Senior portrait tips?

[MEmama]

I never thought I’d be a senior portrait type of mom, but here we are.

Any tips? The photographer is someone DS knows (adult), it will be distanced and safe. We don’t have a location in mind but most kids around here use the ocean as a backdrop. The colours and lighting are gorgeous right now.

Is it weird to have him wear his XC uni for one of the photos? He has a school mask and I thought the combo would be cute in a very 2020 way.

Otherwise I’m thinking a nice plaid button up and probably skinny jeans.

Do I go with him or is that weird? Any ideas or things I should know?

[MysteryJen]

I went with dd2. She had 3 changes of clothes for outdoor pictures. She took a couple wearing her letter jacket as well. She did some inside ones in her prom dress.and team suit.

She also did action shots at the pool.

It was a whole package- and the pictures really came out amazing.

Instagram can give you some great ideas.

[Momto6inIN]

We just went with an "individual photo session" for our DS's. They only wanted photos in a formal suit and a more casual outfit and only in 1 location, so it ended up being waaaaaay cheaper than a "senior photo session" which typically include 3+ locations and several clothes changes.

I went with them both - it was fun! And totally normal and expected (around here at least) for mom to tag along.

[TCB]

When I read the thread title I thought you meant older adults lol so I got on here to look for tips for myself!

Congratulations on your Senior!

[Loowit]

My MIL did DD's senior photos.  They went to a couple of different locations and had a few changes of clothes.  A few were done in her cosplay outfits.  The ones she liked best were things that reflect her personality and hobbies.

I would like to have MIL do some for DS this year, but it is more complicated with the distancing stuff.  I would like to get a few done when the leaves are more fallish.  He  would like some with his cosplay, but I am not sure what else.  I think we will try for some at the beach and some in the forest/trees.  I would also like some of him in his eagle scout uniform.  We took some when he earned it last fall, but I am not a great photographer.

[Garga]

9 hours ago, MEmama said:

I never thought I’d be a senior portrait type of mom, but here we are.

Any tips? The photographer is someone DS knows (adult), it will be distanced and safe. We don’t have a location in mind but most kids around here use the ocean as a backdrop. The colours and lighting are gorgeous right now.

Is it weird to have him wear his XC uni for one of the photos? He has a school mask and I thought the combo would be cute in a very 2020 way.

Otherwise I’m thinking a nice plaid button up and probably skinny jeans.

Do I go with him or is that weird? Any ideas or things I should know?

It’s not weird to wear his XC uni for the photos. But bring a change of clothes as well and maybe a nice jacket that can be put on and off. The pictures get a little boring if the outfit is the same in all of them..  

The point of senior portraits is to try to demonstrate who the student is right now.  Any uniforms or props that show who the student is are great. Like, if he loves skateboarding, bring the skateboard. If he loves reading, bring some books. If he loves horses, bring some horses!  Ok...maybe not the horses.  🙂 (I took some senior portraits of a girl who loves horses, but we went to the horse farm to take them.)

Tell the photographer if you want anything specific. A specific pose, a location, a prop, anything. Don’t just assume she’ll know what you want and then be disappointed. If this is a friend and you go along, consider asking if she’ll take a picture of you with your son at the end. If she’s a professional photographer, she might say no. But if she’s a friend or hobby photographer, she might say yes.

You can go along or you can stay home, either way. When I’ve done photo sessions, the parents usually come along. I’m a hobby photographer (not professional) and have probably done about 10 sr portrait sessions—so not a lot, but enough to understand how they work. It doesn’t phase me either way if the parents are there or not. 

I’ve mostly done sessions with boys (my friend’s sons or my son’s friends), and their moms tell me, “Beauregard really isn’t all the excited about his pictures...” and Beauregard usually isn’t at first. Some of the boys were flat out dreading it. I’m not a very charismatic person, so it’s not like my personality changed their minds, but I can say with honesty that by the end of each photo session, the boys were having a nice time and in every case they wanted to keep taking pictures, even past when it was time to stop.

So, if your son isn’t all that excited about it, he’ll probably have a nice time once he gets there.

Edited October 2, 2020 by Garga

[katilac]

On 10/1/2020 at 12:41 PM, MEmama said:

 Is it weird to have him wear his XC uni for one of the photos?  

Not at all, it's very common. 

Both of my kids had 3 outfits for their photo shoot, and both brought props related to their interests and/or where they were going to college. 

[MEmama]

Thanks for all the insight!

He's having them done now. I don’t know the photographer but DS does, so I didn’t tag along. DS was surprisingly agreeable about the entire idea, and even took a few props. He took his track spikes, running uni, and his laptop and headphones as a nod toward his plans of studying computer science. And he wore a nice but very him outfit, just perfect for what I wanted (plaid shirt that makes his eyes blue blue, skinny jeans and bright running shoes 🙂 ). 
 

I'm so excited to see how they come out! 

[Hilltopmom]

We did dd’s last weekend- she had 3 outfits- dressy one, jeans & sweater, tutu & pointe shoes. We did them at a friend’s farm with the leaves changing colors. I can’t wait to see them!!!

 

[MEmama]

32 minutes ago, Hilltopmom said:

We did dd’s last weekend- she had 3 outfits- dressy one, jeans & sweater, tutu & pointe shoes. We did them at a friend’s farm with the leaves changing colors. I can’t wait to see them!!!

 

Sounds like a beautiful location! 🙂