A Note To The Class Of 2020

A NOTE TO THE CLASS OF 2020

All Is Not Lost

Our hearts go out to the Class of 2020 as they navigate this unsure time with COVID-19. We know your hearts are breaking as school, sports, graduations and get-to-togethers are canceled while you sit at home waiting for this time to pass. We are praying that school will be back in session by May and you will still get to enjoy a few weeks of your senior year. It should be a time to celebrate you and all you have achieved in the last 4 years.

Parents, family and friends of seniors, both high school and college, please know that many of them are in mourning of their senior year and what they are missing right now. Their time to shine academically, in sports on the field and spending time with friends has been lost for now. Senior year is not only a time of fun and celebrating achievements but also a time of closure as they move into the next season of their lives.

Seniors, we are keeping you, your family and friends in our prayers and know that we will continue to celebrate you at Bentley Photography! We are honoring all seniors from the Class of 2020 and will be posting photos daily on Instagram highlighting the many seniors we have had the privilege to photograph this year! Check them out here!

In the meantime, keep your chins up! Warm weather is here so get outside! Enjoy your time at home with family, walk your dog, catch up on TV shows, play games, listen to music, dance, go for a hike, listen to podcasts, bake cookies, eat cake. So many things you never have time to do! It’s not often, if ever, that the world stops and we get to remember what is truly important in the grand scheme of life. It may not be what you planned but when life is back to normal, the time you have gained with family and these new, unexpected memories you have created will be a blessing.

Much love to all of you,

Mike and Chance Bentley

Megan – JCHS

Megan is another beauty from Jefferson and Jackson County High School. We met Megan in Athens in July for her senior portrait session and worked our way around town while getting to know her. Megan’s favorite thing to do is play volleyball and she hopes to play in college. After high school, she wants to attend Coastal Georgia College in Brunswick, Mike, and Chance both spent some time there, and eventually live in Savannah and be a property manager. Megan is a very friendly and outgoing girl and I am sure she is going to love being at the beach next year and will do great in college and beyond.

Jefferson, senior, photographer, portraits, Athens

Bentley Photography

Location Senior Portraits

Avery – Apalachee High School

On a cold wet dreary day like today, it is nice to be able to go back and look at Avery’s senior portraits. Avery is a senior this year at Apalachee High School and went with us to Athens in July for her senior portraits. After high school, she wants to go to college and study radiology and move somewhere new. She loves spending time with her friends and her idea of a perfect day would be doing just that and eating at some of her favorite places. One of her favorite places was just down the road from where we ended her senior session at Paulie’s, hope she made if over before leaving town.

Bentley Photography

Location Senior Portraits

Senior Safari Location Search

This past weekend we took a little trip to scout out a new location or two for our senior safari for the class of 2021. This one had been on my radar for a while and Saturday we just had to load up and go see what there was to see. Over the years we have taken seniors on our safari’s to Atlanta, Madison, Dahlonega, ghost towns, rivers, waterfalls, mountains, Civil War ruins, old factories, and car graveyards. Always on the lookout for something new we thought about taking one to the old Central State Hospital in Millidgeville. We got up early and took a drive south to Milledgeville, two hours later we arrived at the campus. The hospital grounds are huge and cover close to 2000 acres with buildings all over in various forms of neglect and decay, our favorite because it’s great for portraits! We spent a few hours exploring and looking for locations to photograph. While the trip was a lot of fun, very informative and the buildings are extremely cool, it’s not a location that will work for a safari. Well worth the trip to see the hospital campus and we recommend reading up on it before you go. You can do that here at these links. And here.

Here are just a few fun facts:

The hospital was open before the civil war and operated for over 150 years.
The original name was totally NOT PC, and would never be accepted, thankfully, today.
When Sherman marched through burning Georgia, he left the hospital untouched.
It was, at one time, the largest mental hospital in the world.
Ask around you probably know someone who knows someone who was a patient there.

These black and white images were taken with a Holga lens on my Canon camera.

Bentley Photography

Location Senior Portraits

Caroline – North Oconee HS

Caroline is the pretty twin of the Curry twin duo from North Oconee High School. What a sweetheart she is! We had an awesome time photographing her and her brother for their senior portraits. Caroline plans to go to law school one day and shares our love of two favorite TV shows we have; Breaking Bad and The Walking Dead. She also loves to play Lacrosse like her brother but when she’s not doing that, you might find her hanging out with friends. Thanks for a great photo day Caroline!!

Bentley Photography

Outdoor Senior Portrait