of time with them you can. For teens, they are stepping into adulthood, yet still unsure where that will lead.
Sneak in some time to share with them why you love them. Tell the how they make you so proud. Comment on their kindness to others, passions, or determination. These words of affirmation mean so much, and those words will be what helps ground them and moves them forward.
If conversation is challenging, try starting a journal, or just leave sticky notes in unexpected places. Give those "babies" a reason to smile everyday before they leave home.
Senior year is the last chapter before your child heads into adulthood, and you have the privilege of experiencing it by their side. While they are busy riding into their future, you get to be the constant on the sidelines cheering them on and holding onto your family memories and traditions.
Make the memories.
Inbest in the portraits.
Hold onto the small everyday moments.
One day too soon, you will realize those small moments were actually the big ones all along.
And if you need someone to help with the senior portraits... I've got you. Go ahead and set up a consult today. You're not too late!
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