04/24/2026
I stopped photographing grad photos many years ago.
When I first started my business, I naturally took any portrait requests that came my way. And living in a college town, that meant many of them were for grad photos.
But after one season of doing them, I decided it wasn’t for me.
I disliked how boxed in I felt as an artist. We always had a checklist of locations and landmarks to get to and it was always the same ones.
We had to wait in long lines and when it was finally our turn we had to scurry up and try to be as efficient as possible with our time slot, lest we screw up the delicate balance amongst the waiting spectators.
There was no time for creative expression. Everyone was dressed the same and everyone wanted the same thing.
It was not an environment I could draw fulfillment from.
But then my girl Makenna came along. And she loved my style of work for what it was and she told me the best thing any artist always loves to hear.
She said she trusted me and wanted me to have full creative freedom.
And something inside of me blossomed at those words.
What we had was the most beautiful session together, exploring the nooks and crannies of the place she called home for the past 4 years.
It was everything I could have wanted for her and it showed me a way to photograph graduates that I deeply connected with.
I want my graduates to have a more individualized experience. I want their grad photos to have the lived in feel of all the memories they had created there.
I want their photos to be more than just stiff poses by statues, but for them to say something about who they are and who they may someday become.
I know it’s not for everyone, and that’s alright. My work has always been deeply personal to me.
My only hope is to find those few who crave this type of connection and deeper experience at their sessions too.
And make this meaningful achievement about so much more than just getting the shot.
💛
College grad photos / aesthetic grad photos / emotive grad photos / editorial grad photos / Penn State University / State College Photographer / Central PA / Pennsylvania Photographer
