3 hours.
My First Senior Session of 2022 came when a sweet momma called me in late July and wondered if she could get her son booked with me within a week. (He plays soccer and it’s very difficult to book with any photographer once the HS sports season starts.) I had just laid out my fall calendar and was praying I would get my goal of 10 senior sessions for the season. I had only 3 booking at the time.
*1st tiny fact: Most Senior photographers will sell out all of their session times for a season about a month prior to the yearbook window deadline. It's very difficult to get session times that work for kids in fall sports so if you know your senior's schedule book your photographer early so you're not stressed at the last minute.
I was excited to work with a family that I really didn’t know at all. I love meeting new people, it’s one of my favorite parts of photography!
I was really nervous. My running buddies can a-test to that. I’m not sure when impostor syndrome will be gone for good for me but I had it when I booked Ryan. I hadn’t done a senior job in nearly a whole year. I had had a pretty packed summer with travel and family so I was worried my skills would be rusty.
Ryan is the perfect example of a kid who knows what he wants, and has an adventurous spirit to try new things! He took all my posing tips, and even had ideas of his own. I learned from him that I was going to have to let the guys (especially) see the back of my camera a few times during our time because frankly they wanted to know that the photos I was taking didn’t suck! Ha! I knew this was a way to make him feel relaxed and trust me so we could get “authentic” from him.
AND that is my biggest take away from Ryan’s session: senior guys need time to relax into a session. I will talk about this more when I do all the other boys session blogs. I know that it sounds like a long time “three hours..” EVERY boy I did was nervous about that chunk of time: it seems like kinda a small torment to them when you don’t know what its going to be like..
Let’s face it, are there any people out there who want their photos taken for 3 hours?! I mean..there might be but I don’t know them.
But we don’t do that. You can ask Ryan and his parents. (who are the sweetest and I loved hanging out with them!) We have driving time, and changing time, and relaxing/shaking our faces out time, laughing time, trying new things time, and lots of icebreaking time. If I want to capture Authentic photos of someone I have to get to know them, let them get to know me: when we are comfortable with one another, that’s when the magic happens.
If I don’t get some goofy grins, or if they’re not a big grinner some authentic happy eye contact, from your son or daughter in our session together, I don’t think I did my job. I want my sessions to be fun, and relaxed: because THAT’s how I capture your senior in their best light.
*2nd tiny fact: almost every session produces its best images in the last 1/3 of the session. I think this is because the senior is the most confident and comfortable because now we’ve gotten to know each other.
*If you’re reading this because you’re on the fence about booking a full session for your son (or daughter) Feel free to reach out to some of my past clients and ask the guys themselves if you can if they felt comfortable and had fun during our time. I find that word of mouth is the best sales tool I have. So ask around. If you’re considering booking anyone else feel free to ask their past clients also. I believe my client satisfaction after our shooting time is pretty excellent.
All that being said: I’m a bit of an awkward goofball, who’s goal will be to make your senior feel handsome, happy, comfortable and relaxed so if you know your senior isn’t all about that: I’m probably not the best fit!
