Let me just start by saying eighth graders most definitely don't look like they used to.
Hazen is my niece. She's a towering six feet tall, which didn't help with my perspective or angle today while shooting. She's also gorgeous, free-spirited, a goofball, and a sort of tomboy. I think she's well-rounded and a heck of young lady, but I could be biased. ;)
When Hazen was born, I was given the privilege of being in the delivery room. I even got to cut her cord. No one explained to me how to cut the cord, though. I should have cut clean all the way through, but I just snipped it causing blood to stream in quick spurts all over me, the nurses, and the rest of the room. Oops. At least I just had to do it that one time.
She was the cutest little girl who loved to play more than anything, a lot like my Izzy. In fact, Izzy looks so much like Hazen when she was little. Some pictures are like mirror images of the two. But one day, Hazen walked outside and she wasn't little anymore. She shot up to this towering goddess, I mean towering over this 5' 3" shorty, her hair was long and flowing in the wind, her dimples were the most flattering, and her feet were huge. Somehow she turned into a young lady overnight. I'm still perplexed when I look at her. Sometimes I even wonder if she is, in fact, the little Hazen I knew. Man, it's hard getting old.
What I love about Hazen is that she is true to herself. She knows what her values are and she sticks to them. My hope for Hazen is that she continues to always do what is right, making choices that will prove she is a good person like the girl we know. I hope she is always accepting of others, because as we all know, those teenage years are tough. I hope she understands that life as she knows it is not as complicated as it seems.
Next year, our family will make frequent visits to area gyms to support her as a Lady Bulldog playing the game she loves. Time is so fleeting, so I hope she makes the best of the next four years. No matter what, we will be there to support her and to show how proud we are of who she is.
To celebrate the end of an era, prom night signifies for this group a couple of things: 1) they clean up pretty well; and 2) times, they are a-changin'...for everyone. Hazen asked her date Josh to the prom by buying him some chicken nuggets and adding a note that said she would be one happy nugget if he would go with her. That's Hazen, blazing her own trail. These two are good friends, and they laugh a lot.
Josh was a trooper during the hour I made him sit, stand, smile, look this way...no that way, put his hand a wall, lean, etc. He never complained. We did, however, get somewhat of a history lesson about the downtown Johnson City area. We stepped into C. S. McCullough's Barber Shop where Randy allowed us to take a few quick photos. Big thanks to him and the crew there. This high end barber shop offers a range of services and products, but the shop is beautiful (the lighting is my favorite)! Josh was lucky enough to sit in a chair supposedly once used by Al Capone himself. Since Josh didn't know about Al Capone, we talked a little about him. I mentioned Capone was a real O.G., which led to another discussion because Hazen heard G and immediately went to GOAT. I forget how young these kids are.
Since this is an eighth grade prom, I wanted to keep things simple and fun. What better atmosphere than Fizz Soda Bar?! This whimsical place offers a ton of tasty floats and other treats, and again, the shop is beautiful. The kids shared a float or two while I snapped away. I loved capturing their youthfulness and playfulness, but still, these two look much older than your eighth graders of the past.
We walked around to a favorite building of mine to get some great textures in the background. Once they heard music, I learned that Hazen is not shy about dancing around, whereas Josh is a little more reserved. Nevertheless, there were many laughs. I exercised my ability to use new slang like "bae," well only that one word, but I also failed miserably while giving directions in pick up lines. Again, I got the laughs I needed.
I enjoyed my time with these two, and I was just as excited about capturing these images as they were about getting to prom to hang out and show off with all of their friends. I hope tonight is a night they'll remember forever, one of fun, dancing, and just a being a kid. Because they still are kids, right? You tell me.
Oh, and I can't forget to give a shout out to Chelsey Milhorn for Hazen's hair and makeup. She always does a great job! Thanks, Chelsey, for helping Hazen's true beauty shine through even more than it already does.
