How many of you are in your last minute runs of taking senior photos? I know that I have a few that are booking at the last moment. In fact I have a few that are booking for Spring Break! When I first started photography I thought that each thing had a season. For example there is a wedding season, and school portraits are all done in the fall and early spring for make ups. I always believed that Senior photos would be completed in the fall, in time to have them printed and submitted to the high school for the year book. However I am learning that I am very wrong in having this thought process.
Last week a young lady booked with me to have her Senior photos completed over Spring Break. During the booking we spoke about the photos and what she expected. She really had no idea what she wanted, really she was just doing the photos to appease her family because they wanted them. As she put it to me she doesn't like to take photos, and has no desire to do this. As she explained to me there is no purpose. This struck me as odd. Today's children live in front of the camera, and to find someone who has no desire is very strange to me. I really had to pause and think about what she was saying and think about what I was going to say. I had never been confronted with a situation like this. I was had experienced with my guys that they never had a plan, but they wanted something nice, and that their mother would be happy, and of course they needed a "cool" photo that showed who they were, but those were my only guidelines. My ladies always have a plan, several wardrobes, and a million ideas and locations that they want to shoot at. So this was a whole new situation for me.
I thought back to when I had my senior photos. To an extent, I guess I could see where this young lady was coming from. Growing up I was a tomboy, I had no desire to wear more than jeans and a t-shirt, and when it was cold I would add a sweatshirt. However I do remember the excitement of thinking about the excitement of what I could do with my photos, and than decided that it was just to much work. I finally ended up at Sears with a close friend of mine and we got our photos done, and even though they were done at Sears, at the time I loved them. I was able to wear my cowboy hat, and show my true self, I didn't have to dress out of the ordinary, and I could wear the things that made me happy, jeans, a super cute shirt and my favorite hat. I was able to be me, and it was less strict than taking photos at school in a cookie cutter fashion. Now I realize many years later that Sears is nothing more than a cheaper version of the cookie cutter version of photos but for me the experience was so much better. Which lead me to explain to this young lady just how important senior photos are, for her and no one else.
Senior photos hold a huge meaning. They mark the end of childhood, and the graduation to adulthood. It is something that is not really noted, but think about it. This is the last time that these children will have professional photos done until their wedding day in most cases. I think this is the biggest selling points to parents. For the young lady or man, it is so much more. It is their final chance to show who they are or were while in high school. Taking Senior portraits gives each person the chance to show how beautiful or handsome they are and incorporated in these photos are the things that made who they are. For example, did you play sports? Well lets add in a basketball, soccer ball or what ever you did. Lets go to the basketball court and take some stylized shots. This young lady or young man spent a lot of time on that field or court in the last four years, and in many cases this is where their dreams lived and died every season. This is a memory to take forward into the new world that they are getting ready to enter.
I took all of this information and I explained it to my young lady and it was amazing to see the change in her thought process after presenting this to her. Once she changed her perspective of what these portraits can represent she started to develop her own ideas. It was amazing to watch the sudden change in her and see the thoughts start to roll. I am looking forward to her session!
What are your thoughts about Senior Portraits?
How do you feel about them?
Please comment with your answers! Lets learn from each other!
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