Senior Pictures

One of the things I was nervous about this year was senior pictures.  Photography is one of my hobbies, and I thought it would be nice if I could take them myself.  I also have been wanting to rent an expensive camera to see if it might be worth purchasing one down the road.  My aunt, who is a professional photographer, recommended Lensrentals.  They were great!  We ordered the Canon 5D Mark III and - for the lens - the Canon 24-70 mm f/2.8L II.  It came with a strap, hood, filter, charger, laminated cheat sheet, and battery.  We used everything except the filter.  We kept the hood on continuously, as that was the advice I read online.  We had to supply our own memory card, which we didn't know when ordering.  Good thing we had one from our own camera!  We also used our own tripod.

I'm a perfectionist, and pictures are something I really, really care about.  To me, there are two times in your life when you should have professional photos done: your senior year and your wedding day.  (OK, and maybe a few family photos and baby pictures too.)  The problem is that I'm a total amateur who does not enjoy learning my way around a camera.  All the technical jargon in the manual quickly loses me.  I prefer a good auto mode where I like to stay most of the time.

So I was putting a lot of pressure on myself.  We were aiming for late summer/early fall, and just as I was going to order the camera, we got fires that filled the sky with smoke.  I waited for the air to clear.  Then, the weather was hit and miss with rain and cold.  I started to wonder if we'd be able to take them before winter!  I am very sensitive to cold, and my top location of choice was Mt. Spokane.  I knew I'd be shooting a couple hours without gloves, and my hands are particularly sensitive.  Plus, it can easily be 10 degrees cooler up there.  While waiting, I busied myself with researching tips and ideas for poses.

Relying on the 10 day forecast, which I knew wasn't reliable, I finally got the order in.  The camera arrived a day early (no extra charge).  I had counted on having a few days to practice, but we moved up our first session to match the weather.  We scrambled to get ready, and in our rush out the door, small details were overlooked.  Like not realizing how badly Kylen needed a trim . . . and forgetting to remind him to use lotion.  Neither bode well for closeups.

I discovered how difficult it is for me to handle a camera that size, something I'd been concerned about.  I gained a whole new level of respect for professionals who lug those monsters around.  It was tricky to figure out how to hold the camera with my deformed hands (arthritis), and I had to rest frequently.  In fact, Greg took a large portion of the outdoor shots.  I would tell him what I wanted or frame the shot, and then he would take the actual pictures.  When the tripod was used, he attached and removed the camera for me.

Then there was the wind.  It was blowing his hair all over the place, and because he needed a trim, the impact was pretty significant.

We came home, downloaded pictures, and I got a shock.  They were terrible.  Truly terrible.  Mt. Spokane - where I have been dreaming of taking his senior portraits for years, where we have so many family memories, where I have gotten fantastic shots in the past - completely let us down.  There was something wrong with the lighting.  It was a clear sky, but there was a haze over everything.  The color was washed out, and there was shadow.  Even the shots with our own camera turned out bad, so I know it wasn't from using a different camera.  So disappointing!

Riverfront Park was another location I was considering, so we did a session there on a different day.  I had time to give Kylen a trim, and he remembered to use lotion.  Thankfully, some of those turned out well.  In another session, Greg took the camera to get pictures of him playing basketball.  Unfortunately, we didn't remember to find the action mode.  Most of them ended up blurry.  I did a couple sessions at home with him playing piano and video games, wearing one of his production costumes, and holding a basketball.  We probably took around 1,000 shots and got a handful we were pleased with.  Through it all, I was trying to maintain a positive attitude so that Kylen would have good memories associated with his senior pictures.  I didn't always succeed!

I guess I'm glad we did it, but there is a part of me that regrets not having them professionally done.  I will probably always wonder if we would have been better off that route.  It certainly would have saved me a lot of stress, and I would have been just as happy so long as they turned out well.  A professional would have known how to cope with the strange haze on Mt. Spokane.  In fact, he probably would have figured out how to use it to his advantage.

