Toy Story Graduate
“Yesterday” I walked Trevor up to his first day of kindergarten with his Woody from Toy Story hanging off the back of his backpack. Now he gets ready to graduate from high school. His journey hasn’t been easy over the past 13 years while dealing with Chronic Lyme Disease. But he is a warrior and defied the odds of graduating on time with the help of his teachers and doctors. He did it! Thank you Framingham teachers, staff and his medical team for believing in our son, Trevor!

I wanted to create something unique and personalized to remember all his hard work; to show that he will continue onto his next journey.
“To Infinity and Beyond” was one of those famous sayings in the Toy Story movies. This was perfect for his cap and gown photography session. I had tears as he started to walk down this path and he was “mom, really?” Even photographers get emotional over their own images.

How did I capture this photograph?
I used an off camera flash at just camera left to light up the Toy Story characters and used my 24-70mm 2.8 RF Canon lens on my Canon R5. Using this mirrorless body offered the LCD to be viewed as live on the ground to give the perspective that the Toy Story were larger and equal to size of my graduate who is walking off to his next journey.
I used a shallow depth of field at 3.5 to blur the graduate as he walked away. The focus was the characters and they watched him walk down the path close to sunset.

This location was special to our family, as I’ve photographed my boys here almost every year since they were toddlers. Cushing Park in Framingham is a beautiful passive park.
I love to tell stories through my photography, even if its just one image. You feel emotion and know there is a story behind the image.
Yes, he still had his favorite Toy Story friends, some packed away in a box – but his buddy Woody was still sitting up on his dresser with some of his sports trophies.

I’m sharing this story with you because many of you have graduates or someday soon.  Remember to capture those memories.

Those fleeting moments are remembered best through photography.  Lastly make sure to print those photographic memories because digital images will become obsolete in the future. The printed photographic can last for a lifetime.

Your children will thank you for having those photographs.  They can look back at their childhood and remember all those experiences through printed photographs as well as share these memories with their future children.

Here is a photo of my son on his first day of kindergarten as he walked up to the path of school with the backpack as big as him with his favorite toy, Woody from Toy Story. Back then, he never went anywhere without his favorite buddy.

Here is a small video of the location and as he walked down this path as the sun was setting.

Are looking for unique senior portraits  for your High School Senior  in  Framingham, Natick or Sudbury? It’s fun to include your sports uniform in your full hour senior session. My full hour senior session offers you plenty of time to change outfits and have multiple poses. Don’t forget to book a Cap and Gown session once graduation is open us.  We can do a 30 minute mini session or a full hour.  The day of the actual graduation is crazy busy. Usually the schools either give out the cap and gown a few days before or you are purchasing them to keep forever.

I offer senior portraits for students from Medway, Hopkinton, Wellesley, Hopedale, Walpole, Ashland, Marlborough, Southborough, Northborough, Boston. As well as sessions for seniors from  Sherborn, Wayland, Brookline , Cambridge, Natick, a Medfield.  Paula Swift offers beautiful portraits of athletes in my studio and outdoors.

Visit Paula Swift Photography – https://www.paulaswift.com to find out more information about booking a photography session.

 Master Photographer and a Certified Professional Photographer with over 28 years of professional photography experience. Beautiful portraits can be captured right in your hometown of Framingham, Wayland, Concord, Natick MA, Marlborough, Holliston or Ashland.

Lastly, my creative eye will give your senior the best and unique look for their senior year. Cushing Memorial Park and Farm Pond in Framingham is a beautiful location for your high school portraits in Massachusetts.

As a former staff photojournalist at the Worcester Telegram & Gazette newspaper in Worcester, MA Paula also holds two college degrees in the field of photography.
Paula Swift Photography has won awards for her newborn, baby, children, family, maternity and high school photography through the Professional Photographers of America, and Professional Photographers Association of Massachusetts – PPAM.
She is the recent past President of PPAM for the year of 2021-2023.