Angleton High School Senior Pictures That Tell a Story

Some senior sessions begin when someone fills out my questionnaire.

This one started about fourteen years ago.

Before Kendal was an Angleton High School senior standing in front of my camera, she was a tiny little girl who used to come into my first-grade classroom in the mornings.

I was her older sister’s first-grade teacher, and Kendal was probably three or four at the time. Her mom or grandparents would bring her along when they dropped her sister off at school, and even though she wasn’t one of my students, I remembered her.

Because Kendal was a firecracker.

She was busy, busy, busy. She was curious about everything, interested in everything, and seemingly everywhere at once. 😂 She had a huge personality packed into one very small person.

So when I found out all these years later that I was going to photograph Kendal’s senior pictures, I couldn't wait to see who that little girl had become.

As it turns out, she grew up.

But the firecracker is still very much there.

Meet Kendal: Angleton High School Class of 2027

One of the things I love about photographing high school seniors is discovering who they are beyond the cap and gown.

Before a senior session, I send my seniors a questionnaire. And I'm not just asking what outfits they're bringing or whether they want a field or the beach.

I want to know them.

When I asked Kendal to describe herself in five words, she chose:

Caring. Crazy. Hard-working. Country. Fun.

When I gave her a list of different vibes to choose from, she picked country, music lover, outdoorsy, adventurous and bold.

Basically, the three-year-old I remembered had grown up and found better transportation. 😂

Because these days, Kendal loves driving back roads, open fields, barns, the beach, horses and her truck.

But that only scratches the surface.

You can learn more about my senior photography experience HERE and how we plan sessions around each senior's personality, interests and story.

A Senior With a Little Bit of Everything

When I asked Kendal what people might be surprised to learn about her, I discovered just how many different things she's done.

Competitive gymnastics?

Yep.

She was a state vault champion.

Pole vaulting?

She placed fourth at nationals.

She's also done diving and tumbling, ridden horses and earned awards singing in choir.

She currently works as a lifeguard and spent several years volunteering at a horse ranch.

And yet, when asked what genre her life would be if it were a movie, she didn't choose adventure or action.

She chose:

"A little bit of everything."

I'd say that's pretty accurate.

Senior Pictures Should Show More Than What You Looked Like

One of my favorite questions on my senior questionnaire is:

“If we built a senior session around YOU instead of just pretty pictures, what absolutely has to be included?”

Kendal's answer was exactly why I ask it.

She wanted a big windmill.

An American flag.

Her truck.

And somehow, she wanted to incorporate her welding gear.

She finished her answer by saying:

“I know it sounds like a lot and crazy, just some ideas.”

Kendal, you clearly did not know your photographer very well yet. 😂

Because a lot and crazy sounds much more interesting to me than showing up, standing in a field and smiling at the camera for an hour.

I didn't want to simply make beautiful senior pictures of Kendal.

I wanted to make pictures that couldn't belong to anybody else.

From Angleton High School Welding to Offshore Welding

Welding isn't simply something Kendal thought would make a cool senior picture.

It's part of where she's going.

Kendal is currently in the welding program at Angleton High School. After graduation, she plans to attend welding school, and her ultimate goal is to become an offshore welder.

That made incorporating welding into her senior pictures even more important to me.

Someday, these photographs won't just show what Kendal looked like during her senior year.

They'll show what she was dreaming about before she ever got there.

That's the part of senior photography I love most.

We're documenting this strange little in-between moment when you're still someone's kid, but you can already see pieces of the adult you're becoming.

And Kendal already has a pretty good idea where she's headed.

You can learn more about my senior photography experience HERE and how we plan sessions around each senior's personality, interests and story.

Country Senior Pictures That Actually Feel Like You

Kendal's session naturally leaned into her country side, but there's an important distinction between choosing a “country senior session” because it's aesthetically pretty and incorporating those elements because they're actually part of someone's life.

For Kendal, they are.

She told me that the places that make her happiest include driving on back roads, the beach, barns and open fields.

She spent years around horses.

She loves her truck.

She's outdoorsy.

She's adventurous.

So those pieces weren't props we added to create a theme.

They're pieces of her.

That's what I want when I'm planning senior pictures.

I don't necessarily need your session to fit perfectly into one aesthetic. In fact, I'd usually rather it didn't.

You can be country and love the beach.

You can wear a dress for one set of senior pictures and welding gear for another.

You can want beautiful portraits for your mom and something completely unexpected for yourself.

You don't have to fit into one box.

Kendal certainly doesn't.

The Little Girl I Remember Is Still In There

There was something especially fun for me about photographing this particular senior session.

Photography has given me the chance to watch families change over the years, but Kendal connects two completely different parts of my life.

Before I was photographing high school seniors, families and children, I spent fifteen years teaching in public schools.

I knew Kendal during that chapter.

Not as my student, but as the little sister who came bouncing through my first-grade classroom in the mornings.

And I remember wondering what kind of person that curious, busy little girl would become.

Now I know.

She's still curious.

She's still adventurous.

She's apparently still willing to try just about anything.

Only now she's welding, driving her own truck and making plans for life after high school.

I don't think three-year-old Kendal would be terribly surprised by senior Kendal.

I think she'd probably think she was pretty cool.

More Than Pretty Senior Pictures

There's one other answer from Kendal's questionnaire that stuck with me.

I asked:

“What question do you wish adults asked teenagers more often?”

Her answer was simple:

“Are you ok?”

And that answer is a good reminder of why I want to know the person on the other side of my camera.

Senior year gets photographed as this big, exciting milestone—and it is.

But these kids are also standing at the edge of an enormous transition.

They're figuring out careers, college, trade school, relationships, friendships and what life is supposed to look like after the structure they've known their entire lives suddenly ends.

That's a lot.

So yes, I want the laughing pictures.

I want the wind-in-your-hair pictures.

I want the gorgeous portrait your mom is going to print enormous and hang on the wall.

And apparently, sometimes I want the welding pictures. 😂

But underneath all of it, I want you to recognize yourself.

Because your senior pictures aren't really about documenting what you wore.

They're about documenting who you were right before everything changed.

You can learn more about my senior photography experience HERE and how we plan sessions around each senior's personality, interests and story.

Planning Senior Pictures in Angleton, Texas?

If you're searching for an Angleton senior photographer or planning senior pictures for an Angleton High School senior, your session doesn't have to look like everyone else's.

And it doesn't have to take place in one particular location simply because that's where you live or attend school.

My seniors come from communities throughout Brazoria County and the greater Houston/Galveston area, and we choose locations based on the person we're photographing and the story we want to tell.

Maybe that's the beach.

Maybe it's downtown streets.

Maybe it's an open field.

Maybe it's your truck, your sport, your instrument, your horse, your art, your favorite place or something connected to what you plan to do after graduation.

Or maybe, like Kendal, it's a little bit of everything.

That's the point.

Your senior pictures should look like you.

Not my last senior.

Not whatever is trending on Pinterest.

You.

And if you've got an idea that sounds like “a lot and crazy”?

Even better.

Ready to Plan Your Angleton Senior Pictures?

If you're an Angleton High School senior or you're looking for a senior photographer near Angleton, TX, I'd love to hear what makes you you.

We'll plan the pretty pictures.

But we'll also figure out what belongs in your senior gallery that nobody else could bring to theirs.

Because senior pictures should do more than show what you looked like.

They should tell us who you were becoming.

You can learn more about my senior photography experience HERE and how we plan sessions around each senior's personality, interests and story.