I've been slowly editing, and here are some of our favorites.

Willy Wonka!

Once we got past the initial excitement of Kylen being cast as Willy Wonka (I was over the moon excited!!  Wonka is ONLY my ALL TIME favorite fictional movie character!), the reality of the challenge hit home.  Kylen didn't sing much in his childhood, especially after illness robbed me of my singing voice and we switched to home church.  He resumed singing when he started voice lessons last year.  Although he's improved tremendously, it stretched him . . . A LOT!  We didn't realize just how much singing there would be.  You'd think the "musical" part of Willy Wonka Jr. the Musical would have tipped us off, but I was imagining Wilder with his short, random ditties.  Then Kylen got sick, and we experienced the stress of being a lead singer with a sore throat.  Through lots of prayer and tea, he made it and fared better than expected!  :)  Overall, it was an incredible experience.  He even got his first taste of fans when little children wanted to meet him and gave him drawings.

Construction was being done in part of the building, so they decided to paint the floor for fun!

Interesting door handles.

Presenting . . . Willy Wonka!

The oompa loomas were cute, a bunch of little girls with green wigs.

A simple hat change and jacket-to-vest transformed Wonka into the Candy Man.

The Bucket family.

Mrs. Gloop stole the show during her scenes.  She's an extremely talented actress.

Greg pulled two all-nighters to finish these boxes and a few other props.  Each time a ticket was found, a box would light up.  Then they would go out as each child was sent away.

Waiting to meet Wonka.

There will be no gum-chewing inside the factory.

Time to sign the contract.

So many extraordinary rooms!

I loved this scene with the pink candy boat.  It was brilliant the way they executed it.

Mr. Wonka at the helm.

Violet the blueberry!

This was hilarious!  They used a Ken doll for the shrunk version of Mike Teevee.

Of course, in the end, Charlie does the right thing and earns the ultimate prize: to become Willy Wonka's heir.

I loved, loved, loved this production, and it wasn't just because Kylen played a lead.  It was truly well cast, well done, and creative.  I take my hat off to the director, Jenna Solberg.  I could have watched every show and still enjoyed it.  We had good turnout from family and friends, which made it extra special for Kylen greeting them after the shows.

My brother celebrated opening night with us!

I started a tradition of presenting Kylen with a keepsake whenever he is cast in a lead role.  This time, I found a neat replica of a golden ticket and candy bar on Etsy.  I gave them to him at the restaurant after opening show.

We're so proud of this boy and excited to see how God uses theater in his future!

Kylen's Final Year of Homeschooling *gasp!!*

It's our final year of homeschooling!  Will we get everything done?  Meet all the requirements? Maintain our sanity?  Lol!  Yes, we will!

I've been too busy to dwell on the fact that we are nearing the end of a long, hard, rewarding journey. I think it's better that way, because I would probably cry a lot.  It means my son is growing up, and I don't know how much longer he'll live at home.  It means my life is going to change drastically in a year, and the unknown can be a little scary.  Instead, I am focusing on numerous tasks related to graduation.  And that's fine, because God will help me cross bridges when I reach them.

Without further delay, here is what Kylen's senior year looks like.  :)

Math ~ Calculus ~ 1 credit
Boy was this a hard one.  I researched and researched until I was sick of it.  Kylen doesn't like math, and as he's gotten older, it's gotten harder for him.  I needed something that wasn't too challenging, something designed for high school rather than college.  But I didn't want it watered down either.  We finally settled on a book with a good reputation that doesn't delve heavily into theory: Calculus: Graphical, Numerical, Algebraic (AP Edition) by Ross L. Finney, Franklin D. Demana, Bert K. Waits, and Daniel Kennedy (Third Edition, 2007).

We also purchased the solution manual so he can check his own work.  Since I don't have tests, we will be using the review at the end of each chapter for exams.

Honors English IV ~ 1 credit
Kylen will be taking two English courses through Liberty University Online for college credit.  In addition, he will continue to make progress on his new novel.  I may have him read a few classics, time permitting.

