Walking into senior year, one has the last first of everything. Last first day of school, band practices, dances, games, concerts, classes, etc. This means one shot at everything one last time. With wrapping up the last year, many get senior photos to highlight the biggest aspects of their high school era. Senior photos can be important to a student because they can hold memories a person would never want to forget. The images are very crucial to portraying individuality so they’re remembered for what they were most interested in throughout the past four years.

     Alyse Burns, senior, has been a student in the district since kindergarten and has been involved in many activities throughout high school, but one of her main sports has been cheerleading and competition cheer. Burns is a caring, easygoing person to be around and has a comforting energy to her which is also one of the attributes that make her, her. She got her senior photos done by a well-known photographer in the area and made sure she looked at their posts before booking with them to make sure she liked the photos and locations where they were being taken. She ended up having her photos taken in downtown Cedar Rapids with very casual outfits that matched her personality very well. Burns said, “The photographer had me walk around all of downtown and take pictures in different spots so the background is different for all of them.” A worry for many seniors is one’s pictures look too similar to others, but Burns’s photos came out very fitting to her characteristics. Burns said a common theme in many people’s photos is flowers which she didn’t include to accentuate a more fitting vibe to herself.

     Mya Walker, senior,  has been a student in the district for five years and is involved in many activities such as speech, robotics, Green Bandana, and band. Her senior photos have been set around her personality and what she enjoys doing outside of school too. The person taking her photos is a smaller photographer, so it’s easy to have individualized photos for herself. Her locations aren’t only the typical outdoor locations, but also in a library, a kitchen, and a record store since those are the main hobbies she enjoys. Walker said, “What makes my photos unique is that they mostly highlight things I enjoy doing like collecting vinyls and listening to them, reading, and cooking, which I plan on doing in the future.” Walker said she noticed that many sessions also had some type of body of water incorporated into them and that’s one of the trends she wanted to avoid because it didn’t fit her the most. 

     Both Walker’s and Burns’ photos dial in on their personality or activities they’re interested in. Having a photographer that knows what you wish for and nailing that to create the sessions that are most direct to one’s personality is vital to make sure the person is known and remembered for what they love the most throughout their high school years.