There’s something truly special about senior portrait sessions and capturing the moment in time that marks the transition from high school to the great adventure of college! There’s so much anticipation and excitement in the air, and it’s hard not to find myself becoming so hopeful and proud of each senior I find in front of my camera.

Most recently, I had the pleasure of photographing Sydney Allen, a graduating senior from Vestavia High School. We met up at the Birmingham Botanical Gardens for a session full of flowers, laughter and cowbells!

Although Sydney admitted that getting her picture taken isn’t her favorite thing, she was a natural in front of the camera. We shared plenty of laughs as we explored the garden together, capturing her sweet personality against all the blooming flowers!

She’s heading to Mississippi State in August and couldn’t be more excited! She’s such a delight to be around, and I’m confident she’ll have no problem making friends and finding a community there.

Sydney’s mom, Beth, joined us for the session. Beth is just as sweet and fun as Sydney is, so it was nice having her company along with us as we explored! I could tell they were both feeling plenty of emotions about reaching this milestone in Sydney’s life, so we snapped a few photos of them together to capture this sweet memory before Sydney leaves in the fall.

To top it all off, Sydney brought her cowbell along to the session! If you’re familiar with Mississippi State, you’ll know that cowbells are a huge part of the school’s spirit and tradition. At the end of our session, she rang the bell with enthusiasm to wrap things up and to celebrate her upcoming journey!