Are you wondering what to expect from a Senior Portrait Session? Let me walk you through the process from start to finish!
First, you will reach out to me to book a session.
Once you message me to book your senior session we will decide on a date. I will have you and a parent sign a contract, and you will pay a non-refundable retainer fee to hold your session date.
Once we have decided on a date I will ask you a variety of questions either through email or with a phone call, and we can determine which location works best for your personality, style, and vibe. All senior sessions are scheduled in the evening when the sun light is best and we get that amazing golden hour glow!
Sessions last about 2 hours long and we will use 1-2 locations, as long as they are within a reasonable distance from each other. I have a ton of places that I love to shoot at that I think work best for Senior Portraits and I will make sure that we have the best location chosen for you!
Next, you will pick out what kind of outfits you want to wear for your session. I recommend having about 4 or 5 different looks for you session so that you will get a variety of looks, poses, and images for your session. It's great to mix things up with casual and more dressy too. I really love when you text me photos of your outfits because it helps me to get to know your style better and it gets my creativity going for your senior session! If you are an athlete, including a sports jersey is also a great idea - pair it with a nice pair of dark jeans and clean athletic shoes and you will look amazing! Try on all your clothes and make sure you like they way they fit prior to our session. Pack appropriate undergarments and accessories too!
About a week prior to our session I recommend all the guys get a fresh hair cut. Ladies, if you are going to get your hair done, do this two weeks prior so that you can get used to your hair and make sure you like how it turned out (if you don't like it, you have time to get it fixed!). Ladies, do any waxing about a week prior to our session date. Guys, get a fresh shave just prior to our session (on the day of our session) and moisturize!
Ladies, you guys have more make up experience than I have ever even thought about, I am always so impressed with your make up! Do your thing. I always feel like you girls look like models when you show up! It's so awesome!
On the day of our session, have all your clothes ready, pack your make up bag, hair brush, chapstick, a lint roller.... all the things! Make sure your clothes are ironed and hung on hangers.
We will meet up on the day of our session at the location and time we've agreed upon. I will look over your outfits and it will help me decide which outfits to shoot first. I love to match outfits to areas that we are shooting in! Unless you are a model, you will probably not really know how to pose and what to do during our session. I will 100% direct you, give you ideas, and help you get comfortable in the right position. I am a hands on kinda girl so I will move hair, hide straps, make sure your clothes are laying in a flattering way... and a whole bunch of other things to make sure that you are feeling and looking awesome. I will even do all the poses for you and you can laugh at me! I promise it will be fun. Most of the time seniors bring their moms with them, a best friend they feel really comfortable with, or come by themselves. I am totally great with any of these options!
Once we are done shooting your session I will go home and back up your photo session, cull your images, and edit all the best images from the session. This may take a bit of time as it's a busier time of year, but also, I want to be sure that your images are getting the attention they deserve. Each image is edited and looked at closely so that your gallery is consistent and the best quality I can give you. Each session covers basic editing. Basic editing is lighting and color correction, cropping, etc. Basic editing does not include fine retouching, such as removing items from the background, removing acne or braces, etc. If you would like retouching like that, I will give you a custom quote for those additional edits. You will get all your best images in both color and black and white because I love options and I think other people do too!
I hope I've given you a good idea on what to expect - if you have any other questions, let me know!
XO-Heidi
