On my never ending list of things to do this summer was the task of finding a photographer and getting organized for Christian’s senior picture.  The days were slipping by dangerously fast and this very important task remained undone.  I didn’t know where to start and so I hadn’t.

My older two were sent home from school with packets of information that contained key dates, participating photography studios, and guidelines for the official yearbook portrait.

Last Tuesday afternoon Christian stopped at my desk, “I know you’re working, but have you gotten anything in the mail about senior pictures? I saw on Facebook that today they are starting on the B’s.”

“I haven’t gotten anything. They’re starting on the B’s?  What does that mean?”

“Well I guess they take the pictures at school, but I don’t know for sure if you have to,” he said.

A few phone calls later I was still baffled by the notion that senior pictures were to be taken by photographers in the auditorium and not in a private studio but I was able to schedule a time for him.  Thank goodness for Facebook or I wouldn’t have found out that he missed his original appointment.  I never would have lived that down.

Unlike his siblings’ photo sessions, all of his pictures would be taken from the waist up and wouldn’t include elaborate poses and sets.  They would all be indoors and there would be no props other than a tuxedo and a cap and gown.

The sitting fee was easy to decide on, it was five dollars for an extra few poses in his shirt and tie.

There were four temporary studios set up, three on the stage and one on the main floor.  Each studio had a screen with multiple backdrops, a camera, lights, and a photographer.  I tried unsuccessfully not to giggle about the tuxedo shirt that goes on like a strait jacket and has Velcro closures in back. I laughed out loud about the tuxedo jacket with sleeves that were too short paired with shorts and sneakers.

The photographer pinned a rose to Christian’s lapel, handed him a sheet of paper which he held in front of his chest for the first picture.  I knew it was to help identify the owner of the pictures later but it reminded me of someone posing for a mug shot.

In between the tuxedo and the shirt and tie pictures Christian re-tied his tie.

“Is it straight?”

“The knot is straight, but the tie part is a little off.  Do you want me to try and fix it?” I asked.

“No, just hand me your iPad please and reverse the camera direction,” he said.

Who knew that an iPad could double for a mirror?

We were done in under an hour, the proofs will arrive in two or three weeks, and I have a feeling the pictures will be much less expensive than Jeff and Katie’s were.  I think the strangest thing about it was the image of him in a cap and gown and how real it made his 2013 graduation feel real.

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