Prep For Success!

How to book your ideal session


Senior sessions are arguable one of the most important solo sessions any teenager does. It marks their embarkation on their final year of high school and captures who they are as a person as they prepare for college and the "real world" ahead. With that comes a certain level of stress and uncertainty on who your best fit is for finding a photographer that will work best for you and your soon-to-be senior. To help ease some of that frustration, I have some tips and questions to ask below to help you find that ideal fit, even if it's not necessarily me.


Where to start:

  1. Ask friends and/or family if they have any recommendations. Odds are they have someone they've used and like or at the very least someone they've heard of through the grapevine.
  2. Utilize your local neighborhood facebook groups and search for posts by other photographers that way, most groups are filled with them (from beginners to seasoned pros) and likely sharing their work to get clients. You can even make a post saying "Looking for a senior photographer!" and I'd bet you get at least 20 different comments from those offering their services (and I'm just as guilty of this as most other photographers haha).
  3. Use Google and search specifically in your area with keywords like "MY CITY senior photographer" or "MY CITY senior portraits". This should return results for those in or near your area to help narrow your list down immediately.
  4. Pick at least 3 to 5 photographers you like and spend anywhere from 10 to 20 mins on them looking at their work. Make a list of things you like best and things you may not like on each of their sites. One key thing to look for is consistency in work, photographers that are polished and reliable are ones with lots of work displayed that is consistently good or great (anyone can get lucky on a few shots with enough chances).
  5. Compare prices on their sites of the ones you decide you'd like to pursue most. This will help you realize what you're comfortable spending and give you a ballpark of what you'll end up spending.


Questions to ask:

  1. "What package(s) do you offer?" This will help you see what all their options are. Some have just one or two, others have more.
  2. "What is included in each package?" Asking this will clarify if you receive digital images, prints or both as well as any releases you may need.
  3. "What is required to book a session with you?" This clarifies their requirements for things such as deposits, contracts etc in order to secure your session date.
  4. "Do you have a cancellation/reschedule policy?" Asking these pointed questions helps you see how polished and prepared the photographer is and also helps get you vital info should an emergency or bad weather arise.
  5. "What is your typical delivery timeframe?" This is mostly just for your purposes to see what you're comfortable with accepting. Some photographers will do a week or two and some can take upwards of a month or more. This should be outlined in the contract you'll sign as well which helps keep the photographer accountable to their commitments.


Obviously there are plenty of other questions you can ask and come up with on your own to meet your needs, but these should be a good starting point to get the ball rolling and help ease the stress of planning for the session. If you'd like to reach out with any specific questions about working with us, you can fill out our contact form here or see more of our senior work here to see what we can do for you! Mention this blog post and receive 15% off your senior session if you book by April 30th!


Currently Listening To: Landmines by Sum 41