Why a Senior Story is a Better Idea than a “Senior Portrait”

I love this portrait. With one captured image, an entire story is shared. This is Kelly’s fifteenth birthday session – the year she was completely obsessed with Hamilton: An American Musical.

I see so much of her in this image – how she devours books like a hungry word monster. How utterly and breathtakingly beautiful she was, a young girl becoming a woman. I can practically hear her humming to herself, “Helpless…”

This image tells me how she searched for the perfect outfit – a nod to Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Alexander Hamilton costume but contemporary enough that she could get away with wearing it herself. It captures her joy in opening the book she’s reading (a gift from an adopted church grandma).

In short, this image tells a story. A story that we love, and that we retell every time we see these portraits.

I contrast this image with my own senior portraits. If there’s any story to be told here, it can only be: “Did I like pink, or what?”

There’s nothing in this portrait that tells about the girl who dreamed of being a pilot, or the girl who wanted to write. There’s nothing that talks about how excited she is to finish high school and get to Freed-Hardeman University. There’s nothing in this frame that explains her favorite thing is curling up with a good thick book and a very large icy cold Coca-Cola.

Nope. Just pink. (And I don’t even think I was terribly fond of pink back then). It’s a nice image, and it certainly shows what I looked like right before my senior year, but it’s not a story. It’s not my story.

This is what Traci Sproule Photography is all about. It’s telling your story – who you are now, how you got to this point, what excites you about your future.

Give me a call, won’t you, and let’s tell your story together.

Contact Traci. Let’s Tell Your Story.