Breathtaking Sunset Senior Session with Lily Judd - West Franklin HS Class of 2022 - Kansas' Best Senior Portrait Photographers

 

Wow! Where do I start? I’ve known Lily for years and she’s always been very photogenic and I’ve enjoyed photographing her and her family and so when it was time to photograph her senior photos, it hit me how important these were and that they had to be perfect. We met them at a rural property of theirs and it was the most amazing backdrop. A white barn on top of a hill overlooking a beautiful valley and the most incredible sky as the backdrop. Mike was there too, their horse and he was hilarious. He added lots of great looks and uniqueness to her session! All in all, it was one of my favorite senior sessions I’ve ever shot. I’m so happy to be able to share these with you all!

T.H. Peterson: What is one of your funniest memories from high school?

Lily:  There are so many that you would have to be there for in order to fully understand.  One that will stick out though is when my, now boyfriend, decided that our freshman science class was the best time to ask me out. I kind of thought we already were dating since he took me out to dinner the night before school started and since this was the third day of school and I hadn’t heard anything bad I assumed nothing different. He played it off like he just needed help on a problem but then asked if I would be his girlfriend. I felt bad for just assuming but we both got a laugh out of it in the end.

T.H. P.: What activities are you involved in and what is your favorite one?

Lily:  Throughout the year, I am involved in cross country, golf, basketball, powerlifting, track, FFA, 4-H, livestock judging and showing cattle. Showing and judging are hard to compete with, but cross country and powerlifting would have to be my favorite school activities.

T.H. P.: How did you feel when you came in and saw your senior portraits?

Lily:  I knew they would be good, because there had never been a low-quality picture from you guys. But these were knocked out of the park. I am so glad that we were able to have the day we did because the colors that you guys were able to capture are outstanding.

T.H. P.: You have $100,000 and you get to spend a day hanging out with any celebrity in the world.  Who would you spend your day with and what would you two do with the money?

Lily:  I would spend the day with Kevin Costner. I would ask him to give me a tour around the set of Yellowstone and maybe meet the cast, so I would use the money to pay whatever that amount is. I would also make sure that for dinner we would have a high class steak dinner. The rest of the money would be donated to several young agricultural groups.

T.H. P.: What is your absolute favorite home cooked meal that your family makes?

Lily:  By far, my favorite home cooked meal is fettuccini noodles and a juicy steak. Mom has always made the fettuccini sauce from scratch and no restaurant has ever been able to live up to that standard. On the dessert side, in the summer instead of birthday cakes we make strawberry shortcake. Again, I have yet to find anything that remotely compares.

T.H. P.: What do you plan to do after high school?

Lily:  I plan to attend Butler Community College to further my agricultural education as well as hopefully be a part of the livestock judging team. After Butler, I will most likely be at Kansas State University.

T.H. P.: Tell us about your horse, Michael, and his personality.

Lily:  My horse Mike was originally intended to be used by my grandfather and only had the name “Blackie”. However, he used to be heavily used in rodeos and was a little more than what my grandfather was asking for. That meant he then didn’t have a rider for a while. One night out of the blue when I was at the ranch, I decided to take him for a ride. I immediately fell in love with him, and I’ve gotten to call him mine ever since. Soon after I started riding him, I decided that he needed a more fitting name than just “Blackie”. After much help from friends and family, I decided on the name Mike. I felt like his personality matched that of Big Mike off the Blind Side as well as a family friend of ours. Mike loves to work and has a huge heart. He seems to fly when we run across a pasture and just when you think he’s going as fast as he can, he hits another gear.

T.H. P.: The location for your session was amazing!  How did you choose that location and what significance does it have in your life?

Lily:  We were originally going to use a creek that was located close to the barn for our location but with the amount of rain we got the night before we decided it would be better to use the barn since it was on a hill. This has always been one of my favorite places. It seems like you can see forever up there and the land all around it is beautiful, especially when it is green. Inside this barn used to be a riding arena. There are still some stalls on the one side, but it has always been a storage barn since we had it. Ever since I was a little kid, we would joke how we were going to clean it up and that I would stay for school because the grade school is about three miles away. Plus, since it had stalls, that would mean I would get to ride my horse to school. It will forever be one of my favorite barns and if I ever got the chance, that is where I would live.

T.H. P.: What are you looking forward to the most for your senior year at West Franklin?

Lily:  I am greatly looking forward to our cross country season. We have a complete team and one that will be very competitive. Plus, it is a great group of girls that I have the honor of getting to know and run with.

T.H. P.: We have been photographing you for so long, what do you enjoy the most about your photo session with us?

Lily:  There is never a dull moment with Tommy! This makes every session very fun and I think allows him to capture more natural looks.

To book your own session, please call Tommy or Holly at 785.793.2492 or 785.213.0812 or email tommy@thpetersonphoto.com