It’s 6:55 am and the University of Virginia’s Lawn is completely empty. The sun has just risen over Pavilion II, and the sprinklers just finished their final rounds over the newly soaked grass. The air is cool and fresh. It feels almost like a warm summer morning.

 

However, the approach of a small pack of young women sporting their favorite white dresses and black graduation robes reminds me that Spring is still in full swing.

 

It’s the middle of graduation photoshoot season, and I’m less than half-way through our ~35 graduation bookings during the final weeks of the University’s academic year.

 

Although this might inspire dread or exhaustion in some, and the potential for interacting with a group of sleep-deprived and cranky college girls would send some people back to bed, as soon as I met the girls, I knew this would be a fantastic photoshoot.

 

 

Sometimes, we’re hired by a parent to photograph a reluctant student. Other times, we’re hired by students who just want to show off their success on social media.

 

Soon after meeting the girls, I knew this wouldn’t be the case with Alana, Jaymee, Sara and Claire.

 

These were four roommates who had decided to hire a professional photographer to simply celebrate their time together at this great University. This photoshoot was an expression and an extension of their many hilarious and exiting memories together, and I felt the depth of their friendship after only a few moments with them.

 

 

When they broke the bubbles out, I no longer felt like I needed to pose them. They began to laugh, tease each other, and blow bubbles together, as though this were just a normal Friday morning on the Lawn. Likewise, when it came time to pop open the bubbly, I got to laugh alongside the girls as we reviewed Sarah’s surprise the moment the cork came loose.

 

 

Although learning the “standing spoon” pose can be a bit awkward at first, and we narrowly escaped a tumble down one of the Lawn’s many tiers, the fun and relaxed atmosphere of the girls, and my experience with shooting on Mr. Jefferson’s Academical Village, made for some stunning photos.

 

Here’s to you girls! Congrats!

 

 

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If you’d like to book your own graduation session in minutes, click here!