Why Senior Albums Matter (And Why I’m Launching Them This Year)

Kim and her kiddo Angel Senior Graduation 2022

Senior year sneaks up on us and then it happens fast! Senior year is the epitome of the days are long, but the years are short. Senior year is the series of long days made out of morning madness trying to get to school on time, carpools, music lessons, swim team, soccer, late homework nights, arguments over curfew, friend drama and then, poof! They are out of the house at college calling from another state to ask how to operate a washing machine in a laundromat.

Senior year is busy.
It’s exciting.
It’s full of “lasts.” Most of which I am sorry to say you will not remember. Those “lasts” that seem to important in the moment they are just poof, gone.

And then suddenly… it’s over.

The graduation party ends.
The cap and gown are packed away.
The dorm room gets decorated.

And your house is quieter. The rooms that used to be messy are so easy to keep clean. The bathrooms that used to have makeup all over the counters and hair dye (you forbid) that used to reside under the sink are just gone. The rooms change, maybe one kiddo’s room becomes an office - as it does for so many of us women that needed one for years, and now… we are a little bummed we have an office and not a noisy kiddo driving us nuts. All keepsakes are packed up.

THIS is exactly why I am launching Senior Albums this year.

Because senior photos deserve more than a download folder that, if I am being honest, I get emails about constantly because even the best most well intended mom accidentally deletes it or never even downloads it!

This should not be the fate of our seniors photos. These memories captured in images are not memories that we pack away and never see again! There is so much we cannot control day to day, but we can control if we see these memories. We can make the intentional choice to keep these memories alive and well, not forgotten and packed away.

Senior Photos Should Live Somewhere

We live in a digital world. I get it. Digitals are important. And, let’s face it so convenient.

But here’s what I know after raising four kids, two already in college.

You do not pull out a hard drive to remember. You do not look through folders on your computer to reminisce. Sometimes if we are lucky facebook memories pops up with photos and memories from ten years ago! But, have you noticed how wonderful it is to see these photos when they do pop up!? How fantastic it is to relive this moment that social media reminds us exists?

WHY are we leaving reliving the best memories up to an algorithm.

Two of my kiddos are in college and as a mama who is also a photographer I have always, always believed in the importance of the tangible prints and albums.

An album on the coffee table.
A book on the shelf.
A prints all over my walls and, much to my husbands chagrin, all over the fridge.

Senior year is not a “post and forget” season. It is a milestone.

And milestone moments deserve permanence.

Why Albums Tell the Whole Story

There are any reasons to get a album. One, memories are not meant to live in some digital storage. Two, senior sessions are not just one image that you print or make your profile picture and move on from. Senior sessions is a memory and it is a series of portraits meant to catch the moment, the laugh, the personality, the outfits, this time in life.

But, most importantly, and I truly believe this, our children are happier and feel more loved when they see themselves in album on our coffee table. Children know how proud we are, how loved and cherished they are when we display our best memories of them.

I have lived this belief well before I have brought albums to clients with my own children. I made albums throughout their childhood and find them now, in bookcases through the house where the kids have placed them and return to them.

Having a tangible way to flip through their story reaffirms that beautiful connection with family and their childhood. So, knowing this, having lived this I do not at all feel weird pushing albums! I know they are the most important way to print your session.

Ready to Add an Album to Your Senior Session?

Senior albums are now available as part of your session experience. If you’ve already booked your senior session and would like to add an album, reach out. I would love to design something beautiful for your family.

Because senior year should live on in your home!