As a photographer specializing in senior pictures in the Greater Rochester and Finger Lakes area, I have a ton of knowledge when it comes to the senior photography industry and how you can avoid these 5 senior picture mistakes. I love sharing behind the scenes info so I can help seniors and their parents have stress free senior sessions and gorgeous senior portraits that your family will cherish for generations to come!

Let’s dive in to a few tips on some common senior session mistakes and how you can avoid making them:

1. NOT READING SESSION PREP RESOURCES

If I could only give you one piece of advice it’d be this: fully take advantage of the session prep materials and resources your photographer gives you!! This is truly the key to a stress free senior picture session that allows you to feel prepared and confident in front of the camera!

It’s all in the PREP work – how you prepare for your senior session will 1,000% show in your senior pictures! EJP prides ourselves on giving all of our clients an unrivaled session prep and portrait experience. EJP provides guides, resources, advice, and consults to help make your session day easy & stress free! We are the experts when it comes to preparing for senior pictures – we know all the tips & tricks to having the best session possible!

Here’s a sneak peek into some of the prep that our senior clients receive when they book their session with EJP:

What to Wear Guide: this guide helps you know everything from what colors you should consider based on your skin tone, to different style inspo, how to dress for your body type and so much more! It’s one of our clients FAVORITE guide!

Face Prep Guide: let’s get your face ready for your big day! This guide helps you know dos and don’ts to make your skin super smooth, refreshed and glowing for your session day!

Nail Prep Guide: there’s honestly nothing that draws the eyes more than a set of chipped nails and dry, cracking cuticles OR a distracting set of nails. This guide will help you prep your nails and hands for images that showcase YOU!

Session Day Packing List: want to make sure you aren’t forgetting anything for session day? We’ve got you covered! We’ll send you a final packing list with tons of details including the most forgotten items – talk about a stress free session!

2. CHAPPED LIPS

This mistake happens all. the. time. – but its SO easily prevented! Most people forget about hydrating their lips in the spring and summer because the temps are finally warming up which means our skin is less dry and not cracked like during fall and winter. BUT our lips need to stay moisturized year round, especially with extra time outside in the sun. Want a bonus session prep tip that will leave your lips looking picture perfect the day of your session?

For the week before your senior session, brush your lips with a toothbrush every night before bed and lather on your favorite lip balm.
Here’s a few we love:

• Burt’s Bees: Overnight Intensive Lip Treatment 
• Aquaphor Lip Protectant
• Blistex Intensive Moisturizer
• Laneige Lip Sleeping Mask

Let me tell you, chapped lips WILL show through all kinds of lipstick & gloss, and they’re also incredibly difficult to Photoshop in your senior pictures even for the best of the best editors. Follow the tips above for smooth and healthy lips and a picture perfect smile!

3. TANNING BEDS OR FAKE TANNING

I get it, you want to be a bronzed goddess for your senior picture session, but running out to get a spray tan before your session could end in an orange, blotchy, streaky nightmare.

If you are absolutely determined to be tanned for your session, here’s a few details that could save your skin and your pictures (literally):

• Get your spray tan at least 3 days before your session. The color needs time to develop & fully settle. Gently exfoliate your skin 48 hours after your spray tan, then use plenty of moisturizer to help it set.
• Exfoliate your wrists, ankles, knees, and knuckles religiously if you are getting a spray tan. Extra tanner tends to collect and settle in these parts of your body and actually make you look dirty in photos. After exfoliating, hydrate these areas with a heavy moisturizer.
• Consider using a buildable self-tanner lotion for the month before your session instead of a spray tan or tanning bed. These daily moisturizers with gradual tanning solutions build a bronze glow over time that won’t look blotchy or streaky like spray tans can.
• PLEASE stay away from tanning beds and tanning outside before your session! Red, inflamed, and peeling skin will be an eye sore in your senior pictures and is virtually impossible to edit. If you are spending time in the sun before your session, make bandeau style suits your favorite until after your session day to avoid uneditable tan lines. Even if your skin tends to tan easily and you rarely burn, accidents still happen and your senior pictures are not the time to risk a major oopsie!

4. NOT BOOKING YOUR SESSION EARLY ENOUGH

Senior pictures are NOT the time wait until the last minute. To keep the stress at bay you will need time to make your other appointments with your hair stylist, makeup artist, nail salon, esthetician, etc to make sure you feel and look your best on your session day. You also need to consider how busy senior year events will get, and consider yearbook deadline (typically early October in the Rochester NY area) – plus you’ll want to have your session booked with your photographer before their calendar fills up (which happens incredibly fast in the highly sought after spring and summer months)!

