Meet Alyssa. The all-grown up Alyssa.

I’ve known this tiny beauty since she was born. And imagine how taken back I was when her grandmother approached me about a session for “Alyssa.”

“Alyssa who?” I said.

“My granddaughter Alyssa!” exclaimed her grandmother.

And the shock hit me like a ton of bricks. Was she really a senior already? My mouth dropped and I felt a little bit embarrassed that I didn’t know she had grown up. So darn fast.

Sure! I couldn’t wait to book her – she was my first Senior in the City client to book and I couldn’t wait to see her. (She doesn’t live here, but not too far away, however I hadn’t seen her in a few years.) Anyways, we got the ball rolling, we became Facebook friends, and I got to see her posted pictures and I was just…shocked. She had really grown up, and into a beautiful young lady and I was excited to see her in Memphis.

She showed up with her equally beautiful mother, a little shy at first. Of course, my assistants had also known her since birth so we were all quite shocked to see her as an 18-year-old (mostly because that meant we were older too). We picked out outfits and then headed down to Beale Street, in the hottest part of the day, but we made it work. Considering I had already shot two sessions by the time Alyssa’s session rolled around, we were still able to get very different shots and location, all while on Beale St. We then moved along to the back alleys and side streets for a different look. One of my favorite images is of the the music notes stairway rail we found that led down to a basement. Perfect outfit, perfect reflection of Memphis.

As I mentioned in my previous Senior in the City post, Alyssa also opted for a split session for hair – straight and curly. So in the second part of the session, we went down to the trolley area and shot in some different nooks and crannies and even found and little traveled brick road, which I loved. The funniest part about this part of her session was trying to hurriedly get a shot of her sitting on the trolley, and we had to move fast because the trolley only stops for about 20-30 seconds! We had quite the laughs over trying to get her seated properly in a short dress on the side of a trolley that was about to move! We nailed the shot, with a little breeze blowing in her hair – PERFECTION!!!

Since Alyssa was the last session of the day, when we were done shooting, we popped into a little make-your-own frozen yogurt place to cool off and reward ourselves on a job well done. And boy, was it refreshing and relaxing for us! We sat and chatted about girl stuff, you know, being parents and such, while Alyssa just listened to us. The break proved to be hard to get up and start moving again, but we managed to make it back to the hotel in one, sweaty piece.

Alyssa, you’ve certainly grown into a beautiful, fun young lady. I’m so happy you chose me to capture you senior session and I had a blast getting to know you (again). Best wishes on the rest of your senior year and in college – I know you’ll do great wherever you end up going, especially if you continue with your soccer skills. Keep in touch (on Facebook, of course!) and most of all, have fun!