Here they are...Hazen and Josh.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Hazen is my niece. She's a towering six feet tall, which didn't help with my perspective or angle today while shooting. She's also gorgeous, free-spirited, a goofball, and a sort of tomboy. I think she's well-rounded and a heck of young lady, but I could be biased. ;)
When Hazen was born, I was given the privilege of being in the delivery room. I even got to cut her cord. No one explained to me how to cut the cord, though. I should have cut clean all the way through, but I just snipped it causing blood to stream in quick spurts all over me, the nurses, and the rest of the room. Oops. At least I just had to do it that one time.
She was the cutest little girl who loved to play more than anything, a lot like my Izzy. In fact, Izzy looks so much like Hazen when she was little. Some pictures are like mirror images of the two. But one day, Hazen walked outside and she wasn't little anymore. She shot up to this towering goddess, I mean towering over this 5' 3" shorty, her hair was long and flowing in the wind, her dimples were the most flattering, and her feet were huge. Somehow she turned into a young lady overnight. I'm still perplexed when I look at her. Sometimes I even wonder if she is, in fact, the little Hazen I knew. Man, it's hard getting old.
What I love about Hazen is that she is true to herself. She knows what her values are and she sticks to them. My hope for Hazen is that she continues to always do what is right, making choices that will prove she is a good person like the girl we know. I hope she is always accepting of others, because as we all know, those teenage years are tough. I hope she understands that life as she knows it is not as complicated as it seems.
Next year, our family will make frequent visits to area gyms to support her as a Lady Bulldog playing the game she loves. Time is so fleeting, so I hope she makes the best of the next four years. No matter what, we will be there to support her and to show how proud we are of who she is.
To celebrate the end of an era, prom night signifies for this group a couple of things: 1) they clean up pretty well; and 2) times, they are a-changin'...for everyone. Hazen asked her date Josh to the prom by buying him some chicken nuggets and adding a note that said she would be one happy nugget if he would go with her. That's Hazen, blazing her own trail. These two are good friends, and they laugh a lot.
Josh was a trooper during the hour I made him sit, stand, smile, look this way...no that way, put his hand a wall, lean, etc. He never complained. We did, however, get somewhat of a history lesson about the downtown Johnson City area. We stepped into C. S. McCullough's Barber Shop where Randy allowed us to take a few quick photos. Big thanks to him and the crew there. This high end barber shop offers a range of services and products, but the shop is beautiful (the lighting is my favorite)! Josh was lucky enough to sit in a chair supposedly once used by Al Capone himself. Since Josh didn't know about Al Capone, we talked a little about him. I mentioned Capone was a real O.G., which led to another discussion because Hazen heard G and immediately went to GOAT. I forget how young these kids are.
Since this is an eighth grade prom, I wanted to keep things simple and fun. What better atmosphere than Fizz Soda Bar?! This whimsical place offers a ton of tasty floats and other treats, and again, the shop is beautiful. The kids shared a float or two while I snapped away. I loved capturing their youthfulness and playfulness, but still, these two look much older than your eighth graders of the past.
We walked around to a favorite building of mine to get some great textures in the background. Once they heard music, I learned that Hazen is not shy about dancing around, whereas Josh is a little more reserved. Nevertheless, there were many laughs. I exercised my ability to use new slang like "bae," well only that one word, but I also failed miserably while giving directions in pick up lines. Again, I got the laughs I needed.
I enjoyed my time with these two, and I was just as excited about capturing these images as they were about getting to prom to hang out and show off with all of their friends. I hope tonight is a night they'll remember forever, one of fun, dancing, and just a being a kid. Because they still are kids, right? You tell me.
Oh, and I can't forget to give a shout out to Chelsey Milhorn for Hazen's hair and makeup. She always does a great job! Thanks, Chelsey, for helping Hazen's true beauty shine through even more than it already does.
Here they are...Hazen and Josh.
Comments
Post a Comment