Bloomfield Hills
Senior Pictures

Senior Pictures Photography in Bloomfield Hills & Birmingham, MI

Timeless Senior Portraits That Celebrate Who You Are Right Now

Why Personality Matters.

Taking a photograph of you will result in a photograph of you. But does it really capture you? The real you? Or is it just a typical likeness?

There are many things that define you, perhaps it’s a musical instrument, a hockey stick, a paintbrush, or a myriad of other things. It can even be a look – the twinkle in your eye.

So why not spend a little time focusing on that special thing that you love to do? Let’s get some great shots of you immersed in something that really captures your attention.

Think about what’s important in your life, and we can incorporate it into your senior photo shoot. Consider the places in Michigan that you would loved to have your senior pictures taken.

Senior pictures only happen once. Portraits, headshots, and even weddings can happen for us all more than once, but this is a one-time event! There’s only one opportunity to dress up, and pamper ourselves with hair grooming, maybe a spa day, or whatever it takes to make this time absolutely memorable.

We want a record of this very brief time in our lives, right? So the question then becomes, how do you make sure that you end up with stunning senior portraits, photographs you will be so proud of? Let’s talk about that.

What’s Your Style?

As already mentioned, a portrait is different, you can take one of those every year, every week if you like! However, for a senior portrait, there is a very small sliver of time that you can take senior pictures. And when that time passes, that’s it.

So back to the style question. Given that you are taking your senior pictures only one time, isn’t it really important that your style stand the test of time? Looking at some images from say the 70’s, they are clearly images from the 70’s. But there are other images taken in the same era, that could easily have been taken yesterday. In a word, timeless.

That should be our goal regarding style, to dress in a way that won’t date you. Your senior pictures will stand the test of time if we are aware of the style we are capturing. And obviously, we can shoot multiple styles.

Think about the props you might want to use.  A musical instrument, a soccer ball, books, and so on. With clothing consider hats, scarves, and any other favorite items that resonate with you.

What About Your Senior Photographer?

This is a big consideration, because connection is everything.

Simply having some dude yelling “smile” at you won’t result in senior pictures that show your connection to the camera. But it’s not the connection to the camera that’s important, that will automatically be the case if you have a connection to, the photographer.

Staring blankly or forcing a fake smile at a photographer who isn’t connecting with you will not produce great work.

Your photographer has to make you smile, without ever uttering that word. They need to ensure you are enjoying every second of your senior session, and having a ton of fun.

Booking a photographer skilled in communication is every bit as important as booking one skilled in photography.

Senior Portraits FAQ’s

What Will I Wear To My Senior Portraits Shoot?

Senior photographer logic goes out of the window on this one! With a standard portrait bright or garish colors would normally be avoided, but for senior portraits, everything goes. We are capturing who you are, in this moment of your life.

The best advice is to bring along everything that you could possibly want to wear. If we are doing a studio session there will be changing facilities. If it is on location, available restrooms work, even a car can be pressed into service for a quick change.

What Makes You Feel Beautiful, Or Handsome?

Whatever those clothes are, that’s what you want to wear in your pictures. These are pictures that you want to feel great in, and that will affect how you feel when you view them.  So the clothes you love to wear, need to be in your pictures. The photography will turn out better.

Gradually Dress Down.

Start with the dressier outfit. It’s better to have to pull on a pair of jeans in the middle of a senior portraits session than to be climbing into a dress or pants. Start dressed, and work towards casual.

One thing you absolutely should do – it’s bring your favorite outfit or item. That thing that you feel great wearing?  Bring it.  Despite my years of experience as a senior photographer, I’m still amazed at the wardrobe people can show up with. It’s totally cool.

What About Hair And Makeup?

For boys, if you are getting a haircut, make sure to have it done at least a couple of days before your session. Newly cut hair looks .. well, newly cut.  It will be obvious.

Girls, as with the boys, don’t have your hair cut on the day of your session. You can obviously have it styled, and that really can make a huge difference to your images.

Makeup will look heavier in camera, so it’s best to tone it down a little from the level you ultimately want. A natural style of makeup will usually be the best fit, but again, rules are made to be broken. So if you want to go a little crazy…

Should I Get A Manicure?

It’s a great idea for your pictures, yes, you should. Since your hands will be in many of the pictures, a manicure is a good idea.

A word of warning about waxing. If you intend to get your eyebrows waxed, or any other wax treatments, do it at least a week before your session. Your skin needs time to recover, you don’t want to have areas glowing red in your pictures.

The same thing goes with tanning, don’t do it close to your session. As always, a photographer is a great source of advice on these matters.

Do I Need Props For My Photos?

You don’t absolutely need props, but like tons of clothes, they are useful to have around. Hat’s scarves, canes, a boa, musical instruments, items from your hobby, and anything that screams who you are should be with us at your session. If you don’t want to bring anything – that’s cool. As any senior photographer will tell you, more is better. I have never done a senior shoot where I thought I needed less stuff. More stuff, more photography, more pictures.

Senior Pictures Checklist

1. Pre Session Consultation.
Let’s have a conversation about your clothes, style, colors, etc.

2. Professional Makeup.
Girls, this will make a serious difference to the results of your session

3. The Photo Shoot.
Typically, a senior portrait session lasts 1 – 2 hours and sometimes can be even more.

4. Editing & Retouching.
This is where a lot of the work is done, highly polishing your final images.

5. Choosing & Ordering.
Here we view your images and help you with the image selection process.

6. Your Product Delivery.
Take delivery of your beautiful senior portraits. Digital files are sent through email, physical products must be picked up.

7. Online Gallery.

An online gallery will be created so that you can send family and friends to view your entire image collection.

A Senior Photographer Should Always Be On Hand.

This is a big deal, getting senior pictures taken is a once-in-a-lifetime thing. So you can contact me at any time before, during, or after your senior photography session if you need advice.

Want some ideas or info?  Have a look at these sample poses.

Some pages that may be of interest.

Family and portrait photography page.

Professional headshots page.