Senior Spotlight on Sophie | Life, Joy and Light

This week’s Senior Spotlight is on my longtime friend Sophie. Her senior session was full of life, joy and light. Just like her. In fact, one week ago today this queen made her New York City debut at the famous 54 Below. Being in the spotlight is nothing new for Sophie. She is a well-seasoned performer and I knew she would shine in front of my camera. She brought so much life and joy to these images. Her inner light shined bright and I harnessed the gorgeous afternoon sun in the wheat fields. It was the perfect marriage of a subject and location. Sophie graduated from Northwest School of the Arts (NWSA) on June 11. This session was photographed in May at Marvin Efird Park in Waxhaw, North Carolina.

Big Apple Bound at Pace University!

Sophie heads back to Manhattan at the end of August for her freshman year at Pace University. She was accepted to the Sands College of Performing Arts and the Pforzheimer Honors College where she will earn her Bachelors of Fine Arts (BFA) in Musical Theatre. Like my senior client Sydney, Sophie belongs to a small but mighty club of students who endured the long and exhausting process of auditioning for collegiate fine arts programs. Sophie too landed at one of the best! Which for the record, I knew way before the auditions even started.

Theater Kid Things

She was accepted into one of the best musical theatre programs in the country because 1) she’s insanely talented and 2) this is not her first rodeo. Sophie has been working towards this goal most of her life. Most recently, she played the leading role of Elle Woods in NWSA’s spring musical Legally Blonde. That role was the highlight of her senior year, along with – at the same time – auditioning at Chicago Unifieds for dozens of colleges, including Pace! Can you imagine? Headlining a musical here in Charlotte then flying to Chicago for one college audition after another? All at the same time!?! She’s a PRO. So much so that she was a Top 6 Finalist for the Blumey Awards Best Actress during her freshman year in high school! Needless to say, she has spent a lot of time on stage.

Sophie spent 10 years training with Children’s Theater of Charlotte during which she performed in many OnStage and Main Stage productions. Over the years, she also performed with Theatre Charlotte, Mooresville Community Childrens’ Theatre, Community School of Davidson and The Lotus Project. My daughter Kate shared a stage with her many times. They go way back and might be the OG theater kid besties!

In addition to all this stage time, Sophie was a member of NWSA’s Thespian Troupe 5634 and served as president her senior year. She remained on the A/B Honor Roll all four years of high school and was also a member of the National Honor Society and Rho Kappa. In between all of this, she somehow found time to serve as a Blumenthal Junior Ambassador for two years.

Sophie – You light up every space you enter. I’ve loved watching you shine both on stage and off. You are making your dreams come true and I’m so here for it, always cheering you onward and upward. I can’t wait to see your name in bright lights of Broadway! Until then, thank you for choosing me to photograph your senior portraits and allowing me to share more about you as this week’s Senior Spotlight! Here are a few of my favorites from your session. Love you queen.