How to prepare for your Senior Photos

If I had to choose just one type of photography to take for the rest of my career, I would choose portraiture.

I love figuring out how to capture the personality of my clients, the individual style of each person, and the mood/vibe that I can create through each portrait. Senior photos are just the icing on the cake for me when it comes to photographing portraits!

So thanks for booking your senior photos with me! Here I will lay out what I think are the best ways to prep for your senior photo session.

What is your photography style?

It is always a great thing for me to know the types of photos that you love. Do you love light and airy, dark and moody, black and white, all color, etc. You can also send me photos that you’ve seen that you love. They can be ones that I’ve taken or any that you’ve come across while scrolling. :)

Click here for a blog post that I wrote on how I view different photography styles.

Outfits

What should you wear for your senior photos? Let picking out your outfits be fun and not stressful. For an hour senior photo session, you have up to 3 outfit choices, so you can’t go wrong!

Just break the clothes down into categories and choose the ideas you love the most:

• A classic piece - think of something like what your parents’ or grandparents’ would frame in their hallway for the next 30 years. Or if you’re submitting a photo with a resume or college application, choosing a classic piece can be a good idea.

• A casual outfit - what can you move in, feel yourself in, sit on the floor in?

• A formal one - ladies, sometimes it’s really fun to pull out last year’s prom dress/jumpsuit and pair it with a jacket or barefoot to give it a little more of a unique and down to earth look

• An outfit that reflects your own unique style and personality - choose whatever you want and LOVE!

• One outfit that can be adjusted into different outfits - like adding a jacket, taking it off completely, wrapping it around your waist, over your shoulder, etc

Here are a couple of other really fun ideas for your outfits:

• Use a jacket to make one outfit into two! Click here for another blog post I wrote on unique ways to style a jacket with your outfit.

• Dress monochromatic colors to add a more elevated look! I wrote a whole blog post on this here.

Accessories

I love accessories! I think they are a great way to add personality and a unique vibe to your session.

Think along the lines of a hat, shoes, dramatic earrings, handkerchief scarf, jewelry or even a jacket that you can take on and off to make two different outfit looks.

Going outside of the box

Senior photos in my studio are for the creative and unique person, someone interested in doing something different than everyone else.

I love throwing out a little curve ball with posing/lighting/or angles that can mark your session in a unique and creative way. Here is my Pinterest board on poses and photos that I am always inspired by and look at before my senior sessions.

You can send me your ideas ahead of time or we can come up with ideas when you get here!

Posing

Almost every person that’s walked into my studio is a little nervous about how they will pose and what they will look like in front of the camera.

I hear you. I do the SAME THING!!

Here’s a little something that I wrote on how to pose naturally, especially if you think you’ll look awkward in your photos. ;)

Click here to read more…

Be yourself, but for real.

I feel like I could write an entire blog post on this one, but I will do you all a favor and keep this simple.

If you look at anything on Instagram, Facebook, TV, magazines, ANYTHING then you are keenly aware of the types of models/styles/lifestyles you are drawn to and want to be like or have. These dreams or ideas can give direction and inspiration for our shoot together, but at the end of the day I’m not interested in photographing someone else. I want to photograph you and who you are.

My job is to bring YOUR story and personality into a photograph, not someone else’s.

Sure, point your toes and stretch your legs out like your favorite influencer but then let’s work together to disconnect from the outside world, find the poses and spaces that feel the most casual and comfortable to you, and let your unique personality be the star of the show.

Music

I always have music playing during my sessions, so tell me what your favorite type is and I will have it ready for you!