My oldest son is a senior in high school this year. It wouldn't be a senior year without senior pictures! I went back and forth on when to do them. My kids grow and change {yes, even the senior!} so much during the year, that I decided to wait until the spring to have him meet up with a photographer. But sometimes, seniors meet up with a photographer as early as the summer before their senior year, so I want to make sure you are prepared with some tips from our amazing photographer Rebecca Anne. Rebecca has far more experience than I do and can give you her five tips for planning the perfect senior photo shoot.
Prepping for your senior session can sometimes be overwhelming and you do not even know where to start. Well I want to share a few tips to help get you started to have the best senior portrait shoot possible with five of my favorite tips.
1. Plan your outfits
The number one question I get asked when starting to plan a senior session is what to wear?! A few quick tips would be to start out with an outfit that makes you feel comfortable. Maybe it's your favorite pair of jeans and a shirt you know you know makes you look great. That way you start off the shoot feeling relaxed and yourself! Then take it up a notch. Ladies, bring out that dress that just fits you perfectly along with some statement jewelry and fun shoes! Gentlemen, layers are always so complimentary for you! Don’t forget you can have fun with shoes too. And you can never go wrong with a formal outfit.
A couple notes on what to avoid: neon colors close to your face, clothes that are too tight (or way too loose) or clothing that is very short that might limit your ability to pose. Overall, don’t overthink it and go with what you know you look good in!
2. Pick an epic location
The location of your shoot really depicts the feel of your images. A city shoot will feel more modern and edgy. Woods or mountains will feel more adventurous. Or the beach shoot may feel more relaxed.
3. Bring fun props
It is always great to have props that help represent where you are at this stage of life. Maybe playing that instrument for your school band or church worship team was one of your favorite parts of high school. Or how about meeting your best friends on that team sport? Your dog might be incredibly special to you and you want to remember them. There are so many fun options to help show who you are right now and…well, they are fun!
4. (For the ladies) Have professional hair & make up done
Ladies, you can never go wrong having your hair and makeup professionally done! It will make you feel special and pampered and plus you’ll look extra great!
5. Have fun!
Don’t forget to relax and enjoy the photoshoot! Be yourself and just go for it and let yourself have fun!
Such great tips! Thanks Rebecca! If you are local you should definitely check her out. If you aren't local, go like her page on Facebook or Instagram or search her blog and website for some great eye candy! Her photos will inspire you.
Now that you have your senior photos, what should you do with them?
That's always the next question isn't it? We had the option to buy some very impersonal graduation announcements from a company that the school uses every year. You know the ones. They have the school colors on them and are printed all fancy, but there is never anything unique about them.
Why not use your senior pictures to create your own graduation announcements? They are far more unique and provide the exact same information. In fact, they probably provide even more information. I used Mixbook to easily mock up several different designs that my son could choose from. Then, I put the information on the card and now we have a personalized graduation announcement that is not only a keepsake but an invitation for his graduation open house as well. I love killing two birds with one stone, especially right now since it's such a busy time!
Mixbook could not be easier. You literally upload your images and then drag and drop them in. You can find all of the fully customizable graduation designs right here. If you are feeling creative you can even design your own from scratch.
Since I already uploaded my son's senior photos into Mixbook, I thought that I would create a photo book that we could have at his graduation party. It's so fun to have all of his pictures in one place.
At the end, I left a few pages blank so that we could also use the photo book as a guest book at his open house.
I love one stop shopping, and while I was on Mixbook.com, I also created these graduation thank you cards. I could not tell you how relieved I was to be able to get nearly everything I needed for graduation in one spot. Not to mention, everything came shipped to me that week and it was such high quality that I am so excited to send it out to all of our friends and family.
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