Here’s the EJP senior picture experience timeline – knowing this will help you ensure your senior pictures are ready for yearbook submission, grad announcements, grad party slideshows, etc.

Session Prep – Session Day:

this includes your pre booking consult to make sure our studio is the perfect fit for you and get your session date secured on our calendar. After that we’ll start prepping by discussing your ideal session vibes and ideas. We’ll also have your exclusive EJP Style Consult where we look at outfit and accessory options so we can finalize your session day looks. Your style consult is when your senior picture session really starts to come together! You’ll also schedule any additional appointment you need before your session day (think hair, nails, makeup). Then finally, SESSION DAY!

Session Day – Session Premiere Meeting:

after your session day, our studio will spend time sorting through your session images, having our pros edit your images, and then creating a session premiere gallery with your high res images. This all leads to us having your Session Premiere Meeting when you’ll finally see your gorgeous images and order your custom heirloom products! This means that at the most basic session level, you’ll have seen and ordered your beautiful images as digitals and then chosen your yearbook image 2 – 3 weeks after your senior picture session. If you order custom albums, canvases, prints, and other products, you’ll need to add a few more weeks to your timeline for these products to be professionally designed and delivered.

Product Design – Delivery:

if you’d like to have an album, canvas wrap, senior year memory box, or gift prints displayed at your grad party, you’ll want to order those products far in advance from your graduation party date (typically we order these at your Session Premiere Meeting). These custom products take 5-7 days to design and order – then another 4-6 weeks to be delivered from our world renowned print labs (even longer than this during busy season).

Grad Card Design – Card Delivery:

we work hard to get your grad cards designed, proofed, confirmed, printed and delivered to your doorstep within 4-5 weeks of you placing your order with us. Remember that you’ll want to send out graduation announcements and party invitations at least 6 weeks in advance if you want to give people enough time to plan to come and/or send congrats cards.

These timelines all need to be considered on top of the fact that calendars fill up for senior picture session dates in our area incredibly fast! Yearbook deadlines are typically in the beginning of October which means you’ll need to have your senior picture session booked for the spring or summer between your junior and senior year of high school. With this being the busy season for senior pictures I highly recommend contacting the photographer of your choice by April of your junior year.

5. LACK OF VARIETY IN YOUR SENIOR PICTURE OUTFITS

VARIETY in your images is everything! Make sure that your outfits aren’t all dresses, all jeans, etc. Try to incorporate a variety of not only pieces, but style as well (like urban, casual, and modern).

3 quick tips for making sure you have plenty of variety in your session outfits:

1. Don’t show up to your senior picture session with the same piece of clothing (mini skirts/dress or jeans) or the same style vibe (all casual or formal) for every single outfit. Get some variety in there! Bring different kinds of pieces like denim for one outfit, then a skirt or shorts for another, then a more formal dress, or your sports gear to round out the options and make sure they range from casual to sophisticated and everything in between! *This is why we include the EJP Style Consult for all of your senior picture clients!
2. Opt for colors that complement your skin tone. Wearing the wrong colors for your skin tone can make you look washed out or overly blotchy. To stay looking your best go with colors that are known to fit your seasonal shades, like warm, cool, or neutrals. You can find your skin tone and some complimentary colors for you in this article!
3. Speaking of colors, change it up through out your session outfits! Don’t wear pink (or any other color) for every single outfit! I love a good monotone color palette, but your senior pictures are a time for variety that showcases your personality. Go for a range of colors that look good with your skin tone for the ultimate variety. If you absolutely feel the need to stick with one or two colors, vary the shades to mix it up and bring slight variety to your images.

WANT MORE OUTFIT HELP FOR YOUR SENIOR PICTURE SESSION?

We have a FREEBIE guide for you! Download our free guide: 5 Outfit Tips & Tricks! This will give you a few bonus tips for assembling your senior picture outfits!

If you’re ready to book your senior session with Evelyn June Photography, the time to book is NOW! Connect with us by heading to our website and snagging a pre-booking consult here and we’ll get your booking process started! We’ll chat about available session dates, see if our studio is the perfect fit for you, and hopefully get your senior session date saved on our calendar!