So you've scheduled your high school senior portrait session, now what? I've taken the stress out of preparing for your session with theses tips so you can take it one step at a time and avoid becoming overwhelmed.
Read on for guidance on everything from makeup to clothing and download the handy printable checklist to help you get ready for your photo session!
Get your hair cut about one to two weeks prior to your session. Don’t drastically change it from your normal style in case you don’t like it. Have the hair stylist show you some easy styles you can do during outfit changes to switch it up a bit. Resist the urge to color your own hair, especially the night before your session! Freshly colored hair doesn’t look nuanced like natural hair color, it takes a couple of weeks for natural highlights to shine through.
Get a manicure a day or two before your session to ensure your nails look their best. Don’t forget that the color needs to match all of your outfits. For this reason, and to avoid something distracting, I suggest going with a neutral color or simply a clear coat.
Resist the urge to tan for your session, and that includes laying out in the sun, using a tanning bed, or self-tanning cream. Why risk looking like Larry the Lobster in your images? Tanning beds can give you a sunburn and tan lines just like the sun and unless you’re really careful, self-tanning creams will make your elbows, knees, and the palms of your hands orange!
Lay out all your clothing that you’ll be wearing and bringing to the session, make sure they are clean and free of stains or tears and that everything is ironed and wrinkle-free, put on hangers for the car ride to your session location. Make sure you also bring along appropriate undergarments for each outfit.
Select clothing that makes you, feel like you. If you’re not a dress girl, you’re not used to seeing yourself in a dress and will probably not love the images of you in a dress. Make sure your clothes fit and you’re comfortable in them. There’s nothing worse than trying to smile in too-tight clothing.
Don’t forget the shoes! Pull those out as well and place with your clothing so you don’t forget anything. Please, no athletic sneakers with bright colors and logos. Plan tennis shoes, Keds or Vans are fine, but I suggest avoiding bright white as they’ll be the brightest thing in the image and we want that to be your face, not your shoes! Well-worn, but clean, white tennis shoes are fine.
Select your jewelry for each outfit and place in zip-lock baggies to avoid tangling. Place along with your hung clothing. Are you wearing a belt? A hair band? Matching socks, tights? Double-check to make sure each out is complete. If your dress is short, consider wearing bike shorts under it so you don’t have to work about errant breezes exposing more than you want to!
Do you want to bring any special clothing items like a letter jacket or props such as a favorite book, tennis racket, or softball glove? Don’t leave that to the last minute either, put them along with your session outfits.
Consider bringing some accessories like a hat, sunglasses, a scarf, a jean jacket, a fun handbag, a colorful cardigan – all of these can add interest to your images and give us a way to create variety out of one outfit. These too should be pulled and checked at least a day before to ensure they don’t get left behind.
Practice doing your makeup at least once before your session and take a cell phone picture; do you like the way you look? Are your eyes too dark? Is your lip too bright? The objective of makeup is to create a bit of contrast on the face, not to define features. If you get a pimple the night before, resist the urge to cover it with heavy makeup. I’ll always take care of that in retouching for you and it will look more natural without the addition of heavy foundation or concealer.
If you wear foundation, keep it light and make sure you blend the jawline. If you wear concealer, make sure you don’t create reverse raccoon eyes. This is where taking some cell phone pictures can ensure you don’t have any issues on your session day. Don’t just look at yourself in the bathroom mirror, check it outside in the daylight and take your pictures there.
Avoid anything with glitter, sparkles, or high gloss, they’ll create specular highlights on your face (little bits of bright white light). Also avoid bronzers and highlighters as they will make you look sweaty on camera.
Put together a “go bag” for your session and place it by the door along with your clothes and accessories. In it should be...
- A few tissues for on the spot make up corrections or blotting sweat
- Your key makeup items for touch ups
- A hairbrush and any hair product that helps you control frizz
- Your smaller accessories like jewelry, hairband, belts, etc.
- Comfortable shoes for walking between locations
- A bottle of water
- A small snack that travels well like a granola bar
Get a good night’s sleep the night before and stay hydrated for dewy skin! When everything is in place and ready to go on your session day, you can relax and enjoy the moment!