Class of 2026 Recap: Senior Portraits Across Nebraska That Tell Their Story
- 12 hours ago
- 4 min read
Senior year has a way of going faster than anyone expects. One day they're picking out their first day of the school year outfits, and the next you're reflecting on portraits that somehow managed to capture exactly who your kid is right now, at this age, in this season. No two senior portrait sessions look alike, and they shouldn't. The horses, the hobbies, the places a senior knows by heart, the things they'd bring if someone told them to pack what matters most: that's the raw material. The Class of 2026 brought all of it, from a foggy morning at a state park to a sunrise pasture session to Main Street at dusk.
Here's a look at each of them.
Riley
Riley's session happened at sunrise on her family's farm in Hebron, before the summer heat had a chance to show up. She brought her horse Watttawin, the family dog, and a range of looks that covered every side of who she is: the polished cowgirl ready to take on the world, the one who likes to get fancy in her gown with her horse, and the one who is ready to work in a pasture at first light. Her family's land holds her whole growing-up chapter in it. We just showed up early enough to catch it.
Katelyn
Katelyn's session covered a lot of ground: a horse barn in Lincoln, a gravel drive with her dirt bike, and a wildflower patch in Eagle as the sky went deep blue at dusk. She wanted them all, and she didn't see any reason to choose between them for her senior session. She was completely at ease in all three places, which is the whole point. Some seniors know exactly who they are. Katelyn is one of them.
Shayla
Shayla's session never left her world. We spent the whole evening on her family's property in Broken Bow: barn, pasture, and the dirt roads she knows better than anyone. She brought both of her horses, white cowboy boots, and enough confidence to put a wooden chair in the middle of a dirt road at sunset and make it look like the most obvious idea anyone's ever had
Ethan C.
Ethan wanted to keep it simple. No props, no extra elements. Just good light, good locations, and portraits that look like him. We photographed at a location in Gretna that I love (and is so versatile!), and that was exactly enough. Ethan's session meant something extra to me: he's the third Cunningham sibling I've photographed. I've watched this family grow up, and getting to close that chapter with him was one of those quiet privileges of this work.
Hailee
Hailee plays bass. She plays trumpet in marching band. She paints. She has a black cat named Pixel. She did not pick one thing to be for her session, and I didn't ask her to. We moved through Ashland: her home, the football field, Main Street. The image I keep returning to is the one where she's holding a fan of well-used paintbrushes across the lower half of her face, just her eyes and her olive frames above them, looking straight into the lens with confidence. It's exactly her.
Ethan M.
Ethan M. is one who just shows up and makes everyone around him laugh, and his Senior session was no different. He hammed it up on Main Street in McCook in a charcoal suit, traded it for a black tee at his family's red barn, and ended the evening on the dirt roads at dusk with his golf bag. He even had some friends join him for some of the fun. That kind of energy photographs itself.
Maizie
If your senior has a place that's completely theirs, photograph them there. For Maizie, that's the horse barn in Fort Calhoun. Her FFA jacket, her horse, her favorite books, the amber light of the barn aisle at the end of the evening. It all added up to a session that encompasses her personality, which is the best possible outcome.
Robert
Robert brought his dog Ted (a small white fluffball with strong opinions about being the center of attention), his weights, and looked sharp in his suit. The barn cats showed up, and at some point he climbed a tree. Ted supervised all of it from the gravel lane at golden hour like a very serious bodyguard. A detail that stays with me: he included his grandfather's watch. These little, but oh so meaningful details are important. These are the things worth documenting.
Lauren
Lauren brought her dog, her painting supplies, and a stack of her actual favorite books to her fall session, and we found a way to incorporate flowers she was afraid she missed out on. The result is a session that looks like a snapshot of her life Senior year. She's creative, warm, and completely her own. That's what happens when a senior shows up as herself.
Isabellarose
Isabellarose brought her family, her mementos, and her whole aesthetic to a foggy morning at a state park. The fog was thick enough that we had to delay the start, and it was worth the wait. Two Rivers State Recreation Area in Waterloo turned into the perfect backdrop for a session that was entirely, unapologetically her. She's quietly confident in the way that only introverts can be, and watching that bloom in front of the camera over the course of a session is one of my favorite things to witness.Yes
The Class of 2026 was a good one. Ten completely different people, ten completely different sessions, and every single one of them showed up as exactly themselves. That's not something you can manufacture. It's something you make room for.
If your senior is coming up and you're starting to think about portraits, I'd love to be part of it. Bring the horse, the dirt bike, the books, the cat. Bring the thing that makes them them. That's where the best sessions start.
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