Graduate photos during COVID-19

This year hasn’t gone the way any of us expected. For example, I was supposed to go to Oktoberfest in Germany with my boyfriend. Instead, we’re fostering a dog and moved a mile down the road from our last apartment. That’s what you do during a pandemic, right?

But for some people, like Amanda, major milestones are being over shadowed by the coronavirus.

It’s hard to imagine what it must feel like to spend the last four years of your life working your booty off to get an impressive degree, only to have your graduation canceled because the world is experiencing an unprecedented pandemic. My heart truly goes out to all of the grads out there, high school, undergrad and beyond. This should be a time of celebration, but it has become a time of uncertainty.

COVID-19 is changing how we celebrate grads

Of course, with all change, we as a society are finding ways to adjust and adapt. Now, graduations are drive-through, parties are virtual and grad photos involve masks. And beyond that, the people we love are doing their best to celebrate our accomplishments and let us know that they STILL matter. Take Amanda’s mom, for example. This mother-daughter duo has an incredibly sweet relationship, one I would go so far as to describe goal worthy. Her mother sweetly planned a socially-distant grad celebration, and even went so far as to drive an hour to be with her daughter while she took grad photos in Santa Barbara. My heart! It was so special that she could be there. Especially since she couldn’t watcher her daughter walk in graduation anymore.

So when Amanda reached out to me for grad photos, I knew I had a responsibility to make the photoshoot experience special for her. This was one of the few rights of passage and celebration still available to her during COVID-19.

Amanda knew she wanted to take her more traditional grad photos, with cap and gown, at the Santa Barbara Courthouse - she’d taken her high school grad photos there originally. But she also hoped, time allowing, to have some senior portraits taken at Knapp’s Castle. And I don’t think I could say “Hell yes!” fast enough! Of all the places in Santa Barbara county, Knapp’s Castle is by far one of my favorite views. Picture it: Historic, crumbling arches set against golden skies and purple rolling hills. It’s magic! I would do whatever it took to make this dream a reality.

Celebrating achievements and looking to the future

While we took her senior photos, we talked about how COVID-19 had affected her graduation experience, but more importantly, we talked about her future. Pandemic or not, she had her undergrad degree from Westmont College and she was going to the University of Idaho to become an athletic trainer. She was excited, and you could tell her mom was proud.

I walked away from the senior portrait shoot with Amanda and her mom feeling a bit more hopeful about 2020. Despite everything that we could allow to bring us down this year, we were finding ways to continue to live, celebrate and love.

I had an amazing time capturing Amanda’s grad photos and I hope I get to take more photos for her and her mother in the future!