
Congratulations on your upcoming graduation! Just some finals, graduation, and of course….your senior portraits.
Senior portraits can be an incredibly fun experience and not one to be missed. As much as some of us hate getting our picture taken, it’s important to capture this special time in your life. A senior portrait session isn’t complete without some laughter, getting to know each other, silly banter, and a bit of traditional senior portrait posing.
I’ve compiled a list of tips and advice for you to help make your session as fun and stress free as possible.
Bring all the things!
You should plan on bringing several outfits to your session. An hour session allows for around 3 outfit changes depending on the shoot location and time frame. Be sure to bring a good variety of outfits that make sense for your session location.
Keep your clothing visually simple.
Don’t bring outfits with logos, crazy prints, words, stripes, or pictures. We want your face, eyes and expression to be the focus, not the logo on your shirt!
Also make sure the color of your undershirt coordinate well with your outfits and don’t show through your clothing. If you need a strapless, please bring one to your session. Tucking or moving straps will not always work, you probably don’t want a hot pink bra strap showing.
Color counts!
Solid colors or mellow patterns look great and are not too distracting. Colors that go well with a medium or dark background for close-ups include medium or dark tones of green, brown, rust, wine or blue. Darker colors tend to make people look slimmer.
For outdoor shoots, you want to dress based on where you’re shooting. For nature locations textured fabrics and seasonal colors work well. For urban/city locations, feel free to dress up a bit, layering always looks great and adds depth. For the beach blues and neutrals look nice.
4. Your hair knows best.
Avoid experimental hairstyles, amp up the styles you wear on a regular basis for a natural look that represents you and how people remember you. Play with your hairstyles a few days before the photoshoot to get the look you want in advance. Bring extra hair ties, bobby pins, a mirror, a brush, makeup, and anything else you think you might need to freshen up during the shoot. Extra hairspray may be needed for a windy beach day.
5. Guys and the hair cuts…
If you want to get a hair cut before the session, make sure to do it at last a week in advance. Give your new hair cut some time to relax a bit and look a bit more like you do on the day to day.
6. Get rid of glare from your glasses.
Either buy or borrow a pair of suitable frames without lenses to prevent glare and reflections from the glass. Or you can ask your optician to remove the lenses from your frames for the photo session. Most will do this for you at no charge, but give them plenty of notice so there is no rush.
7. Your hands will be in those close ups.
Your hands will end up in some of your favorite poses, so be sure to take the time to make them presentable – guys should trim their nails, and girls might need to touch up their manicure.
8. Personalize your photos with props.
Props are an awesome way to bring your personal style and interests into your shoot. Think sports equipment if you are a team player or fan, musical instruments, or hobby items. You can even bring a favorite portable piece of furniture, such as a lightweight chair or stool. Feel free to bring different outfits that you wear while doing those hobbies such as ballet shoes, yoga gear, football jerseys, baseball hats, etc. Think outside the box and bring sheets of music, your dog!, your favorite book, the sky’s the limit.
9. Bring a friend or parent
Most photographers welcome you to bring a friend if that person can help make you relax and take a natural picture. That person can also help with clothing changes and “double check” you while you’re being photographed to make sure your clothing hasn’t taken a turn for the worse or that your hair hasn’t come all undone. Friends can also bring up those funny inside joke moments and get you laughing with is always a great shot.
Try on different outfits at home before deciding which ones to take and do it ahead of time. Please let me know if you have any questions or need to know anything else, my number one goal is for you to feel prepared, comfortable, and have fun!
Senior Sessions are $300 for a 1 Hour Session. The fee includes the session, edits, online preview, and print release with at least 50 images.
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