One More Memory Before the Tassel Turns
Graduation season is here in Southwest Michigan, and with it comes the kind of energy you can feel in your chest—the good kind. The kind that hums with possibility. The kind that makes you pause and realize you're standing at a threshold with someone who's about to step into the next version of themselves. That was exactly the vibe during Tyrell’s cap and gown mini session.
Tyrell is a member of the Class of 2025 at Coloma High School, and this wasn’t our first time working together. I met him back in the fall for his senior session, and from the moment he showed up for this cap and gown shoot, it was like no time had passed. Same contagious smile. Same easygoing charm. Same big-hearted energy that instantly makes you feel like you're in good company.
We wandered, we laughed, we caught up about plans and dreams. His mama was there again, right by his side—his biggest cheerleader, making sure he was looking his best (and keeping me company too, because she’s just the best). You know how sometimes you leave a session and think, those are just good people? That was this. You feel it in your gut when you're with people who radiate authenticity and kindness, and Tyrell brings that with him every time.
There’s something steady about Tyrell—like someone who knows who he is without needing to shout it. He’s the kind of young man who listens with his whole face, who shows up fully, and who makes you feel like you’ve known him longer than you have. Watching him step into this moment, you get the sense he’s going to leave the world a little better than he found it—just by being exactly who he is.
For the Class of 2025 – And the Ones Who Love Them
As a photographer, I’ve watched countless seniors and their families step into this season—one foot in high school, one foot in everything that comes next. And let me tell you something that always gets me: it's not just a ceremony. It’s not just a tassel turn or a cap in the air. It’s a reckoning with the passage of time.
Graduation is a moment that lives in between things. It lives between childhood and independence, between being known in the halls and figuring out who you’ll be without them. For some, it’s pure excitement. For others, it’s bittersweet. For all, it’s change.
And change, even when it’s good, is hard.
To the graduates all over Southwest Michigan—Otsego, Benton Harbor, Cassopolis, Allegan, South Haven, Three Rivers, Portage, Dowagiac, Sturgis, Coloma, Hartford, and Kalamazoo—and every small town and city in between—I see you. I see the nervousness beneath the smiles. I see the pride and the exhaustion, the joy and the grief of what you're about to leave behind. Whether you’re getting ready for the walk across the stage or still figuring out what comes next, this season is big. You’re doing something brave, and you don’t have to do it perfectly to make it meaningful.
You’re not just closing a chapter—you’re authoring a whole new book.
You don’t have to know every answer yet. You don’t have to have a five-year plan. But you do have to keep showing up with the kind of energy that makes people feel like they're with someone solid. Someone like Tyrell.
Let’s Celebrate What Comes Next
If you haven’t booked your cap and gown session yet—there’s still time. Whether you’re class of 2025 and crossing that stage this weekend, or class of 2026 and getting a head start, these moments matter. They’re your anchor points. They remind you where you came from, even as you're stretching toward whatever comes next.
To Tyrell, and to every senior in Southwest Michigan: Congratulations. You did it. Now go do you. Be authentic, live with a boldness that comes from deep within, and lead with with grace and kindness as you chase your dreams and step out into the world.
Ready to book your Southwest Michigan senior session? I photograph high school seniors from all over southwest Michigan —cap and gown, fall, lifestyle, flower fields, the Lake Michigan Shoreline - or whatever fits you. Let's create something beautiful together that you can cherish for years to come.
