Senior Pictures Ideas
1. Hit the town with your car
2. Bring a jacket and an attitude
3. Don’t forget those corners
4. Find a fountain
Marble and granite fountains are plentiful. But, don’t forget the closeup shots! Too many wide angle shots that always try to show the full fountain will simply make you look like a tourist.
5. Stone walls offer welcomed interest in rustic settings
Rustic locations make for great senior pictures. But, sometimes we need things to break up all of the foliage. A stone wall adds a lots of interest in a way that’s quite different that a typical split rail fence. Plus, nobody will get upset if you sit on it. Well … maybe they will … but, you get the idea! 😉
6. Use reflected light from tall buildings
We all love urban senior pictures with cityscapes in the background. But, try considering them as a background texture versus an actual feature in the images. Better yet, if you schedule the session at the right time, you may even get lucky and have the full sun reflecting off tall building with lots of glass and windows. Reflected light from tall buildings adds a wonderful twist to the location’s natural lighting!
7. Sunrise is better than sunset … did I just say that?!
There’s a raging debate about “golden hour” sunlight being the best sunlight for portraits because that’s why the sun is lower in the sky. In fact, I have had clients actually demand their session only held during the early evening golden hour. The fact is, the time for the best sunlight is actually the best time for the location with the fewest distractions. I do a LOT of sessions for senior pictures in downtown Detroit and, if you ask me, mornings are must better than evenings purely because we can take over the streets without 100’s of people photo bombing us in shots or cars trying to run us over. If you want shots in the middle of the street like the ones below, you had better beat the other people to the street. There. I said it. Sunrise is better than sunset.
8. Take the home field advantage
If you are a student athlete and is interested in working your sport into your session, then, by all means, consider holding a portion of the photo session on your school’s home field. It will mean much more looking back at the images for them to be at home versus a random location somewhere else. It may take some phone calls and a bit of coordination with the school’s Athletic Director to get access, but it will be worth it.
9. Don’t walk. Sit on the walkways.
A lot of locations do a wonderful job with their landscaping, but they all have one thing in common. Landscaping is on the ground. Duh. To fully incorporate it into your shots, sit down on the walkways so they appear to be surrounding by the landscaping versus merely walking past it or, often worse, standing next to it like an auto show spokes model.
10. You don’t always have to sit
I’m all for having senior sit on things. It’s natural. People sit. But, there are other options to sitting like kneeling and squatting to keep a nice lot shot angle. Just test it out and make sure it is comfortable. Everyone doesn’t have the same knee flexibility to look natural squatting, especially if you have had a knee injury. If you take a couple of initial shots and they “don’t look right”, your time could very well be better spent doing something else and scrapping the squatting idea. There’s no point in having a ton of images that make you look awkward, in pain, or mimicking an elderly person in their 90’s.
11. It’s okay to show off
If you participate in a sport or activity in which you have received accolades, please include it in your session! It’s part of who you are! Be sure to capture some action photos at the same time.
12. Pets are family too
I am regularly asked, “Is it okay if we get some shows with <insert pet name here>?” The answer is always a resounding “YES”! After all, pets are part of the family and should be included. If you decide to bring a cat or dog, please be sure to bring an extra person to the actual photo session as a handler to keep the pet occupied throughout the session.
13. There’s more to a beach than just sand
If you decide to incorporate a beach into your session, be sure to feature the water and not just the sand. Sand is nice, but the photos will end up looking like a sand dune and not a beach if the water doesn’t play a key role in the composition of the photos.
14. Everyone loves a carousel
It’s true. Everyone becomes a little kid again when they’re on a carousel, especially a vintage carousel with hand carved animals. If you have access to one, incorporate it into your session by all means necessary. But, you will probably want it all to yourself to avoid people in the background. Contact the facility to see if you can come in early before they open for the general public.
15. Hats are en vogue
The bigger the hat, the better. It will essentially become a prop for the outfit and should make a statement all on its own.
16. Look up!
Not all “locations” are attached to the ground. Sometimes we have to look up. The photo below was taken with the Flight art installation, designed by the Hygienic Dress League and inspired by pigeons all over the city. This photo was taken in 2017 and I get requests every year to have their photos done there. Unfortunately, as an art installation, it had a limited time run and was removed at the end of the season. But, the photos of seniors that year were very cool to say the least.
17. Low sun = beautiful pics
Having a sun very low in the sky often looks amazing for senior pictures sessions with girls. I don’t what it is, but it’s like magic.
18. A pop of color
Having a single pop of color is fantastic when everything else around it is muted or monotone. A lot of photographers tried to manually process images in Photoshop as black and white while leaving an object in color. But, there’s nothing like the real deal when it comes to something like this.
19. Head indoors
We’ve spent a lot of time discussing ideas for senior pictures taken outside. But, we can’t forget about the potential for indoor photos. The key is simply having enough available, natural light. This shot is clean, simple, and smart. It was taken in front of a bank of brass door elevators with a mural of the downtown buildings on the wall. It doesn’t much simpler than that but the final result is cool nonetheless.
20. Bring the sparkle
Did you notice I didn’t say bring the glitter? Fine grain glitter is horrible. It’s an absolutely mess and will stick to everything it touches. Use the larger “shape” glitter and you’ll have a much easier time cleaning up. Use some out of focus lights in the background as a texture and the result can look amazing. Just don’t overdo it.
21. Stop the action
If you’re a tumbler or gymnast, try a doing a row of cartwheels or back handsprings. This sort of image can require a significant amount of editing. But, the results are worth it and it will definitely help you stand out.
22. Cheer for your favorite team
A lot of seniors wear swag from their favorite team for some super casual senior pictures. But, they always look strange when they are out of place. Wearing a football jersey in the middle of the woods with a bunch of trees just doesn’t look right. Assuming you are scheduling your session near your team’s home venue, dress the part of a super fan and grab some shots with the building signage in clear view. There’s nothing quite like Detroit Red Wings senior pictures in front of Joe Louis Arena in downtown Detroit!
23. Sun flared
This type of shot depends on your photographer and the specific gear they are using for your session. Normally, lenses are designed with hoods to help eliminate the chances of sun flare. But, if you take the hood off and can catch the sun angle just right at exactly the right time of day, the results can be super cool. There’s a fine line with this, though. Catch the sun “wrong” and you’ll just end up with a washed out image or something completely over exposed.
24. Tag a wall
25. Doorway to …
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