Tips for Your Senior Photo Yearbook Submission
#1 Give Yourself the Gift of Time
When I was a senior in high school, I waited until the last weekend before the yearbook submission deadline to ask my mom for help taking my senior photo. I’m dating myself, but selfies were not really a prominent thing and cell phone cameras were not what they are today.
Plus, with my family reeling from the Great Recession, it wasn’t in the cards for me to have a professional take my senior photo for the Fall senior photo deadline for the yearbook. (psst, in a future post I’ll talk about when I did get my professional senior photos taken. It did happen!).
Even with all of those factors considered, it didn’t mean that I couldn’t have planned my outfit, dedicated time to my hair and setting some time aside to make sure I liked the photo I had taken. In this case it was my mom who helped me. Because I didn’t plan ahead, I didn’t have time for a re-shoot with my mom or anyone else I could have had volunteer. It resulted in me not really being happy with the photo I submitted to the yearbook and it was a huge bummer.
I know simply saying, “plan ahead,” is SUPER irritating. And yet, I have to say it in the hope my cautionary tale helps prevent at least one regretful senior photo yearbook submission.
So my first tip is to make sure you have options to choose from for your yearbook photo.
#2 Thoughtfully Choose Your Outfit
If I could only give one piece of advice I would tell you to avoid logos and graphics. The focus of your senior photo should be on you and not repping a brand or company. For more in detail guidance you’ll want to check out this recent post here.
#3 Professional Senior Photos
A bit repetitive for step number 1, but if you are going to have your senior photos professionally done, and I hope with me 😉, you’ll want to book early.
Once the school year gets under way your calendar will be fast and furious. So booking early may help save you from rushing your outfit planning and arriving to your photo session unprepared. Some seniors like to get their hair done or makeup done beforehand and coordinating with a stylist will be another calendaring detail you may want to consider.
💡 A note on submission deadline: Many high schools in the Bellingham area require seniors to submit senior photos by October or early November. To find out the specific deadline for your high school you’ll want to ask the yearbook teacher, or any administrative assistant in the front office.
One of the nice things about hiring a photographer for your senior photos is that you can count on getting quality and flattering photos to choose from.
#4 For Doing It Yourself
Yearbook photos usually have a tighter crop with the face centered and filling up most of the frame. Sometimes creativity can lead you to taking all sorts of different photos. As an artist I am definitely guilty of this! But be sure to focus on locking in some close-up photos that won’t make your head look small when printed next to your classmates.
You can also take advantage of a cloudy day or light coming through a window to capture flattering light on your face. Try to avoid harsh shadows that fall under your eyes, nose and chin. Who am I kidding? YOU are probably a selfie genius compared to me when I was in high school.
#5 Choosing Your Photo
You’ll want to catch my earlier post here for tips on how to choose your photo to submit. In a nutshell, sometimes the best thing to do is to narrow it down as much as you can and look at your selection again the next day. Getting a second opinion from someone you trust is also a solid plan of action.
#6 Meeting Submission Requirements
One last, but important thing. Some high school yearbooks may require very specific file dimensions and formatting. If you had your senior photo taken with me, pass on the requirements to me and I can make sure to format your yearbook photo for you. I’d be happy to help with this final step!
Request More Tips
I hope this was helpful, but if I have you thinking of more questions than you originally had to begin with please drop a comment below and I can follow-up. Thank you for reading!
