So you’ve booked your senior portrait session,
and now it’s time to prepare for it!
First of all, don’t stress out about it! This is supposed to be a fun experience.
Preparing for your shoot should not be stressful.
But preparing will definitely make the day go much smoother.
Here are my top pieces of advice on how to prepare for an amazing senior portrait session:
MAKE SURE YOUR OUTFITS ARE DIALED IN! This is probably THE most important aspect to your session. Choose your favorites outfits and try them on. Take some mirror selfies or have your Mom take some full-body shots of you in each outfit. Then make sure you like the way each outfit looks on you. Is it too tight? Too revealing? Appropriate? Too baggy or unflattering? How do you feel in the outfit? Confident or self-conscious? Just make sure you LOVE the way you look and feel in each outfit. If you do, it will reflect that in your images! Also, make sure you have the right undergarments to wear with each outfit. Vary up your looks and don’t be afraid to be colorful. The day before the session, make sure all your outfits are wrinkle free and ready to go. Pack them in a small carry-on piece of luggage, preferably with wheels for easy transporting.
2. GET A GOOD NIGHT’S REST. Make sure to get plenty of sleep the night before your session. Your body boosts blood flow to the skin while you sleep, which means you wake to a healthy glow. Sleep also helps boost your mood and relieves stress. Sleep is VITAL!
3. HYDRATE! For nice glowing skin, make sure to hydrate the day before and morning of your shoot. Also, bring plenty of water with you to your session. This is very important on hot summer days. I once photographed a girl who got light-headed from not hydrating enough.
4. HAVE YOUR HAIR AND MAKEUP PROFESSIONALLY DONE. You can do it yourself or have a friend do it too. My point is, be happy with how your hair and makeup look, and be ready to touch it up if need be. You may also want to get a manicure the day before as your nails will be showing in most of your images.
5. SPEAK UP. Do not be afraid to communicate to your photographer any concerns, suggestions, whatever. If you feel the photographer needs to hear what you have to say, speak up! You may have a great posing or location idea that the photographer hadn’t thought of.
6. HAVE FUN, RELAX AND TRUST YOUR PHOTOGRAPHER! The best photos happen when you are relaxed, not stressed, and just having fun. Trust your photographer to make you look your best and create amazing images of you! Remember, you are only a high school senior once in your life. This experience should be a fun memory of the start of your senior year. Just have fun with it!!
For a look at a recent Denver senior photo shoot I did with Alyiah, just click here.