For nine years, I taught at Rossview High School. My favorite hobby during that time was attending the sports games to photograph and support the athletes. I have moved on from education, but I am eager to continue getting to know and root for “the kids.”

During my last year of teaching, I had a baseball portrait session with the principal’s son so I could surprise her. He brought a friend who was new to town and new to the team. We took some great portraits, but I didn’t know the impact they would have for almost a year. The other boy’s mom told me that his experience filled him with confidence in a new town and helped the team accept him. It was then that I realized how powerful a great senior portrait session can be.

The year before, when COVID canceled spring sports, I met with my seniors to give them a gift print. One boy, whose senior season was over before it started, stared at the field and said he couldn’t stop looking back at the pictures from last season. Eventually, their sports careers will end, and pictures will help them relive those moments. But you never know when things will come to an end, and we want to document every moment of this part of their lives, both on and off the field.

Likewise, think about losing all of your pictures! You never know what could happen to your phone, either. Your images deserve to be seen, touched, and put on the wall or kept on the shelf. They do you no good sitting in a gallery online after they have their 15 minutes of Facebook fame. I believe in putting timeless pieces up on your walls, in addition to sharing them online, so you see them every single day. Nothing celebrates your teen better!