Senior portraits are what really kicked off my photography career and made me fall in love with photography. I’ve been in business for four years now and have been using only natural light with all my senior portrait shoots since the beginning!
If there is one thing I have learned from photographing Senior Portrait Sessions it’s that high school classes are now just a tiny portion of their lives. Participating in diverse activities from art classes to ballet, to sports, to speech competitions, to theatrical productions, these 16- to 18-year-olds pack their schedules to the maximum.
In today’s high-tech, visual age, teens have their finger on the pulse of what’s cool and what’s not. They consume hours of visual content each day, even more so now that they attend school from their bedrooms and get shamed for spending time with friends due to the pandemic.
It’s rare that someone figures out what they are going to do for a living in middle school, but I did. Ever since I used to design Nike shoes in history class instead of paying attention to my teacher, I loved two things: art and sports.
We have five different looks on five different faces and are incorporating outfits to go with the beauty makeovers they are receiving. Lauren, Emma, Emily, Rachel and Kensley are on my model team and were eager to be part of this project.
Back in July I wrote the article on five tips for shooting the Milky Way.. In it we covered the basics of shooting this beautiful piece of our galactic home. I talked about gear, planning, safety, settings and how to set your focus for tack-sharp stars. Now I’m going to explain how to add a human subject into your Milky Way images.
The key is to really think about how you can mix your style with their personality and create an image that not only satisfies those involved in the shoot but also elicits a response from the viewer. Once you have completed this "triangle" you have made something special.
Creating dynamic portraits using a reflector is not as simple as you might think at first. Understanding the lighting from the scene will help you determine the best place to position your reflector. On this shoot, Sal uses the sun as a kicker light, while using the reflector to create a nice even fill.
Have you heard that the high school senior photography market and model programs are dying? I have … many, many times! Even from a photographer-specific business coach I once paid—needless to say, that didn’t last long. Let me tell you, those rumors have been around for several years, and they’re still wrong. So if you’ve heard that before, I have great news! As long as there are teenagers graduating high school, parents seeing their babies growing into adults, and professional photographers willing to provide a phenomenal experience for the senior and parent, there will be a market for high school senior photography and model programs!
The senior photography industry is constantly changing. Looking through the history of senior portraits, it seems that each decade represents a new trend in the industry. In the 80s, we saw “Glamour Shots” as senior portraits—feather boas, leather jackets, bright backgrounds, and a soft glow on the images. The 90s brought in more casual studio portraits complete with large numbers to represent the graduation year, high key backgrounds, fake brick walls, and those lovely folios that held six or eight or more wallet-size photographs. The 2000s started the trend of casual outdoor portraits in addition to the studio options. The studio portraits also included more options such as sports. The 2010s saw a big push into model programs and high fashion looks complete with hair and makeup options, with outdoor portraits being the norm.
