It’s always fun and a challenge to photograph a senior in his or her home or nearby - you never know what you’ll find and a new location always gets the creative juices flowing.

We actually passed Garrett’s house and turned around in a dairy a block from his home - cool, this is it!

Here’s a few favorites from a recent senior session with Lyndsay - Barb and I had a blast with her, finishing on the side of her street in the road bed of buttercups. Lyndsay’s a very engaging and accomplished young lady. She graduated this year and is off to college in the fall. We wish her all the best.

Memorial Day for me has been more about the picnics and the pool opening than a time of memorializing or remembering anyone that I knew personally. That changed a year and a half ago with the ambush and death of my cousin’s son, Eric. Stationed in Iraq with the US Army, the danger was high, but still his family assumed that he would return un-harmed. Eric was only 20 years old.

In 2 weeks, my brother’s stepson will be leaving for Marine Boot Camp - 2 days after he graduates from High School. You might remember Bob from a senior portrait session that we photographed earlier this year. We are praying for his safe return.

I grew up at the end or after the counter culture movement and while the youth of that time were a catalyst for social change, I don’t think there’s been a time in our history where the youth of today has had such an influence on our culture, politics and business.

The Internet has contracted the world, allowing worldwide communication and collaboration that wasn’t available just a short few years ago. Blogs are overtaking the print media, politicians are reaching prominence through the Internet - The Obama Youtube effect - and companies started in a college dorm - Microsoft, Apple, Google and Facebook are changing the way we do business, all driven by today’s youth.

I photographed Drew’s senior portrait a couple of weeks ago. He’s a fascinating young guy with a wide variety of interests from ceramic art to Parkour.

We started with some photos for grandma around the house and then went off to the playground to shoot what totally freaked me out, Drew’s interest in an extreme sport or martial art, something which is difficult to categorize.

I’ve seen Parkour in movies, like the latest Bruce - we go to the same barber - Willis’s movie, but I didn’t have a name for it… it’s moving from one point to another as efficiently and quickly as possible, using the abilities of the human body.

Drew discovered Parkour on the Internet and has since been involved with an international team with international sponsors.

This is an extremely hazardous activity requiring a high level of training and commitment. In other words, don’t try this at home.