Tips for Planning Your Next Photo Session

Let’s chat about photo sessions. I want to share a few tips for planning your next photo session. This info will be helpful for families, seniors or events. Photography may not be the first thing you think of when you begin planning your events. Let’s use senior year as an example. As a parent of three recent graduates I know photography wasn’t even at the very top of my list and I’m a photographer. You’re thinking about yearbooks, cap & gowns, college applications, parties and announcements. WAIT announcements don’t those require some photos these days? What about your yearbook? I know purchasing a quarter or half page spread might be in the plans for a few of you. Oddly enough those last two items require some photos. So let me walk you through some of my best tips for planning your next photo session. Ready? Let’s go!

Photographer are NOT On Call Service Providers

First and most importantly – Plan in advanced… Photographers are NOT on call service providers. You simply can not email a photographer on a Thursday and expect a photo session Saturday. If you find that unicorn 🦄 you better hold on to them because I promise they are the exception to the rule. Please, please, please start looking for your photographer at the minimum, a month in advance. (Weddings we are talking a year) In early spring I already have Seniors penciled in for Fall sessions. Don’t wait until May to try and book your graduation session. No one needs that extra stress during graduation season.

Next, let’s chat about storytelling. Especially for my senior clients photos are more than just images. They help us tell the story of our lives. When I look back at some of my most favorite client photos I can recall how much they loved football in the Fall. Writers may tell you a story with words but I love to tell a writer’s story with images of them surrounded by the books that inspire them to write. Maybe trains are your thing, I know a great spot to tell that story. Do you play music? Is fashion your thing? Or do you simply love to enjoy a taste of delicious ice cream. Don’t be afraid to incorporate who you are into your photo session. Let’s do more than just snap some pretty pictures. Let’s create images that tell the story of who you are.

Finally let’s chat about how you plan on using your images. This is super important to think through. Will you be wanting to use them digitally, prints, books, gifts, wall art or cards and announcements. These things matter to your photographer. Knowing how you would like to use your images actually helps us while we are at your session. If I know a client is looking for a image to have printed on canvas as wall art in their home, I am going to be sure that there is plenty of space around the subjects. Especially since I know that canvas images get wrapped around a frame. The last thing you want is in that perfect image having someones feet or arms get cut off from being wrapped over the side of the canvas. So think this through. If you just aren’t sure, well that is perfect question to ask during our consultation phone call.

Alright there you go! So what have we covered? We need to remember to plan ahead, tell a story and think about how we want to display the amazing images we will create together.