When Should I Schedule Senior Portraits? Bellingham Photographer Tips
Celebrating A Coming-of-Age Milestone With Senior Photos
4 Timeline Options:
There isn’t a single answer to when senior photos should be taken. To narrow down the answer that is right for you, you will want to think if you want the photo session outdoors or in-studio. Outdoor senior photo sessions are gorgeous but can be limited to fair weather while in-studio can be done at anytime of day or year. Keep that in mind when planning, and that brings me to my first two options: the Summer before senior year or the Fall of senior year:
1) Summer Before School
Planning ahead can really pay off, and booking a Summer date means the photo session can take place in beautiful Summer fields and gardens and the sky isn’t dreary. Even on overcast and cloudy days, Summer photo sessions tend of err or the side of bright and cheerful tones because plants and trees are lush and full. And Summer is my FAVORITE time of year to shoot outdoors because portraits taken, especially at golden hour, are pure magic.
From a practical stand point, even though sessions only take about an hour it’s still a time commitment that is convenient to get out of the way before the busyness of the school year gets underway. Senior year is a special year, and adding something to the calendar during the school year can be stressful on top of homework, extracurriculars and submitting college applications.
If done before the school year, it’s one less calendar item to worry about.
So I’d say the Summer before the school year starts is a solid option. I’m sure the first day of school is an easy date to remember – be sure to schedule the session even an entire week before the first day of school to be safe if you want Summer senior photos. Getting ready for the school year can be chaotic! In addition to that point, September in the PNW either a month that feels like an extension of Summer or can be a month of daily rainstorms – each year is a unpredictable.
Overall I’d say the Summer before the school year starts is a solid option.
2) Fall of Senior Year
Summers here in the Pacific Northwest go by so fast! So if you miss the Summer season before the school year starts don’t worry. The next chronological option is the Fall. Having a portrait done in the Fall is such a classic go-to with color that cannot be created artificially.
Fall photos are classic, beautiful and fun. One thing to be mindful of, again, is Fall can also be very wet and blustery which can require rescheduling if a session is rained out.
3) Meeting the Yearbook Submission Deadline
Now, having a professional quality photo in a yearbook is a very special thing. A yearbook is a memento that a lot of people treasure. And in the Bellingham district, all students now receive a yearbook for free! So getting a senior photo done in time to include it in the school year book can feel like the highest level of urgency.
A hard deadline is sometimes what it takes for us to stop talking and start doing. It’s a great motivator! I usually see high school yearbook deadlines sometime from mid-October to late October but you’ll need to contact your school specifically to find out. Once the school year begins, I’d recommend checking the school website or reading the school newsletter to find the deadline.
For my turn-around times if you need digitals before a specific date you will need to schedule a session 30 days before the deadline to be safe. However, at the time of writing this post I have been able to deliver session galleries to clients in about one week.
To meet the yearbook deadline schedule your session with me for a date no later than the last week in September.
But say you miss the deadline or maybe the high school yearbook isn’t very important to you. The next level of time sensitivity is going to be what you mail to your friends and family
4) In Time for Grad Announcements
Grad Announcements can be mailed out within the weeks leading up to graduation or mailed out after graduation. It’s all up to you. Sometimes grad announcements double as a grad party invite so families like to mail those out in plenty of time to collect RSVPs.
If the plan is to send out grad announcements after the big cap throwing day let’s do the deadline math: I guarantee to deliver photo galleries within 30 days of photo sessions and say we account for 10 business days to receive printed grad announcements to be safe.
That means you’ll need to schedule a session no later than the first week of May.
Do It When You Can or Want to – There Are No Firm Rules
All of these things being said, really there are no rules. Do what you WANT to do. Do what you Can do. For my own senior photos as a student, I ended up having my senior photos done the August AFTER I had graduated. The Great Recession in 2007-2009 hit my family hard and it wasn’t until after I graduated I had photos done. Now that is after all these timelines I have just outlined.
I want to share my personal story with you because at the end of the day the whole point of senior photos is to celebrate and commemorate this coming-of-age moment. So celebrate on your own terms and when you are able to celebrate.
