I have had the privilege of photographing a lot of seniors through the years.

Every. Single. Time, I am impressed with the vision, tenacity and character of the young people that I get to meet.

Living in the time of a global pandemic has certainly changed the face of what being a high school senior looks like.

For Kyle, once remote learning kicked in in 2021, he had a little bit more free time on his hands.

For a lot of young adults, free time spells trouble.

“Idle hands are the devils handiwork” is a saying for a reason.

Yet, when Kyle found himself with a bit more time on his hands than a normal senior year, he didn’t go out and start causing trouble.

He didn’t go out and start tearing things up.

He went to work.

From the time he first contacted us about his senior photos, he was one of the most respectful and polite people I’ve had the pleasure of working with, so I was happy to meet him at the Gorder ranch, just north of Poplar, MT where he has been working this year during the time that he has not been online for his education.

He was just as great in person as we had expected him to be!

I had heard about Penny/Peppa the Pig, and that there was a possibility of getting some shots with her. Unfortunately when we arrived, Penny was nowhere to be found.

Towards the middle of our shoot, however, she must have heard the ruckus because she came to investigate!

There was no way that I was going to let this opportunity pass us by, so we went right in to take her portrait! 🙂

(Funny back story- As a little girl, I remember being chased away from my half brothers house by a sow that he had and I swear that thing hated me. I remember it being waaaaayyyy bigger than I was, and I didn’t realllllly realized that I still had this innate fear of pigs until it came time to climb in the corral with them.)

Anyway, Penny was certainly the star of the show. It was fantastic, because all of the other hogs stood off at a distance, not wanting anything to do with us humans. But Penny, however, was not so shy. It was very obvious that she wanted any attention that could be directed her way!

It was great fun to not only capture some great pictures for Kyle, but to be able to do something out of the ordinary, too.

We had a wonderful time with Kyle, and we are excited to see what the coming years have in store for this hard working young man!

If you are a 2021, 2022 senior or beyond and reading this, take this as permission to include a little fun into your session!

No matter what happens, you will have some great images for your yearbook, slideshow and announcements, so don’t forget that this time of your life is supposed to be happy and eventful, so take time to have some fun with it! Include some elements of your daily life or something that you find happiness or laughter in, it will make your session a blast for you and your photographer!