Senior Portraits

As we near the end of the school year and my little one is finishing up Kindergarten to head to first grade it is a nostalgic time. I generally have a more "live in the moment attitude" but lately I feel like my littlest is just getting too big too fast, I guess they both are. That's why taking photos and capturing them at this place in this time is so treasured to me. Senior portraits are such fun for this reason. This moment in their lives is so momentous, you can feel the energy, excitement and slight apprehension as they make that jump from teenagers at home to venturing out on their own. After only spending a little bit of time with this sweet senior I know she will gracefully make that transition. Cheers to you Kelly!

New York New York

These past few months I've gotten to spend quite a bit of time with teenagers, and get this - it was awesome! I have to admit before I started coaching high school swimming in February I was pretty scared of teenagers; their attitudes, brooding and constant texting freaked me out. But I'm happy to say I had it all wrong. These kids on the swim team that I got to know are so smart, hard working, mostly level headed and often funny. I got to witness a poolside serenade to a dripping wet speedo clad swimmer from the glee club, while the entire team cheered and sang along. Another day one kid set up the most adorable prom proposal ever, again with the whole team watching and excited. Not to mention a ton of awesome hard work in the pool resulting in confident swims and countless best times at the end of the season.

This high school senior I feel proud to know, (even though he isn't a swimmer). Heck, all of Long Beach should be proud!  Valedictorian, hard working and creative he'll move on to NYU in the fall and I have no doubt that he will thrive in the big city.