"Seniors"

What fun it is to work with the young graduating seniors. At first they are a bit uncomfortable with the idea of standing in front of a camera and going through all those poses, especially with the possibility that others might be watching. This uneasiness goes away as soon as they realize I do not allow anyone but myself and the person(s) being photographed to be in either our "very private" outdoor (garden) studio, or the indoor studios (photography is not a spectator sport). I realize it is sometimes difficult for a person to refuse when friends and loved ones ask to watch when the photo session is in progress, thus I make it very easy "I'm sorry the photographer won't allow anyone to watch". For many years I have taken seniors to our local parks, or other locations around the area to be photographed, but as time went on I noticed how uncomfortable they became when people would pass by and stop to watch. Many of the photographs were virtually unusable because the eyes were turned toward the onlookers, thus I ultimately realized I must have a private outdoor studio, and promptly set forth to build one, and the results were great for my seniors, other clients, and my photography. If you wish to see the results of my ongoing efforts to have the very best studio possible, please click on the "Garden Studio" tab above. 

I try to stress to all my senior clients that this is a once in a lifetime happening they will never again experience, so lets make some memories to be proud of through out their lifetime. Tee shirts with catchy slogans may look cool at school but make for very poor portraits, the same holds true for loose fitting and baggy clothing, unlaced shoes and boots also do not do not help to enhance ones appearance in photographs. I always recommend they bring up three clothing changes, two casual (matching) outfits, and one a bit more formal, this will give a variety of looks by mixing and matching. Grooming is as important, and should be considered by the boys as well as the girls, hair should be cut a few days in advance of the session in order to allow the hair to return to a more natural look. If the skin has a few imperfections a light coat of a foundation powder will help (this applies to the boys as well) brightly colored eye makeup will be a distraction, and draw attention from the eyes, sparkle makeup will pickup light and create a refraction and totally ruin the photographs. Avoid shirts or blouses with stripes, polka dots, or other distracting designs as they too will tend to draw the eyes from you.

I have had many seniors come to their session with nice clothing, groomed extremely well, wearing old dirty, and worn tennis shoes, which naturally limits the photographs that can be taken, and poses that can be used in order to end up with acceptable portraits. I recommend the girls bring at least one pair of high heel shoes for those more formal portraits, and at all cost avoid lace up, and overly large boots or shoes, for the boys bring a nicely polished pair of dress shoes, clean tennis shoes, pull on boots also can work well.

In all my years of photographing seniors, when it came time to select the portraits for their packages, none have selected ones that show the baggy pants or unkept shoes. They always gravitate to the head and shoulders poses only, or ask me to crop out the lower portion, thus limiting their final choises.

To view all of your photos, and/or select for you package, please click on the link below:  

eagle-photography.org/gallery