good lordie. 101 degrees? yep you heard that right. but it was one of my favorite grad sessions I've ever done. a day in late july in central texas isn't for the weak, that's for sure.
I had this shoot on my calendar for quite a while and definitely didn't want to prolong it any more. this weather called for my first stop to be hteao. being a texas transplant, I had never seen a storefront entirely dedicated to selling basically 80 different types of sweet tea and was completely in awe the first time I stepped in there. if I had to guess, every baylor grad has either set foot in hteao or common grounds (local coffee & studying spot).
ANYWAYS her order was sweet coconut tea. when I wasn't firing the shutter, tea was definitely in hand.
each session unfolds differently, but this time we started off by finding dappled light among the live oak trees and got some very classic shots against the columns at pat neff. we were seeking spots in shade when we could and thankfully, baylor has plenty.
by this point, we were definitely feeling the heat, but somehow she never looked like it (must be a magical grad-session superpower??)
we took our time wandering across campus, stopping whenever the light caught my eye or a pocket of shade gave us a little break from the texas sun.
one of my favorite things about baylor's campus is how every corner seems to hold an entirely different memory for someone.
and that's what makes these sessions feel so full-circle, and offer a sort of victory lap around your soon-to-be old stomping grounds.
as the sun dropped a little lower, the light softened just enough for us to venture into some of the open spaces. the buildings started reflecting this warm glow that makes baylor in the summer feel almost cinematic. it was worth sweating through approximately three outfits.
by the end of the session, we had wandered over a good chunk campus, finished our tea, and almost forgot it was still over 100 degrees. looking through the images afterward, you'd never know we were photographing in what felt like the inside of an oven. that's one of my favorite parts about photography, that it freezes a moment exactly how it felt emotionally, not necessarily how uncomfortable it was physically.
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to this grad: congratulations. thank you for trusting me to capture such a huge milestone. your joy, resilience (especially in 101-degree weather), and excitement for what's next made this one I'll remember for a long time.
and if you're planning summer graduation photos in texas, my biggest advice? book the session anyway. bring water, grab a tea from hteao beforehand, embrace the heat, and trust that it'll be worth it in the end.
xoxo audree