Science ~ Conceptual Physics ~ 1 credit
Science is another subject Kylen doesn't enjoy, but Greg would still like for him to take physics.  The compromise is that instead of a traditional approach, he will be doing conceptual physics.  This simply means he will learn the concepts without being required to do a lot of math/problems.  I am using Guest Hollow as our guide.  It's heavy on reading but includes a light lab and videos.  I will be eliminating books that are not enjoyable and filling in with other things such as Physics 101 videos.

History ~ Government ~ 1/2 credit
The primary textbook is American Government from bju press.  He's reading The 5000 Year Leap by W. Cleon Skousen and will watch Drive Thru History videos.  This is a class he's also taking at co-op, adding a classroom discussion component.  He'll read a couple of novels if time.

Social Studies ~ Economics ~ 1/2 credit
The primary curriculum will be Exploring Economics by Notgrass.  He will watch the Economics for Everybody video series.  If time, he'll read a couple of novels.

Foreign Language ~ French III ~ 1/2 credit
We are reducing French to a half credit this year, because Kylen is getting burnt out on it.  He will be doing the final and fifth level of Rosetta Stone and working through The Ultimate French Review and Practice. He will translate at least one book from French into English.

Bible ~ 1 credit
As usual, this subject will include church, family Bible time in the evenings, personal Bible reading, and possibly a book about church history.

PE ~ 1/2 credit
PE always consists primarily of basketball: at the KROC, co-op, and Tuesday evenings with Greg and others.  Any kind of physical activity will be counted.

Drama ~ 1 credit
The current production Kylen is in will go through mid-October, and he is taking a drama class at co-op.  He'll probably audition for more plays throughout the year.

Occupational Education ~ 1 credit
We would not have done this subject if it were not required for graduation in our state.  This has been a difficult credit for us.  I have slowly added things over all four years of high school, and he is close to being done.  So far, we have the following:

*An automotive basics class taken at co-op
*Numerous hours of various shows including cooking shows and Undercover Boss
*The documentary The Hobert Shakespeareans, about a brilliant educator
*Basic lawn care
*Map skills
*Computer basics
*Touring a roller coaster company
*Visiting a college fair
*Taking a college campus tour
*Attending a writer's seminar by a well known published author
*A hunter's safety class

He still needs about 24 hours out of the 120.  I would like to have him do a few online career assessment tests and learn basic woodworking by doing a wood project with Greg.  Hopefully, we'll get in another college visit or two. If that doesn't fulfill the remaining hours, I will probably have him watch more episodes of Undercover Boss.

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This sounds like a lot, but with the exception of the college English courses, I think it will be easier than last year.  :)

The Play

I've been wanting to do a post about the play Greg and Kylen got cast in at our city's local theater. The Baker Street Irregulars monopolized the first half of our summer, but Greg and Kylen had a BLAST!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Kylen was thrilled just to get a part with lots of lines after being accustomed to only one or two, but then they switched him to lead!!  And Greg had his first experience acting (since first grade!).  I was SO proud of him for trying something new and scary.  He became completely immersed in the production and enjoyed helping with props and making suggestions just as much as the acting itself.  He spent hours creating a hot dog cart, repairing a light post, and working on all sorts of projects.  He even wrote an addition to the end of the script for the last day that was very well received.

Their director was an incredible woman who made their first experience with this theater a wonderful one.

We had a fantastic outpouring of support from family and friends, selling around 40 tickets.  It was super fun for the boys to greet someone they knew at the end of every show.  Plus, they made a lot of new friends!

One of the actresses and her mom created the posters.  Aren't they neat?

The actress who made the posters is extremely talented.  Kylen had a hard time keeping a straight face when he was interacting with her on stage, because she was so dramatic and her facial expressions were hilarious.

We celebrated after opening show at Red Robin with good friends.  Lots of laughter and happy memories made.

Looking forward to next time!