You see, Chapel Hill is exactly half way between our homes, so we met there to reconnect and to photograph her sweet daughter, Olivia, who will graduate high school this spring and head to Carolina herself in the fall.

Forming New Memories at Old Stomping Grounds

At about the time I took the first portrait I posted here, my emotions overtook me… Olivia looks SO MUCH like Brandi did, that seeing her in front of me in that gorgeous campus that I love SO MUCH instantly took me back 30 years. It was a rush, overwhelming in its sweet nostalgia.

My daughter, Cailyn, who is a Senior at Carolina joined us too. It was the most wonderful afternoon as I watched my two worlds meet. We Tar Heels often talk about the ties that bind us to UNC: we have the beautiful brick walkways among stately oaks and pines; we have academic and athletic excellence; we have Franklin Street celebrations; we have the Old Well; we have the iconic Carolina Blue; we have the people who understand because they lived it too.

Brandi and Olivia may never know what it means to me that they called on me to do these portraits for them because I don’t think I have the words to verbalize any of it. But then maybe words aren’t necessary, and maybe they do understand. We are Tar Heel Born, Bred, Dead, after all.

Old memories and new adventures at Carolina… they’re all priceless to me. Go Heels!

See her full session slideshow on YouTube.