Senior Portraits

Senior portraits can and should be interesting, fun, and exciting. Below are some tips to help ensure you have a good time during your portrait session and obtain images that will document one of life's major transitions.

What Should I Wear?

Clothing is an essential part of a personal statement. It is impossible to spell out what clothing should be worn to fit each individual personality and sense of style. As a starting point, you may want to review our What to Wear section for some general guidelines to consider. Your school will also likely have some guidelines about proper attire for yearbook pictures. Since you will be selecting one picture for the yearbook, you should have at least one change of clothing that will meet your school's requirements.

Most seniors bring two or three outfits. This usually includes one dressier outfit that will satisfy yearbook requirements, another that is more indoor-casual, and possibly another outfit that will work well for outdoor portraits. Please feel free to bring a sports uniform, performing arts costume, or other clothing that has special meaning to you. If you have a "trademark look", then by all means bring along the essential elements so that we can capture your unique style.

The other essential thing to consider when selecting clothing is that you must feel comfortable wearing them. If you feel comfortable this will be reflected well in your portraits. If you feel uncomfortable then this too will be readily seen in your portraits.

Finally, even though you may not normally iron a particular outfit, please consider ironing it before your photo session. Clothing that looks fine in everyday life can look especially bad in photographs if it contains wrinkles. Photographs tend to amplify and accentuate wrinkles which can distract from the overall impression of your senior portraits. Plan ahead and have everything ironed and ready to go a few days before the portrait session.

What Can I Bring?

Please feel free to bring along accessories that will help convey your personality or interests. Items such as musical instruments, sports equipment, jackets, hats, hobby items, and electronic equipment will help convey YOU in the portraits. An essential goal of senior portraits is to capture your unique personality, style and interests. What better way to convey these attributes to others than to include them as an integral part of your senior portraits.

If you intend to have pets included in your senior portraits then we request that you make prior arrangements with us so we can properly plan to accommodate your pet and plan for your senior portrait session.

Your Choice of Style

The style of your senior portraits is completely up to you. Whether you want formal poses, informal poses, or something completely unique and different, we are happy to help you achieve the style you desire. If you have an idea that you believe may be just a bit too crazy, let us know. Sometimes being a little crazy can convey a lot about you in your portraits (please note that we do not advocate and will not take images that involve dangerous activities that could lead to injury).

Suggestions for Guys

A darker suit or sport coat with tie is a good selection for the more formal portrait poses. A sharp dark outfit against a dark background has a very nice look to it. Please ensure that you have matching shoes and socks for this portrait. For more informal poses, jeans or khakis with complementary shirts or sweaters are good choices. Long sleeve shirts are preferred so that attention is not drawn away from your face to the bare arms. But, if you want your arms to be prominently displayed, then feel free to bring a short sleeved shirt.

If you normally shave then it's a good idea to shave shortly before the portraits. Minor grooming actions such as cleaning finger nails (they will show in the portraits), styling the hair, and covering blemishes can help ensure you have an excellent senior portrait series.. If you plan to get a haircut, get it several days before the portrait session so that the hair has a chance to fall naturally again.

Suggestions for Women

For the more formal poses bring a special dress, a nice sweater, a dress jacket, or whatever will make you feel elegant and special. Informal poses can be done in almost any clothing, but you will appreciate the process and the resulting images more if your clothing is not too revealing (fixing your top every few minutes won't make you feel comfortable, relaxed, or spontaneous). Consider bringing clothing that has colors you particularly enjoy. Whatever you bring, ensure it feels comfortable and that you enjoy wearing it.

Nails need not be manicured, but they need to be considered since they will be visible in the resulting portraits. If you wear polish, then you should ensure the polish is not chipped. Other than that, simply ensuring that the nails are clean and well-shaped is all that is necessary.

In most cases your hair should be done like you normally wear it. A significant change in how you normally wear your hair will make your portraits appear to be those of another person. If you want more than one hair style in your senior portraits, then consider hair styles that can be quickly and easily changed in just a few minutes. If you feel you must have some work done with your hair (hair cut, perm, etc.), then have it done at least a week before your portrait session so that the changes have a chance to settle in before your senior portraits are taken.

Relax!

If you let it, preparing for your senior portraits can seem to be overwhelming. It really is not that bad. The earlier you can plan for your portraits, the less stress you will feel. We are always here to offer suggestions and to act as a sounding board for your ideas. Contact us to discuss your ideas or get any clarifications. Planning for your portraits at least a week in advance can help take the stress out of the process. That way you can think through what you want and then prepare and put everything aside a few days before the photo session. Then you simply need to get ready, grab your clothing and accessories, and head off to the photo session. And if you've forgotten something - relax!! We will deal with it and ensure you have senior portraits that you will appreciate for a long, long time.