A couple months into the summer of my senior year, I received an email reminding me to schedule an appointment for my senior pictures from Bill Smith Photography. School had not started yet, it hadn’t hit me until that moment that it was actually senior year. I was one year away from graduating – the whole process just made that a little more real.

Unlike the other three years, each senior can take their yearbook and cap and gown photos with Bill Smith Photography at their studio. All of the specific clothing such as the cap, tassel, and gown are all provided for you, so you basically just have to show up to your appointment and then select your photos.

Though some students have complained about taking time out of their day to have one of our senior experiences, I personally enjoy going to an actual studio to take these photos.

Having to go do this on your own time puts an emphasis on the whole experience and transforms it into a bigger deal, since you’re not just lining up at school like previous years. It is more glamorous, but more emotional as well.

That summer, my mom and I went into the studio together, ready to take my pictures. Secretly, I was a little nervous because I knew these pictures had to be good. My mom was already planning to use them for… everything. Looking over at her halfway through my pictures, I saw tears welling up in her eyes.

At that moment I realized how real all this actually was. I am about to graduate and my entire future is right in front of me. To see my mom getting so emotional put everything into perspective and made me really question how fast time has flown by.

To me, it meant a lot to physically be able to put on that cap and gown and realize how close I was to graduating and entering into the next stage of my life.

These photos are something you’re going to remember and look back on after high school, along with being a keepsake item that all your close family and friends will see in your graduation announcements.

At the end of the school year, the senior portraits in the yearbook are something that every grade looks at and looks forward to seeing each year, because they are bigger compared to the other classes and focused more on that specific graduating class.

As Bill Smith Photography said themselves, these pictures are “distinctive portraits celebrating one of the most important days of your life.” And because the process of taking them is so different, there is no escaping the accompanying emotions.