First of all, MASSIVE CONGRATS on your upcoming graduation! This is an amazing time in your life – you’re about to close one chapter and begin the next. Which means that NOW is the perfect time to document this stage of your life with a professional portrait session! If you’re looking for a senior picture photographer and not sure what to consider or ask about, let me help you out! There’s a handful of things to look for when choosing the photographer thats the right fit for you. So we are here with a few tips to make sure you choose the right one!

HERE’S A FEW THINGS TO LOOK FOR WHEN BROWSING A SENIOR PICTURE PHOTOGRAPHERS WEBSITE:

1. QUALITY IMAGES: Professional photographers invest a lot of money and time into making sure they are using top level equipment. This helps ensure they can produce high quality images that are meant to be printed in large formats. Think canvases, wall prints, albums, and graduation banners. There’s nothing worse than a blurry photo on canvas. An iPhone or even some entry level cameras just won’t do the job. This moment is too important for just anyone with a camera.

2. THE EDITING: One of the most important things to consider is how the images have been edited. Notice the skin tones and textures, the lighting, are the images authentically edited or overly “fakey” edited? This is important because what you see on their website will most likely be what you get for your senior images too.

3. THE CLIENT EXPERIENCE: Some photographers offer a full blown senior session experience. These are usually full of fashion guidance, prep resources, and an in person session premiere / sales session afterwards. Most other photographers offer a quick one size fits all session. Typically including just the digital files on a flash drive that will end up collecting dust in a junk drawer or hosted in an online gallery that you’ll forget to print images from. Every photographer offers something different, so finding out what kind of experience each offers can help you decide who is best for you.

HERE’S A FEW THINGS TO ASK YOUR POTENTIAL SENIOR PICTURE PHOTOGRAPHER:

1. Ask about their TIMELINE. It’s good to know what months they book for, the time frame between the session day and the ordering meeting, and how long it takes for your products to arrive. If you are running on a tight schedule and need something fast, a photographer with a more detailed prep process and full experience may not be the right fit for your time constraints.

2. Ask to see any REVIEWS they may have. This is a huge factor when considering hiring a photographer. Think about it… when you’re on Amazon and you think you want to buy something but you aren’t sure yet, where’s the first place you usually go when you want validation that you’re making the right choice? The reviews. It’s the same when hiring someone for photography services… they should have several good reviews from very happy past clients. 

LET’S CHAT ABOUT SOME RED FLAGS…

1. NO CONTRACT:  If your photographer doesn’t have an actual contract, RUN. This means that YOU are not protected if they no show your session date, don’t give you your images after you’ve already paid for them, or any other unforeseen issues. YIKES. 

2. NO REVIEWS: The photographer you hire for your senior picture session should have several testimonials on their site or on their google business profile. If they don’t have any published, then ask them for references so you can be sure. 

There you have it! Those are just a few things to factor in when finding the right senior picture photographer for you.

Are you interested in chatting about the EJP premium senior experience? Schedule your pre-booking consult here and we’ll see if our studio is the perfect fit for you!