When Should I Book a Senior Portrait Photographer?
As a Portrait and Wedding Photographer located in Boise Idaho, here are some key tips to keep in mind when your starting to plan your senior photo session. You’re near the end of your junior year of high school and while you’re looking forward to your senior year, well except for those pesky senior projects and whatnot... so, you may be thinking more about enjoying summer at this point. While your excited you figure, I still have a few months before your senior year starts right… plenty of time for my senior photos and all the other things I will be doing.
So, when then does senior picture season start? The summer after your junior year is when senior picture season officially starts, but keep reading. While I do want you to enjoy your summer before your senior year believe it or not you really should look into booking your photographer for your senior pictures sooner than later. Especially in areas like Idaho where you get all four seasons; where it’s not just your schedule, your parent’s schedule, or the schedule of the photographer to work around, but you may have the mother nature to work with as well.
While you may think this seems to early, depending on when you’re wanting your senior photos; Spring of your junior year or the Summer after your junior year are the best time to start looking online, talking to your parents about it, asking friends what they are thinking, and of course there is social media etc. This is so not only can you try to book with your favorite senior portrait photographer, but you want to leave plenty of time for everything related to your portrait session to get back to you in-time for your graduation and the announcements that you’re going to want to send out. Don’t forget your senior yearbook has deadlines for any possible submissions as well.
Here are four take a-ways to keep in mind for when to book your senior portrait photographer.
1. To get a photographer you may really want, you need to make sure they are actually available to photograph your session. Photographers can be booked weeks to months out, especially in the peak times like mentioned above. So, booking sooner than later will help you work out a schedule with your favorite photographer during a time when you’re most wanting to do your session.
2. Next you really want to leave enough time to get everything back related to your senior portrait session. As you want to make sure you’re going to get your digital images (if that’s an option for you), prints, albums etc. back in time for things such as graduation announcements, etc. Depending on the options available to you by your photographer, this can take weeks to around a month or so to get all or even part of those options back. Don’t forget to check your school deadlines for when they need your yearbook photos too.
3. Think about what some of your interest or hobbies are, or what are you are wanting to wear, because if you are wanting to try and include some of those options, that could impact the time when you need to book your senior pictures as well. I.E. If you love fields of wildflowers in blossom and want to incorporate some of that into your senior pictures, then you need to plan for that.
4. The four seasons. Think of it this way; if you are wanting to shoot in the early Summer going into your senior year, you’re going to want to start looking for your photographer during the Spring of your junior year so that you can shoot in the early Summer (yes you will still be a junior at the time of booking your session). If you’re wanting to shoot in the Spring, you’re most likely going to book your photographer during the Winter of your junior year to shoot that Spring, yes you will still be in your junior year when you have your senior pictures taken. Waiting until Spring of your actual senior year can make it very hard to not only get your session booked with your favorite photographer but also it can be tough to get everything back in time for your graduation and or your yearbook. Fall for your senior portraits, then start looking at least by middle of Summer before you start school again. Winter sessions maybe easier to book but just be aware some photographers may take this time off, then there are holidays, but more importantly weather can be a big factor as well not to mention your starting to cut it close again to get everything back in time before you graduate.
I hope you have found this information helpful and if you or someone you know happens to be looking for a senior portrait photographer, Jerry Moyer Photography would like the opportunity to talk to you, get to know you a little bit, and see what it is your wanting and then of course if everything sounds good lets have a great time shooting your senior photos too.
Idaho Portrait and Wedding Photographer, Boise Idaho