Senior Portrait Planning

You are encouraged to thoroughly read and print out these special tips prior to your session. These tips are to make sure your senior portraits are the best they can be.

ARRIVE EARLY
If you are scheduled from 3:00 - 4:30 and you show up late or not ready, you will have less time in the camera room. Please plan to arrive 10 minutes early and dressed in your first outfit and ready to start on time.

CLOTHING
The key is variety. Expressing all sides of your personality, sporty, dressy, casual, or formal is what senior portraits are all about. It is good to have a balance between what you like and what your mom likes. The goal of any portrait is to direct the viewer's eye to the face(s) in the portrait. These are some elements that can make this happen.

• Solid and non-contrasting colors are best. Keep busy prints and stripes to a minimum.
• Solid darker tones can be more slenderizing. Brighter tones will accent your best features, where as darker tones will recede from the focal point.
• Solid colors can also work best with your home's decor. It is important to consider the decor style and color of the room where a wall portrait will be displayed
• Bare arms call attention to themselves and will overpower the face. For this reason it is important not to bring all sleeveless clothing.
• Be aware of short shirts that expose the tummy. If you bring a shirt like this, be sure you are comfortable with this look.
• Short skirts are ok, but they do limit posing options such as sitting. They are best for standing poses.
• Your feet will show. Wearing appropriate footwear will allow more posing options.
• Be aware that pendants can shift easily when you are posing for your portraits. They can look off centered with some camera angles and poses.
• Watches can have a glaring effect that you may want to avoid. Wear one only if it is significant to your outfit or has personal meaning.
• Remember we are always here to help you. You can bring extra outfits to your sitting, or contact us for a free designer consultation.

HAIR
Avoid changing your hairstyle or cutting your hair before your session. Let it be natural. Quick and easy hairstyle changes during your session are OK, but make it quick or you loose camera time. Please remember drastic changes in hair color may have you question in ten years "What was I thinking??"

Although our photographer tries to help with hair, it is hard to know what your hair is supposed to look like. So make sure you like the look or let the photographer know your preferences. Hair style is ultimately YOUR responsibility.

JEWELRY
It is best to keep it simple as we want the attention on you. Big, shiny jewelry can distract from the real subject, YOU. If you have different jewelry for different outfits, place in a plastic bag and hang on the hanger with that outfit.

PROPS
BRING THEM!! Bring props that define who you are. Sports equipment and uniforms , musical instruments, and activities such as dance leotard and shoes even skateboards to snowboards and skis are some suggestions. For the guys, your car or motorcycles are great for outdoors.

Props are recommended if you have scheduled a Senior or Outdoor Senior session as full length posing will be done with these sessions. Props may be added to a Contemporary session but will be limited to close up posing and they are never added to a Basic session.

GLASSES
A lot of glasses glare and show distortion. We do our best to minimize lens glare in the camera room, but if it still shows up, it can be retouched out. It is best to check with your optometrist to borrow an empty set of frames similar to yours for your photo session. Please remember that an additional fee will be charged to remove any glass glare.

SUNBURN/TANNING
AVOID SUNBURN! Sunburn and peeling skin DO NOT photograph well! Tan, yes, burn, no. If you are considering a tanning booth, don't overdo it so you look too fake and baked!

COMPLEXION
We retouch blemishes, so don't worry about breakouts. Cover up is a great tool for both guys and girls as long as it is blended.

PETS
You may bring your pet for the session that is 30 minutes or longer as long as they are house trained and are able to controlled by the family.

FRIENDS & PARENTS
Friends or parents are welcome, however, the camera room will accommodate up to two so be sure you bring the person or persons who will not distract or make you nervous. If this happens, they will be asked to wait in our reception area.

WEATHER FOR OUTDOOR POSING
If it rains on the date of your session, don't panic! We will have you come in to complete the indoor part of your session and schedule you to come back to do the outdoor posing. Or, you may reschedule for another day to complete the total session. Please keep in mind that we are always at the mercy of Mother Nature and cannot guarantee fair weather. You may choose to complete all your posing indoors on the day of your original appointment.

TATTOOS, SCARS AND BRACES
Just let the photographer know if you want tattoos to show or not. Scars are not automatically retouched, but can be removed or softened for an additional charge at your request. If you have braces, don't fight smiling, we can retouch them out with our digital art services.