Your best friend just got her senior photos back and they look exactly like her. Of course they do. She has been planning this for months and she knew exactly what she wanted. Now you're looking at your own session and wondering if you should do the same thing. Same location. Same vibe. Maybe even the same photographer.

Welcome to the studio dressing room! I hope you will make yourself at home and relax in this space. Let us get you a special drink while you put final touches on your hair and makeup, hang up your clothes and settle in before an amazing session.

Senior year has a way of feeling like it is moving at two speeds at once. On one hand, everything is happening: applications, games, last-firsts, the general chaos of being a senior. On the other hand, there is this quiet pull to actually slow down and do something that feels good just for the sake of doing it. That is where the grandmacore trend comes in, and honestly, the timing could not be better.

Senior photo day has a whole thing around it. You’ve seen the results: the gorgeous galleries, the perfect light, the photos that make everyone go quiet for a second when they see them. What you don’t always see is everything that happened between showing up and getting those photos.

Summer holds this amazing blank slate and also simultaneously this incredible pressure if you’re not careful. Let’s keep it fun and remember that you don’t need to have a “successful” summer.

Or maybe you do? But you get to define what “success” is and it’s not related to social media or keeping up with anyone. Including the long list of ideas you’ve got swirling around.

Ellaina did her senior session on the Bolivar Square at golden hour in overalls. The brick, the architecture, the warmth of the light coming through the buildings at that time of day. The square any time of the day is beautiful but the square at golden hour is my fave.

Every time we get the Lakaytos fam in the studio we are absolutely thrilled.

These are the kind of people that spread nothing but the brightest joy and are such a pleasure to be around.

Ellaina and Tessa showed up to their BFF senior session at Dunnegan Memorial Park in coordinated dresses. Deep red and cream floral. They kicked off their shoes and spent the session running through the grass barefoot at golden hour. They had the location, the time of day, and the colors figured out before they got there.

Summer is the most popular time for senior pictures, and the 417 in June and July has a particular kind of light in the evening that makes outdoor sessions look like something out of a movie. The days are long, the fields along the rural roads are tall and golden, and golden hour runs almost an hour and a half before the sun actually sets. If your senior session is happening this summer, here is how to make the most of what the season actually gives you.

Picture this, its 7:22pm on a random Saturday and Jordan texts you asking if you’d be up for shooting a courthouse wedding this Thursday. Obviously you say YES!

The photos that look professional from a phone are rarely about the phone itself. They are about light, timing, and a few settings most people never touch. Whether you are photographing friends at Dunnegan Park, documenting senior year at Bolivar High, or just want better photos in general, this is what actually makes the difference.

The Taylor sisters came into JB Photography Studio holding flowers. Makenzie hosted the spring mini session in Bolivar, MO — a floral setup with soft colors, fresh blooms, and two girls who clearly knew how to have fun together.

My name is Emma, and I am a new member to the JBS Team this year. The other day I got to go around Bolivar. Now, it was a gloomy day, but whenever I drove around more, I started to realize all of the gems Bolivar has to offer.

The walking path at Dunnegan Memorial Park is just over a mile long, and in spring it changes every week. One week the red buckeye is in bloom over the trail.

Owen is a senior at Bolivar High School. He has been throwing shot put for over 6 years now. He’s gone to state the past two years as well. Owen is one of the kindest men out there, he is always wearing a smile on his face. So don’t let the big muscle appearance fool you for who Owen really is.

Harlee Neal is six and she walked into the studio already excited about the flower tower setup for the spring photo minis. Eisley got to photograph her spring mini session at the studio this week.

You have spent years training for this. Early mornings, late practices, game days that felt like they took forever and seasons that went by too fast. Senior sports photos are where all of that gets documented for real: not a yearbook headshot, not a team photo, but a full session built around you and your sport at the locations in Bolivar where your athletic career actually happened.

Hey there! It’s Emma today, and I have the pleasure to tell you guys about Ayden! I’ve known Ayden for a long time now. We have ran together on the same cross country team for four years, and she was someone that I looked up to then, and still do today. She has been like the older sister that I never had. I hope that as we go about this, you can see the beauty that Ayden shows on the outside, and know that it is matched on the inside.

There is a golden retriever named Biscuit who has been to the studio twice. The first time he knocked over a reflector within about forty-five seconds of walking through the door, tail going at full speed, completely unaware he had just taken out a piece of equipment. His owner was mortified. Biscuit was not. The photos from that session are some of the best ones ever.

The goal here isn't to turn you into a photographer. I kind of believe if you can take a photo then you’re a photographer.

But the point is for you to like the photos you take because these moments are worth keeping. Here's what actually makes a difference: