Introducing Wayne Central High School's Olivia. As part of the Class of 2023, this incredibly busy, young lady has had quite a year. During our first meeting, I ask the seniors a bunch of questions and always get excited as they talk about all their interests and what their future plans might be. It was clear to me right away that Olivia was someone who had the determination and drive to take her anywhere she wanted to go.

Along with her love of music (she plays piccolo, flute and saxophone), she's a talented athlete earning her black belt in karate at Kuk Sool Won and playing volleyball and softball for school. She and her Varsity Volleyball teammates were Section V Class B Champions 2020, 2021 and 2022 and placed second for the NYSPHSAA State Championships for 2022. Olivia made the 2022 NYS All Tournament Team and received the Varsity Most Valuable Player Award. In softball, she and her teammates  made 2021 and 2022 First Team All League and she was given the award for the 2023 Best Defensive Player!

One of the things she was excited about for her senior year was being exposed to the medical side of academics with the New Vision Medical Careers Program. New Visions is a one-year career exploration program through Boces 2 that provides highly motivated seniors with the opportunity to gain valuable insights into Health Science career options from a real-world perspective. Clearly, her academics reached a high level as she was also inducted into the National Honor Society at Wayne and graduated with a Regents diploma with Mastery in Science and Mathematics. 

Her plans after high school are to attend college at Penn State University in the Pre-Med Honors Program  she aspires to become an emergency room doctor. At Penn, she also plans to play volleyball and softball. She's sure gonna be busy!!

For Olivia's Experience Session, she chose Warner Castle at Highland Park. What a great location to highlight this beautiful girl. I think the images speak for themselves. She was awesome!

Hayes Photography offers not only loose prints, but albums, multi-image collages, canvas gallery wraps and more. There are a few examples of what Olivia and her mom chose from her session included here. 

Olivia, I know you're destined for great things. You should be proud of all your accomplishments and I wish you the very best for a bright future!

Be happy, work hard, have fun and thanks for choosing me for your senior portraits!!!

Please congratulate Olivia on all her accomplishments with a special message below and thanks for visiting the blog.

Meet Nick! He's a senior at Webster Schroeder High School and is a few short weeks away from graduation!

Nick and his parents chose the Deluxe Session for his senior portraits last September because they wanted two unique locations. They love the Webster Arboretum for its beautiful gardens and park atmosphere and, since Nick plays football for Schroeder, they wanted him photographed at the stadium. We couldn't have asked for a better day!

This handsome, young man did a terrific job taking directions for posing, seemingly at ease through it all. As one of the captains for the Warriors Football Team, he was truly at home at the stadium with dad joining he and his mom for that portion of the session.

I always bring extra lighting with me to either combat the harsh daylight or to add an extra bit of spark to the eyes on an overcast day. It really helped with the intense light on the field for sure. After the typical sports portraits, he got into his full gear for some more intense sportstraits (sports portraits) and action shots. Dad even got into it helping throw the ball and got some great grins out of Nick. Man, did we have fun!

Nick plays middle linebacker and tight end for the Warriors and I had hoped to photograph him at one of his games, but unfortunately he injured his foot and was unable to play during the game I could shoot. He was able to finally get back to playing and the team had a terrific season even making it to sectionals.

Nick will be heading off, in the fall, to play for the Utica Pioneers where he'll be studying Environmental Criminal Justice. As a Schroeder Summa Cum Laude student, he's sure to do well in whatever field he chooses and I wish him lots of success with football, academics and beyond. Thank you for choosing Hayes Photography!

Make sure to leave Nick a congrats message. He's earned it!