Kendall could have booked a photographer five minutes from her house. Instead, she and her family made the three-hour drive from Burlington, Colorado, all the way to Fort Collins, and stayed overnight in a hotel so they wouldn’t have to rush the session.

I asked her about it, and the answer was simple. She’d seen photos I’d taken of an old schoolmate of hers on social media, and she knew right away she wanted something different from her own senior pictures. In a smaller community, a lot of seniors end up with the same backdrop, the same handful of locations, the same look. Kendall didn’t want that. She wanted something different for her milestone, and she was willing to put in the drive to get it.

We spent the session moving between green space and rural Fort Collins scenery, getting a real mix of looks in one day. Kendall was an absolute sweetheart the entire time, easy to work with and completely up for whatever we tried. Her mom ran behind-the-scenes footage on my cell phone the whole session, and her dad stepped in as my lighting assistant, holding reflectors and adjusting light like he’d done it before. It turned into a full family effort, which is honestly one of my favorite parts of this job. Senior sessions aren’t just about the senior. They’re a whole family showing up for this milestone together.

By the end of the day, Kendall had the photos she came three hours and an overnight stay for, and a set of images that look nothing like what her friends back home will have.

If senior year only happens once, it’s worth getting pictures that actually feel like yours, even if that means a little bit of a drive.

Book your session today and let’s get your senior’s story on camera before the season fills up.

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Carol Dunnigan Photography is a boutique senior portrait studio serving Ault, Greeley, Fort Collins, Loveland, Windsor, Johnstown, and surrounding Northern Colorado communities.