Tips to help with a successful portrait session

Clothing is very important when it comes to your portraits. You dont want to wear anything that would be distracting and compete with your face. Loud colors and busy designs are not recommended. Thats not to say we dont allow them. Especially some Seniors have pretty busy uniforms and letter jackets. Thats ok. We can work with them and implement those items in the portraits without making it the main subject in the image. But if you have a choice and are looking for ideas on what you should get, recommendations are solid colors, earth tones, black, dark brown, etc. And also if it is a group shot try to get everyone to where the same colors. It makes for a much more pleasant portrait as you blend together well even in large groups. 

So here are some behind the scenes secrets you should know:

What to avoid:
=Shirts with a plaid design, logos, stripes on them. Also watches.

-If you have an option to wear contacts instead of glasses that would be recommended. Glasses cause a glare and it can be retouched but it is very time consuming. If glasses are who you are and you dont feel the same without them check with your eye glass store and see if they have a pair of your frames you can borrow for the day or see if they can remove the lenses temporarily to help eliminate any uneccesary glare.

-Slimming Secrets
Long Sleeves help slim the arms and also eliminate bright arms competing with your face in the image. 
Darker clothing will help give a slimming effect.
Things that can add the perception of weight are low collars, v-necks, and brighter colors. So stick to dark colors or earth tones and try when possible to keep the collars at neck level.
Now with seniors there are many different tops that are v neck and lower than standard shirt collar level. That is ok. On individual portraits we can work with that. But for groups and family photos standard collars are good as well as similar colors when in a group. 

Most of the tips there are best used for family photos and group shots as well as some individual images. But with most seniors sessions bring what you feel comfortable in. We want you to have fun with the session and if you have a favorite shirt that is wild and loud, its ok, we will do some wild and loud portraits as well. I recommend all seniors bring the items you use through high school. If you are on the football team, bring your shoulder pads and helmet with your jersey. In the band? Bring your Guitar or Saxophone. Even if you are on the Chess team, bring a board with the peices. We will get some creative images you wont want to miss out on!

Check out our "What about colors" link under the info tab to find recommendations on color matching.  If you have any other questions or concerns on what you should bring please contact us and ask.