<p>D’s senior proofs just arrived in the mail and they are absolutely beautiful! I cried when I looked through them and I can see this is going to be a year filled with emotions high and low. I don’t know where the time went or what the future holds and I wish I could just stop the clock for a little while. I think I will go curl up on the couch and watch a “Barney” video like she and I used to do so often…will that help? :)</p>
<p>Oh my…it is so true!..the reality does set in when you look are her picture and see the woman she has become…Senior year is full of these moments when you hold dear your time together…my D just graduated and is heading off to college. Enjoy this chapter in your life-it is so very special. APOL.</p>
<p>SharonD - You are very lucky that the proofs are so beautiful 
When my daughter’s proofs came, she freaked out because she thought her hair looked awful (and she is not a “hair and makeup” girl, normally.) She insisted on a retake after much ado about figuring out how to get her hair to look better. It was a big ordeal, but, in the end, we got some pictures that both she and I were pleased with!</p>
<p>My son’s best friend’s parents are both professional caliber photographers. They have chronicled much of his HS life for us, including his senior photo. We’ve done other things for their son. It is a gift.</p>
<p>We had a professional photographer take our son’s senior photo… who also happened to be a neighbor once upon a time when he was much younger… and one of the pictures is just the most wonderful shot of a happy guy… he is standing tall, hands in his pockets, with a great grin on his face… I love the picture… and I look at it every time I walk by it… sooo, Sharon, enjoy your daughter’s pictures this year…and know they will keep you company when she has gone off to college. Bethie is correct… a great photo is a gift from the film gods…</p>
<p>I was there when the portraits were done. My eyes filled with tears at the first pose, but I turned around so D couldn’t see.</p>
<p>We had her take one shot in each pose not smiling. Most people don’t like them but she and I both do.</p>
<p>I wanted to cry when S2’s proofs came in too…because they are SO expensive. Don’t know why they have to cost so much. </p>
<p>I know it is the last professional pic. he’ll have made for many years so I’m putting the squeeze on H to order up my favorites. S has never been great at posing for pics so there are really only a few that are possibilites which makes the choosing easier. And of course we’ll have to pay up for football pics next month. Senior year is expensive.</p>
<p>MaryTN…the best ones of S2 were the non-smiling ones which is what I’ll be buying. It will match the non-smiling one I bought of S1.</p>
<p>Be prepared for some many of these emotions. (and thankful for great Sr. pictures) Daughter hated hers. Those she’s graduated, we are still going to have new pictures taken this summer. Just never had time to redo during the school year. The yearbook picture and such, she just hates!</p>
<p>^^^ Ditto! My daughter’s official pictures were horrible, including the one we were forced to choose for the yearbook. (Her school has a no-retake policy.) It was a case of picking the one we hated the least. Like momray, we are also going to have her rephotographed this summer in her cap and gown.</p>
<p>On a high note, there was a different photographer at the graduation ceremony. She was incredible. She got shots of each graduate shaking the hand of the principal. And I’m talking hundreds of graduates. I happily shelled out money for those two shots!</p>
<p>I wish our son’s high school had done the pictures of kids receiving diplomas. Guess who forgot the camera on the kitchen counter?? Fortunately, I took pictures beforehand of son in cap and gown, capless and gownless, with sister, without sister! He finally shut me off, but I am so glad I took them. </p>
<p>We had a family friend take senior pictures and although they weren’t “professional” they came out very nice. I think she took over 100 pictures, gave me the disc, and then I could order whatever and how many I wanted.</p>
<p>If you think looking at the Sr portraits is bad, wait until DD comes home with the cap and gown and tries them on! </p>
<p>Treasure every moment… they go by in a flash.</p>
<p>A couple of years ago on a snow day my two teens pulled out some videos from when they were toddlers. I hadn’t seen those tapes in years. I heard my babies’ voices coming from the TV in the other room and ran in - I almost felt like I was seeing my long lost babies who had disappeared. It was a palpable feeling of longing for my little children who are gone (gone because they grew up, not because anything tragic happened to them, thank heavens). I asked my kids if they’d agree to be 3 years old again just for a day, then they could go back to being teens. They said no. Sigh.</p>
<p>I remember when Bill Clinton spoke at Chelsea’s high school graduation and said that although they were all very proud of the wonderful young men and women before them, every parent there was longing for one more chance to read Goodnight Moon to their little child…</p>
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If you look at pictures taken before the 1950s (or so) hardly anyone is smiling. Grinning in every single picture is a fairly recent thing. The single best portrait I’ve ever taken was of my sons – and neither was smiling at the time. Good for you!</p>
<p>I think the non-smiling ones often look more natural than the big toothy grins. After all we don’t all walk around with an ear to ear grin on all day. I like how their faces looked in the relaxed but non-smiling pics mainly because their eyes seem more focused and not all crinkled up from grinning.</p>