Be sure to check out the Seniors Website with LOTS of samples of senior images – you’ll get some great ideas of clothing, locations and poses we can use for YOUR session!
Your senior year is a really important time for you – your last year in high school and the impending “going off to college” will leave your parents longing for some great photos of you. You’ll want cool shots that you can share with friends and extended family too. My sessions are totally customized experiences and start with a Senior Questionnaire to get to know you better and to help me make suggestions that will make your session(s) even more fun.
Seniors in the Northern Virginia area most often have the option of having their photos done by the school’s contracted photographer (who will send you an automatic appointment card late in your junior year because of their relationship with the school), or you can use a photographer of your choice. Even if your school makes you use their photographer for your yearbook (formal tux or drape) photo, you can always use your own photographer for your casual shots. School photographers are great for the assembly line stuff of underclassmen, but when it comes to taking great photos of you specifically, you might want someone that can spend a little more time with you to find the right pose, expression and even lighting style that makes you look GREAT.
Parents are also used to the $30 or $40 print packages offered by the school’s photographer and may also be surprised to find out that those “school packages” are only offered by volume photographers and only to underclassmen. Once you get to a photographic sitting with multiple poses, clothing changes, etc – the volume packages are no longer available. You’ll find all of the real professional photographers are in the same ballpark of pricing – but not all will give you what you might expect. Be sure to ask about packages, but also about how many different proofs you’ll expect to see, how you can save money and how you can get exactly what you want and not a drawer full of wallets no one will ever see.
So selecting a senior photographer isn’t as easy as it might seem – and with all the other decisions that have to be made right now and all the deadlines looming, this is one thing that some parents fell is easier left to the school. I’m sorry to say that isn’t always the case – it isn’t always easier and certainly isn’t always less expensive. It’s a shame when I have kids come to me that have already had one sitting with the school (that they paid for)- and feel as if they wasted their time with proofs they just don’t like. We can do in one hour so much more than the contracted photographer can do, AND you’ll always be happier in the end. So why not schedule one session to get it all and be happy with the results?
The most common objection seniors give to having their images done in on the school’s timeframe is that they hate that the schools make them do their photos the summer BEFORE their senior year. I get it – but I also see the school’s side. Seniors get REALLY BUSY, REALLY FAST once school starts. It’s amazing how limited their time will be, so getting the photos done early is one thing off your list. But to give credit to the objection – you will change how you look before you graduate. I see it all the time. So I came up with an idea that helps you and gives you a better plan.
I call it my “Parting Shots” session – offered in the spring. Each spring, every senior who has come to me for their senior images that year is invited back for a FREE mini session – I call them the “Parting Shots” session because they give you a quick chance (really, you’ll only have 30 minutes in the spring, too!) and you can bring your new college spirit wear, your own cap & gown, or just a casual outfit. But you’ll get updated images, quickly, and be able to take advantage of a STEAL OF A DEAL on a small package to get prints of those images too. My gift to each of “my ” seniors – the popular FREE Parting Shots sessions.
So you can have your full set of yearbook and casual photos done in the summer or fall – get it all done, and they come back for a quick mini session before graduation and get a few more – your “Parting Shot” of high school.
So how many different kinds of sessions are there? LOTS! But that’s because every session is tailored to you. We’ll use the backdrops that work for you, the settings that work for you, and overall, every session is customized to YOU. But you get to decide where you want the session done and how long you want your session to take. Do you want LOTS of different looks and need 3 hours? Want to go indoors AND outdoors in your session? Want all outdoors? Want to go a public park, or your own backyard? Or do you want to use my setups in my Portrait Park? Don’t rule out my indoor studio for GREAT shots as I’ve stocked it FULL of really fun, creative backdrops just for seniors – and props, lighting options, etc that will not only make your session fun and interesting, but result in lots of different looks for you – not one of them the standard “school look”.
So let’s get started! Where and how long? When? - it’s up to you.
Session types offered -
- Indoor or Outdoor studio sessions – approximately 1.5 hours long, either indoor or at my exclusive outdoor Portrait Park here at my studio.
- On Location sessions – one hour (Basic) or two hours (Premium). My Portrait Park or any location of your choosing. Premium sessions can sometimes split their on location session between two locations if they are close enough to each other to get to in the timeframe. I can make suggestions if this is appealing to you.
- Or Split your session – with the Studio Split – 3 hours to use indoors and at the Portrait Park here – this is the most popular session type of all. Gives you a little bit of everything and fits most budgets for senior images nicely! More variety, more options, more proofs – more of YOU.
- Senior Ultimate – take one Studio Split for all the looks you need indoors and at the Portrait Park on one day, then plan a second day for another two hour session at another location of your choosing. We can split the second session,too – to give you even more. LOTS of seniors take the second day for downtown Leesburg or a park in Leesburg to give them ALL the looks they want and could need!
- And of course, if you only need the Yearbook image – these are mini sessions (20 minutes) and I supply the tux jackets and drapes. If your image needs to go to a school I get it there for you. Some schools charge a small fee – if so, you’ll be advised and can supply that fee at the time of your session. The actual Yearbook session is free, though. The only fee imposed is by your school if there is one.
