In years past, your choices for senior portraits were limited to the school, or one of a very few local photographers who would do some nice portraits for you. Each had their own traditional style, but for the most part it was a pose against a brown, gray or blue background. I may be exaggerating a bit, but that was certainly a method by which senior portraits were viewed.
In more recent years, there has been a virtual explosion of not only where your senior portraits can be taken, but also in what kinds of backgrounds and scenes are available. Most notably, it seems as though if a photographer offers studio only as an option, then they are missing the point of the individuality that seniors may wish to express. In fact, a variety is more important to seniors these days than even the finished image selection. We often produce a multitude of images for our seniors to view, but end up having 3-4 ordered, for example.
I could go into a long diatribe about the variety of styles, but I really don’t have that kind of room in this post. Instead, I’ll just say that there are as many styles as there are photographers. From traditional to ultra-unconventional, there’s something for everyone out there. And to be honest, a lot depends upon what you’ve seen and what you like. What one person may see as “Wow, that’s amazing!” another person may see as “Not what I am looking for.” And that’s fine… there IS something you’re looking for.
My career truly began in the tradition of studio-only photography for seniors, but then gradually moved toward outdoor locations and now includes a considerably dizzying array of studio, outdoor portrait park, on-location and specialized photography. In our studio, we provide multiple sets, hundreds of backgrounds and props, and a conventional approach to studio imagery. Our portrait park has 20 fixed sets, which we’re updating every year, and provides over 100 views (and counting). Finally, on-location portraiture has endless possibilities. We have taken thousands of images that are nowhere near our studio, and while they provide their own challenges, we always consider it worth it to hear “I love it” during the preview slideshow.
Again, it will be a “to each their own” type of proposition. You certainly are not limited to what is offered by the school. I think many school photographers might have you believe that their services are the only offering. And that’s just not so. You can go anywhere you like… but wherever you go, be sure of the following:
- The photographer can give you what you want, AND offer choices above and beyond your specific ideas.
- Has the experience and creative knowledge to show off their work for your review and give you the opportunity to say “yes, I like it” or “no, not that one” without getting offended by your rejections. YOU are the client – and they are YOUR portraits.
- Will give you an experience beyond just taking pictures. What’s the point of doing senior portraits outside the school if the photographer is not fun, right?
All of this leads me to a final point for this installment. The whole point of senior portraits is to show off your style. It can be anything from a fashion shoot to driving a 4-wheeler through the mud at high speeds. There’s really no limit to who YOU are, so you should certainly consider that when you’re thinking about the photographer you want to capture your once-in-a-lifetime senior memories.
NEXT UP: Packages, Products & Performance