Summer is finished, and your son or daughter is about to enter the legendary senior year. Fall is almost upon us, and soon the weather will change, bringing with it beautiful scenery around Dayton, Ohio -- perfect backdrops for capturing your senior's authentic self in portraits that will last a lifetime.
Senior photography isn't like the annual school pictures that you'll replace every year in a small frame. Senior portraits are a preservation of someone's transition into adulthood, and they require planning! Here's a quick overview of the things that make senior portraits great, and not just more pictures living on your phone.
First, there is lighting. A photograph is really just artwork made from light, and so the light has to be carefully chosen and well controlled. You want shots that make your senior pop off the image! The best lighting can be had early in the morning or late in the evening, when the sun rises or sets and brings warm colors to the sky and all around.
Photographers often talk about these "golden hours" for good reason! But, when photographers know how to control the light using reflectors and portable lighting gear, great portraits can be had at any time of day and in nearly any conditions! Sometimes you want hard, edgy light -- to bring drama to an athletic portrait. Sometimes you want soft, feathery light.
An experienced photographer will recognize these situations and adjust to make your senior look amazing in every photo!
Second, there's the theme of the images. What seniors are wearing will become a lifetime testament to what they were all about in high school. Athletic outfits or props will preserve the sports they played. Caps and gowns will give a classic "I made it!" look to graduation photos.
Classy suits and tuxedoes, or gorgeous gowns and dresses, will tell the world "I've arrived" and show them as the adults they've become. Everyone has so many different interests and sides to their personalities!
Why limit it? Bring along several outfits and a plan for changing, and capture your senior's whole self!
The final aspect of great senior portraits is one that's often not thought about until long after the photos are taken: presentation. The greatest senior portrait ever taken will never get the attention it deserves if it's never viewed larger than the screen of an iPhone!
But so many great photos are only seen through social media. And so many end up stored in cloud drives, while our best intentions to print them are overcome by the business of life. Senior portraits will be some of the best memories you ever preserve of your son or daughter!
Make sure you plan, from the very beginning, on how they'll look on your walls or on the pages of albums that will be kept for generations. And be sure your photographer can guide you through that entire process, from planning the shots to holding that album in your hands, and hanging that canvas or metal print on your wall for everyone to see. These are truly a lifetime investment.
So there you have it! When you're looking for a photographer, make sure you find the ones who know how to capture and control the light, create compositions that tell real stories, and can guide you all the way through the process of preserving these memories on your walls and shelves forever, If you're in the Dayton, Ohio area, reach out to me and let's start imagining this together. https://wfphotography.net/seniors
