Taking senior photos is a significant aspect of the last year of one’s high school experience since it is a way to commemorate all that students have done so far in life. It also becomes an important image that a person can look back and reflect upon years later, recalling all of the good memories of their high school years.
This year, all the schools in the Irvine school district successfully carried out the senior photo event. The senior photoshoot was held for a span of approximately three weeks at South Coast Photographic in Lake Forest, California. Due to Covid-19, only three to four people at a time were called to take pictures. This was done in order to meet social distancing requirements.
Everyone who arrived wore nice, formal tops, but still left their masks on for safety measures, until it was their turn to get their picture taken. I noticed that the girls went “all out” with their makeup and the boys made their hair look extra sleek, a reminder that even though this year has focused on social distancing, senior photos are still a big deal.
The photo package prices varied depending on which picture combination a student wanted to purchase. Yearbook photos were obviously required, but students could also choose to take pictures with a graduation cap and gown on just for fun. There were options for background design and color, and people could even choose to have their photos touched up to remove blemishes for an extra charge.
When it was finally my turn, the photoshoot was the longest 15 minutes of my life. I initially thought it would be a quick and easy process, but it was rather stressful since the photographer would continually fix my posture or the angle of my head. At one point, I felt my smile shaking because I had to maintain the same facial expression throughout the entire photoshoot. After the first shots of yearbook photos, I had the opportunity to take some pictures with more relaxed poses in my high school’s customized graduation cap and gown. For the last photo, I posed with a carved wooden cutout that read “2021” outlined in glitter and made especially for this year’s class.
When asked how her senior photos experience was, Joyce Kim had a similar experience and confided that her photoshoot, “was very stressful and drained my energy so much.” Another senior, Alice Park, stated, “Even though that was tiring, I’m happy our senior photos didn’t get cancelled because of Covid-19.”
Seniors can view their photos two weeks after having them taken and select which one they want to be shown in our school’s yearbook. Even though this year was much different than others, hopefully everyone will be happy with the way their senior photos turned out and they can still have a memorable yearbook to look back on.
