How Do I Choose a Photographer for High School Senior Photographs?
One of the questions I frequently hear people ask is, €How do I choose a photographer for my senior photographs?€
If you are a high school junior, you are undoubtedly preparing for your senior year. You will be deluged with things to think about during your senior year. SAT/ACT tests, meeting the guidelines to graduate, applying for scholarships, applying to schools, ordering your cap and gown, buying a school yearbook and getting the perfect photograph to go in the yearbook and exchange with friends.
This is an important time in your life, and you surely don't want to let your friend's mother, brother, or friend-of-a-friend take your senior portraits. We have all seen the portraits where a senior just €went to the local park and stood by a tree€. Is this all you want to be remembered for? Is your personality that one-dimensional?
You need to select a professional photographer who has the experience and €know-how€ to show the various sides of your personality. Different lighting styles, sets and backgrounds all help with this. Posing is also something that needs to be addressed. Be sure you include your hobbies, sports and activities when you get your senior portraits taken. You might have your portrait taken in front of the perfect prop or background, but if the lighting and posing are incorrect, it €just doesn't work€. Your photographer should have a working knowledge of the fundamentals of art, lighting and technical knowledge to create really memorable portraits for you. After the session is complete, the photographer really earns your respect by knowing what to do with the images created. Really good photographers will hardly ever present you with the portrait right out of the camera. Artwork and retouching is also important to most seniors. Do you really want to remember the blemish that erupted the day before your portrait? A qualified professional photographer will easily fix that and your skin won't look like artificial doll skin either.
Is the person you are considering registered with their local and/or state government? Do they give back to the community by paying sales taxes?
Look for a photographer who has credentials. Less than 3% of all photographers have earned their €Certification€ through the Professional Photographers of America. Obtaining this €Certification€ is not a simple process.
A €nice camera€ does not make a person a photographer, just like owning a set of pots & pans does not make person a €chef€. A camera is only a tool. It takes years of education, training, investment and practice to become a €true professional photographer€.
If you are a high school junior, you are undoubtedly preparing for your senior year. You will be deluged with things to think about during your senior year. SAT/ACT tests, meeting the guidelines to graduate, applying for scholarships, applying to schools, ordering your cap and gown, buying a school yearbook and getting the perfect photograph to go in the yearbook and exchange with friends.
This is an important time in your life, and you surely don't want to let your friend's mother, brother, or friend-of-a-friend take your senior portraits. We have all seen the portraits where a senior just €went to the local park and stood by a tree€. Is this all you want to be remembered for? Is your personality that one-dimensional?
You need to select a professional photographer who has the experience and €know-how€ to show the various sides of your personality. Different lighting styles, sets and backgrounds all help with this. Posing is also something that needs to be addressed. Be sure you include your hobbies, sports and activities when you get your senior portraits taken. You might have your portrait taken in front of the perfect prop or background, but if the lighting and posing are incorrect, it €just doesn't work€. Your photographer should have a working knowledge of the fundamentals of art, lighting and technical knowledge to create really memorable portraits for you. After the session is complete, the photographer really earns your respect by knowing what to do with the images created. Really good photographers will hardly ever present you with the portrait right out of the camera. Artwork and retouching is also important to most seniors. Do you really want to remember the blemish that erupted the day before your portrait? A qualified professional photographer will easily fix that and your skin won't look like artificial doll skin either.
Is the person you are considering registered with their local and/or state government? Do they give back to the community by paying sales taxes?
Look for a photographer who has credentials. Less than 3% of all photographers have earned their €Certification€ through the Professional Photographers of America. Obtaining this €Certification€ is not a simple process.
A €nice camera€ does not make a person a photographer, just like owning a set of pots & pans does not make person a €chef€. A camera is only a tool. It takes years of education, training, investment and practice to become a €true professional photographer€.
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