Oct 18, 20212 min read

Landin - Senior Spotlight

If you had the opportunity to go back into time and re-do your senior year, would you? What if you were graduating during the Covid-19 Pandemic? That's a tough one, right? Kids are resilient, but the past year and a half has taken quite the toll on them. Landin is no exception. Landin has expressed frustration with having to wear a mask to school for both his junior and senior years of high school and not being able to see his friends. Landin also lost his great-grandma this past year and has been dealing with his mom's cancer diagnosis. But throughout it all, he's an amazing kid.

Landin did not want his senior pictures taken--similar to most teenage boys. He was not thrilled to be spending a Saturday evening with me and his mom in historic Valley Junction. But he humored his mom. He also brought along his dog, Apollo. Dogs make everything better.

I knew going into this photoshoot that Landin was not feeling it, so I tried my hardest to get as many poses in a short amount of time. We took thirty minutes and I was able to deliver around 90 images for Landin and his mom to choose from.

Maybe it's because I was just talking about one of my favorite teen movies, but Landin was giving me some serious Patrick Verona vibes from 10 Things I Hate About You.

Landin will be graduating from Valley High School in West Des Moines this spring. After graduating, he is hoping to gain employment in the trades field--either as a mechanic or in the construction field.

Landin hopes to move out after graduation but would like to stay in the Des Moines metro. He is the oldest of his siblings. It's still unclear if Landin will take Apollo, the Siberian Husky mix, with him when he moves out. Landin's dad, got Apollo from a friend after an unfortunate incident with a chicken. Apollo has been part of Landin's family for a few years.

As we were walking along the sidewalk of Valley Junction, lots of people complimented Landin on how well-behaved Apollo was, and how handsome he is. I 100% agreed. I brought along some puppy training treats as a way to befriend Apollo.