NATCHEZ — A group of Natchez High School students decided to stay after the lights were turned on at the prom to wait for their memories to be printed on glossy paper.

In the band room of the Steckler Multipurpose Building Saturday, high schoolers dressed in brightly colored and sequined dresses and crisp, white tuxedos gathered to compare photos from prom night.

“Oh, look at my smile in this one,” Chrisiya Williams, 16, said jokingly to 17-year-old Jayla Anderson.

Anderson’s date, Ernest Chatman, pulled out a sheet of wallet-sized photographs to show Anderson their portraits.

“I’m just trying to enjoy the moment,” Anderson said with a smile as she flipped through the photographs. “I wasn’t going to go but changed my mind and I wanted to be sure I got photos taken so I can look back on them and remember prom.”

Williams, like Anderson, wasn’t planning on attending this year’s prom, but her mother convinced her to go.

“She thought I should go,” Williams said.

“I wasn’t planning on going to prom, but changed my mind at the last minute.”

Students posed for portraits underneath studio lights and took pictures with classmates on their cellphones.

Around the dance floor, groups of students were illuminated for a few seconds while posing for a cellphone picture with friends.

Seniors Dekerria Clemons, Varnecia Phipps, Myesha Green, Takera Smith, Mercedis Hawkins and Asia Black had little difficulty clearing space on the dance floor to have a group shot taken before the prom ended.

“Prom wasn’t what I expected this year,” senior Keylan Wimley said. “No one really danced or seemed like they wanted to. I liked the pictures from the prom more than prom itself.”

Anderson, Williams and Wimley also made sure to carefully place their memories back into the tan folders before walking out to their cars.