Graduating during a pandemic
The school year is ending for the 2019-2020 students and I don’t think anyone could have imagined the school year would be completed at home virtually and under the supervision of mom’s who took up day drinking (well some of us anyways). It is such a weird time and such a strange feeling to end the school year under stay at home orders. This past Thursday was my daughters final day of Kindergarten. The week was a blur it did not feel like the final days of school it just felt like another thing we were missing out on. There was no big celebrations, no final goodbyes… it was just over.
But this was just kindergarten. No biggie… At least that is what my head was saying but my heart was broken. This was her first year of “real” school and I was so looking forward to seeing and celebrating the end of it. At the same time I was feeling so devastated for the kids graduating High School and College. What a huge milestone in their lives for years and years of hard work and accomplishments. I am so happy that I was able to document a few graduations. No matter how we celebrate we are all in this together.
Torrie graduated from CSULB. I loved her cap she had decorated for graduation “Finally done with this B.S.” Earning her Bachelor of Science and off to accomplish great things. We were fortunate enough to be able to photograph around the Long Beach Campus and safely social distance for her session. We walked the campus and ended our session at the pyramid with a a cap toss.
Have you heard of Salvation Mountain? It has always been a place I have wanted to visit. A colorful oasis in the California desert. Dalton is a family friend and wanted a unique backdrop for his senior photos. That meant flying from Chicago to Cali for the perfect spot. Salvation Mountain was a 3hr drive from Orange County and completely worth the road trip to capture these senior portraits. If you do make the trek out to this location take a paint bucket of any color paint you have or pick one up along the way (latex preferred) they use the donated paint cans to keep the mountain maintained. Stay on the path, respect the rules and follow the golden brick road.
Another unique graduation session was for Sydney. We popped the champagne for her front porch socially distanced graduation portraits. While we photographed her closest friends and family were secretly decorating their cars around the corner ready and waiting to surprise her. The session was scheduled on the day she was supposed to walk and accept her diploma. She may not have been able to walk but she and her hard work were honored and celebrated. Congratulations to all of the 2020 graduates!! This was a unique and memorable year and I wish you all the best.
