Senior Portraits are a big deal. It’s an opportunity to commemorate and celebrate your senior’s high school experience. Or maybe just celebrate their survival of it (why is no one selling “I SURVIVED HIGH SCHOOL” t-shirts?). Either way, this time is a significant part of your family’s story; one worth being captured and told in portrait form.

A few things to consider when scheduling your Senior’s Photo Shoot.

Start With The End In Mind

What are we shooting for? In other words, what is the end result you would like to see from the images that you are having created?

Allison Tyler Jones Photography
Allison Tyler Jones Photography

Wall Art

Do you envision an iconic wall portrait somewhere in your home of this amazing human?

Album

You might want more images in a storytelling format such as a coffee table-type album or maybe a combination of the two.

Announcements

Custom-designed Announcements allow all your friends and family to celebrate the big event with you. It also doesn’t hurt as a little advertising for Graduate Gifting (helloooo Venmo!).

Headshot

As your senior dips their toe into the world of #adulting one of the first things they are going to need is a professional headshot for profile pics and applications for ALL. THE. THINGS. That headshot should project personality and confidence. Scholarships anyone?

Setting a Precedent

If this is your first child to graduate, consider that you are setting a standard for all the future seniors in your family. What would you like each of your children to have?

Think long term to what your wall will look like when your last kid has graduated and you have all those portraits on the wall, and each kid has their own Senior album.

Allison Tyler Jones Photography
Allison Tyler Jones Photography

Boys vs. Girls

How invested is your senior in this process? Boys are generally less interested (or profess to be) in the portrait process than girls. [Check out Jessica’s recent post dedicated to Senior Boys.]  Girls might be more into the photo shoot but they can easily get locked up in their head about what to wear, what to bring, hair, makeup, etc. that you are ready to kick them to the curb before shoot day dawns.

Do’s & Don’ts

What To Wear

How many outfits?

Wear what you love and feel good in.

You might feel tempted to wear the latest trend or what your best friend says makes you look good. Instead, choose your outfits by what makes you feel confident. If you are wearing what you love, you will feel more comfortable in front of the camera. 

When it comes to choosing your outfits, just remember- if it’s not heck YES, it’s NO. And if you still aren’t sure, just ask us. Text us a quick pic of your options and we will weigh in. Helping our clients with outfit selection is something we love to do.

Allison Tyler Jones Photography
Allison Tyler Jones Photography

Layers of Meaning

Props/Bring items that help define your high school experience

This is where you get to be creative. How do you want to tell the story of your last four years? 

Why bring a baseball, when you can bring THE baseball from your first home run. Why bring a stack of books, when you can select THE very books that made you fall in love with reading in the first place. This is a great way to add a layer of meaning to your Senior portraits. Even if no one else knows the story behind that object, you do. And you will remember it every time you see that portrait.

Makeup Mishaps

Careful with fake eyelashes and microblading

In this case, more is NOT better. A few fake eyelashes can work seamlessly with your makeup to enhance your eyes. But too often clients overdo it- making it hard to get light into your eyes. What you see in the mirror and what photographs well are not always the same thing. Just be careful. Same with microblading. If you must microblade, be sure to do so at least a week in advance. We still want your eyebrows to look like your eyebrows and not like they have been digitally photoshopped onto your face (we have truly used photoshop to give eyebrows a LESS photoshopped look…and yes, we appreciate the irony).

Allison Tyler Jones Photography
Allison Tyler Jones Photography

Trends or Timeless?

You have worked so hard to get here- don’t you think your senior portraits deserve at least a CHANCE at being timeless? Between you and me, nothing screams 2021 louder than a brown filter (although mom jeans are a close second). We have seen so many family galleries where one image with a brown filter just throws the whole thing off. All it takes is a quick convo with your photographer to save your gallery.

To Be There or Not To Be There?

One of our favorite parts of a Senior Portrait Session is when mom or dad jumps in. We love being able to capture that special relationship with one of your biggest cheerleaders- the person who will always stand beside you, no matter what.

Allison Tyler Jones Photography
Allison Tyler Jones Photography

The Last Family Portrait?

Another thing to consider if your oldest is flying the coop soon. When was the last time you had a family portrait? Family dynamics change in big ways once the kids start to leave and it’s a great idea to document this time when you still have all your chicks still in the nest.