Your senior year is a special time and your senior photographs should reflect this. As a Dallas senior photographer, creating a fun + memorable senior session is my secret to getting your relaxed and feeling natural in front of the camera. Today I am sharing five of my top tips to create a senior session that is all about you and will capture memories that last a lifetime.
1. Make it all about YOU and your personality.
A senior session should focus on the senior! Think about what adjectives you would use to describe your personality. Urban +hip, romantic +boho, classic + traditional, rustic + outdoorsy, bold + fun etc. Use these descriptives as the cornerstone to designing your session. Your personality or “look” will determine everything from your location and wardrobe to the music we play at your session. I want you to feel that this is 100% your time and every detail is just as you would like it. For example, if you are looking for bold + fun we would look at an urban location with lots of fun color and backgrounds. In addition, I would suggest bright fun colors that showcase your personality and make you feel amazing!
2. Incorporate items that showcase your interests.
Next, think about some things that you want to remember from this time in your life. Are you involved in the yearbook? Let’s incorporate a camera into some of the shots. Do you spend hours in a dance studio? We can do some beautiful shots full of motion and show off those dance moves. Do you love horses? We can incorporate your horse into the session and photograph you doing what you love. The most important thing is to capture the big things that make are YOU!
3. Bring the FUN!
This is my favorite tip. Let’s brainstorm a few of your favorite things and add these items to the shoot. Do you love to play around with fashion and style and have dreams of being a future fashion blogger? Bring your favorite hats, scarves, and accessories to incorporate different looks into the session. Other ideas are sunglasses, your car, a cupcake, balloons, your college attire, a football, or whatever you want to do. I also love to incorporate “happy places” into my senior’s session. These can range from a coffee shop to a baseball stadium or your family lake house. Remember, this is one of the few times in life that you get to have a photo session that is 100% about YOU so let’s have fun with this.
4. Incorporate the family.
Your session is also a great time to spend 15-20 minutes doing a family shoot. This is especially important for mom, dad, and younger siblings. They will be wishing you well in the next stage of life and giving them some timeless images is a perfect addition to your senior session. I love capturing the playfulness of older siblings or the special bond between a mother and daughter. This is THE BIGGEST feedback that I get from past clients is that the parents are so glad I encourage them to incorporate family photos into the session. It means so much to the moms!
5. Finish with your BFFs!
This is a time to celebrate with your tribe! I love doing a BFF add on to the session. We spend the last 20 -30 minutes capturing all of those sweet connections. Hugs, laughter, the bond of teammates that spans the 4 years of school. These are such important images. Soon you will all be headed on a separate course in life which might take you to different parts of the country. Capturing these images will give you a timeless treasure and allow future generations to get a glimpse of your high school years.
Finally! I want to introduce you to Emma. We held her photo session in a fun + urban location that was perfect for the look she was going for. The architecture + greenery provided multiple locations allowing us to showcase her love of fashion. She wanted to incorporate hats, fun accessories and lots of joy into her portraits. I love all of the joy and happy emotions that are in these images. Thank you to Emma for trusting me to be your Dallas senior photographer.
SENIOR| FAMILY| NEWBORN| SCHOOLS
Shelly Niehaus Photography is a Prosper, TX based senior and family photographer. I specialize in newborns, seniors, family, and school portrait photography in the Dallas Fort Worth area. I also offer adoption photography for local families through the Red Thread Organization and volunteer for The Gold Hope Project. For more information please contact me so we can start discussing your session.
