5 Tips for Getting Your Senior Pictures Taken

This post isn't my usual post, but I was looking through some of the senior photography pictures that I had taken, those I took when I was a senior, and the pictures my sister took, I realized pretty quickly that there were things I loved about those pictures and things I hated about mine. 

Getting your senior portraits taken is really an awesome experience because you will truly not be in that phase of life ever again. I look back on just 5 years ago and wonder how I ever even got to this point of growing up. I love looking back on little me and seeing just how far I've come, but I wish that I had a little bit of the information I'm going to share with you today because I don't love my pictures. I honestly don't love any one of them. Are they nice pictures, sure, but are they great pictures? Unfortunately, no, and part of that is because I didn't have all of the information I should have had going into it. In fact, my senior pictures aren't even listed on the photographers website because they were that bad. I am in no way trying to rag on the photographer who took my pictures. All of the reasons I don't like these photos were because of me. And you can totally tell that by the photos. 

Don't repeat my mistakes! Follow these tips and love some of the only professional pictures of you during this phase in your life!

I don't know about you, but I personally went out and scrounged up an entire new wardrobe for my senior photos. For some reason, I seriously thought I needed new clothes. It got to the point where I was just buying whatever I sort of liked to make sure I had enough outfits. 

Case in point, this dress, which was comparable to me walking around in a tent. I didn't like the dress and I felt really uncomfortable in it. I only bought it because my family told me I looked good in it and I had that number of outfits nagging me in the back of my mind. I don't look confident in it and you can definitely see that in my face. After these pictures, I never wore this dress again, which has got to tell you something about how much I love this picture, where the dress is a focal point.

Buying new clothes isn't necessary! Wear clothes that you love and don't settle for clothes that are just "cute." I would have preferred seeing pictures of myself in clothes that I actually wore and felt good in rather than an entirely new wardrobe.

It is okay if your clothes aren't brand new for these pictures. I look back and think, "Why on earth didn't I wear my favorite dress to these pictures?" and realize that I talked myself out of it because it was  a little dingy from being worn. But you know what, no one would have noticed that it was a little dingy and I would have looked fabulous in it! I would have felt much more confident and I would have known exactly how I was going to look in my pictures.

Also make sure that your nail polish isn't chipped and that your nails are clean if you aren't wearing nail polish. This may not seem like something important, but chipped nail polish is noticeable in pictures. Professional manicures aren't necessary either, so don't worry about breaking the bank to take your senior pictures. 

Oh, does this picture look oddly familiar? Possibly because it is almost identical in posing to the picture above. I have a ton of pictures where I look like I am just standing there. The difference between my senior pictures and taking those of my sister, Abbi, was that I could show her a pose, have her get into the pose, and in 3 minutes, we had a dynamic portfolio all about her. 

Don't be afraid to try out different poses. Your photographer will love you for it! My photographer kept telling me, "Do something different with your hands!" and to me, that meant drop them, place them on my hip, or hold onto something in the environment. My poor photographer had to more often than not come and physically position me like a rag doll because I just had no idea what I liked or what would look good. And this wasted a lot of time that could have been spent making sure I was actually smiling in my pictures. It not only wasted time, but after you hear someone shouting an instruction at you for the 9th time, it starts to get more than a little obnoxious and this impacted my photos. Do your research! 

Even if a pose doesn't necessarily feel like you, try it. My sister-in-law had a photographer that had come with poses and props, and asked her to apply lipstick while looking into a mirror. My sister-in-law thought it was dumb at the time, but when she got her pictures back, she realized it was one of her favorites! And it is stinking adorable and totally my sister-in-law! I'm not saying to try anything you aren't comfortable with, but definitely don't write something off just because you don't know how it will turn out. 

These pictures are somewhat cute, but I hate them because they don't even look like me! The smile is just off in both of these pictures, but at least I'm smiling. I look seriously angry in half of the pictures I got back. Grab a mirror or your phone and practice smiling. How much teeth to show, a closed mouth smile, whatever you need to do, just make sure that you know how to smile or you know of a way to get you to genuinely smile. 

When taking my sister's pictures, I asked her how we could make her smile. We ended up bringing her best friend who just made jokes and talked with her the whole time so that she would laugh and smile naturally. We played my sister's favorite rap music. We made fun of her butt. Anything we could do to get her to smile, we did it. If you can't muster up a real smile for pictures, then find out what makes you smile and bring it along to your pictures. 

For example, in this picture, if my mom or sister was with me, they would have been able to say, "What are you doing with your hand? That doesn't look right." and I could have fixed my pose. My photographer was concentrated on my face, the sunlight, and the actual composition of the photo that she didn't realize my hand just looked so weird in this pose. 

When I took pictures of my sister, my sister-in-law (they are BFFs) was able to focus on her and notice the tiny details that make for a distraction in a photo, like a shirt rising up or being too low, trash in the background that is distracting, fly away hairs, etc. Most importantly, she was also able to tell us when something didn't look natural or wasn't "Abbi." 

Sometimes photographers get caught up in very small things. I remember when I took my sister out, I particularly loved the background in one area so I made sure we took a lot of pictures there. Finally, my sister-in-law had to step in and say, "This doesn't really look like something Abbi would like," for me to realize that she was right. The background was cool and dynamic, but it didn't really fit Abbi. 

Bring someone along that you trust and listen to their advice. Sometimes that person isn't going to be your mom, and sometimes that person isn't going to be your best friend. Make sure your pictures aren't a classic episode of Say Yes to the Dress where 30 bridesmaids are telling the bride that she looks terrible in each of the dresses. You want someone who is there for you, knows what you like and want in your pictures, and is willing to speak up on your behalf. 

If you do bring this person along, have them look through your pinterest board to see which poses you could do while you are taking your pictures. Have them specifically make sure that your hair and outfit is in place. Most importantly, have them specifically make sure that the photographer is doing what you want them to do while you are busy smiling away. 

Sometimes the best benefit to having a friend with you is that they can cheer you on and make you feel confident about yourself. Bring a friend who can do all of this and your picture experience may become one of your favorite memories with your friend!

Particularly if your photographer lets her jump into the photos with you, too!

It might not be noticeable right off the bat, but my face and skin are really washed out because my photographer had to rely on her flash to take these pictures. Me running late translated into 15 minutes of wasted time, which snowballed into a lot of wasted sunlight. By the end of the day, we had taken pictures in locations that were nice, but I was so envious of the fact that I didn't get any perfect photos in this field. 

Make sure that you are on time and that you have made everything as efficient as possible. Another time waster is finding and changing into all of your clothes. Because I had rushed out of the door, none of my clothes were organized and I wasted time trying to find a missing shoe or the shirt that I wanted to go with those pants. 

When I took my sister's photos, we were able to organize everything beforehand and make sure that the car was organized so we could find everything. A tip would be to put each of your outfits into a different grocery bag so you can literally grab a bag and go. I wasted so much time searching for a lost high heel to find out later that none of my pictures actually showed them!