How did you get involved in Senior Portraits? This is a niche-type session.

When you’re young, you want to do anything just to shoot, but now I feel like Senior sessions are like Extra sessions but for high school kids. It’s their way of expressing themselves in different locations.

Ah, I’ve never thought about it that way! Senior sessions are just moments of being EXTRA.

My Senior photos were a bit more of what my mom wanted, but I think nowadays, kids get to do what they want. I think Senior photos are really all about style, who you are, and what you picture for photos.

That’s true! Okay, so someone signs up for a Senior session. What are the things they should do to prep? How does someone even go about deciding on a location?

I have a few subjects that I ask people to think about:

Style
Location
Outfits
Poses

It feels overwhelming but the main question to ask yourself is what do I want these photos to look like? Do I want a timeless, classic portrait? Do I want something stylistic? Do I want to show off my sport?

You have to start with the baseline of what is your main vision and then go from there.

Should people go on Pinterest and send you Pinterest pictures?

The plus side with Senior photos is that you can do a little bit of everything. My main goal going into the shoot is knowing what the client wants out of the shoot so that I can do it justice. I don’t want them to say, “let’s go to this location because everyone does it” if that is not really their look.

My opinion when it comes to Pinterest is that it is a fun place to get ideas and vibes, but don’t go looking for exact photos that you want to recreate because a photographer is going to make their own vision come to life; however, it is nice to see the vibes and the styles that a person likes.

What are the vibes and styles that are super popular right now?

For girls, a classic one is a flowy dress in a field. For boys, a lot of them will wear their basketball jerseys or a button-down shirt and they go to a brick wall background.

I have seen a big trend lately of going to parking garages or having big, city skyline views in the background. I think urban has become the new thing.

Oh!

Yeah, I think growing up in my time, nature is where you would go, but I think urban is taking over that a little bit now.

Should someone prepare differently based upon their location? If they are shooting in an urban location versus the countryside?

Outfits would be different. I would say, everyone should have two to three outfits, and all of that depends on your location. The rule of thumb for me is have one timeless or neutral outfit, one fancy outfit that you wouldn’t wear on an everyday basis, and one that is more stylistic to what you do wear on an everyday basis.

It’s not required preparation because we will always make magic out of whatever someone wants to wear.

Do you have a favorite location to shoot?

For Seniors, my favorite location is just wandering downtown. We have a starting point but then we will walk a couple of blocks, and we’ll find a different backdrop. That to me is my favorite: when we are not trying to recreate a certain image. Let’s just play around and get good images.

What is the advice for hair and make-up?

Don’t do anything super dramatic. You want to look like yourself. You don’t want to look back on these and be like “What was I thinking?!”

What is a big mistake you see people making before or during their session?

When people overlook at Pinterest or when they have an exact picture in mind. Not everyone has the same lighting, the same hair and make-up, or the same outfit. Photographers also have different shooting styles.

That is the thing about photography: it is art. Not everyone pictures something that same way as another person. Expecting something specific can be a downfall.

Also, trying to do what other people are doing just because it is the cool thing like choosing a location because other people are doing it or wearing an outfit because everyone wears this outfit. I think THAT to me is hard when you come in, and you are already not excited because you are doing something that you are doing for someone else and not yourself.

Yes! It is all about being unapologetically you.