Mill Ruins Park senior photos | Brighid

Personal, Seniors

Brighid’s Mill Ruins Park senior photo session in Minneapolis, MN is super special to me. You probably wouldn’t have guessed it but Brighid is my cousin. “What?! That tall, cool, beautiful model is your cousin?!” Yes, she’s my younger cousin and the second youngest Baker grandchild in my family. So please forgive me because I’m about to get sentimental over here.

Brighid and her dad (my uncle) messaged my parents and I a few months ago and said they were going to fly in and tour some Midwest colleges. They live in CA so the notion that Brighid was considering a Midwest college got me pretty excited. It also provided me the perfect excuse to take her senior photos.

A little backstory to put that comment into context:

Ever since I took my cousin Caroline’s senior photos at the start of my photography journey, I had it in my mind that I’d try to take my younger cousins’ senior photos. The pandemic kept me from taking one cousin’s photos and I was worried I’d miss Brighid’s senior photos, too. My family lives all across the country and only gets together once a summer. We already had our get together this year and unfortunately Brighid wasn’t able to attend. So I thought I was sh@! out of luck.

As it turned out, I wasn’t! Yay!! On a hot summer weekend, after we toured the University of Minnesota, the two of us parted from the group and we drove to Mill Ruins Park to take her senior photos.

Now, I know I’m super biased, but Brighid is the most gorgeous individual in the world! Her physical beauty aside, it’s her humor, spunk, brains, and talent that make up one utterly gorgeous human being. It’s bizarre to think that I was her age when she was born – it makes me feel old, proud, and a little sad. 1) Old because where the hell did 17 years go?! 2) Proud because she has grown into a thoughtful, caring young lady. And 3) a bit nostalgic for the little girl she used to be.

It was fun watching her grow up and I’m excited to see what the future has in store for her. Brig, I love you so much and I’m blessed because you’re my cousin!