"We call it the Gnome House."
This is what Ingrid said as she picked up the two garden gnomes on their front porch. They held up the weathered statues for a series of pictures and then we wrapped up the shoot. All that was left to do for Camille, Ingrid, and Maddie was to change out of their gowns, clean the house one last time, and turn in their keys.
Camille, Ingrid, and Maddie have lived together for all four years while at UNC. Two of those four years were spent in the "Gnome House." When they first arrived to move into their quaint house, they spotted two gnome statues on their front porch. There was nothing significant or particular about these statues. They were just random. And they became a motif for this four-year friendship.
One of the joys of taking graduation photos is spending the hour meeting amazing and talented seniors, asking them questions about their future, and listening to stories from the past four years. It's especially a delight to spend time with a group of friends - You can see their friendship bonds shine whenever they pose for a picture. The "fake laughs" turn into real ones. The inside jokes are referenced in between shots. The sincerity is authentic.
It's a strange week here in Chapel Hill.
While businesses start re-opening, seniors are looking at the close of their college years. Leases end this month and seniors are moving out and onward to the next adventure. On top of that, the weather has been thrown into the storm of emotions. Tropical storm Bertha has made her presence known in the Carolinas, which is a photographer's pain point. It seemed like every time I looked at my phone, I received "cancellation or reschedule" text from a client due to the weather.
However, on Thursday morning, there was a 2 hour break in the strange storm. The lighting was close-to-perfect (the humidity not so much..), so we carried on as planned. It felt like 30 minutes, but the shoot lasted close to two hours. It was the combination of being outside in decent-weather and with seniors who were in their final hours of their time at Carolina that made this morning so special. Simply, it was fun.
