Taking a good senior yearbook picture can be a daunting task. Not only will your senior yearbook photo will live on in the yearbooks of hundreds (possibly thousands) of your fellow students, but it will also represent who you are during one of the biggest seasons of your life… for the rest of your life.
So no pressure, right?!
Hopefully I haven’t scared you off yet! But if you are feeling a bit nervous about what you might need to take into consideration to have a great photo to submit to the yearbook - fear not! That is exactly why I created this blog post - to walk you through all of the necessary components of getting the perfect shot for the yearbook that you will LOVE for years and years to come!
Without further ado, let’s start right at the very beginning. The first thing you need to do is…
KNOW THE YEARBOOK REQUIREMENTS
This includes knowing…
When your yearbook photo is due. This information usually gets sent out at the end of junior year, over the summer between junior and senior year, or at the beginning of senior year.
What the requirements are for the photo. Is it required to have your photo taken on a white backdrop? Can your photo be taken outside with outdoor scenery? Are your hands allowed to be in your photo? Most schools send out a list of requirements when they send out the date that the yearbook photo is due.
What the requirements are for the actual photo submission. The school will also let you know what format they want the photo to be submitted as. Usually, they want the photo submitted as a JPEG, portrait orientation, sized at 300 dpi for print - that’s all fancy file talk, but your photographer will be able to help you make sure you have the correct format!
Who needs to submit the photo. Does the senior photographer have to submit the photo, or can the student or parent? This is also something that varies from school to school.
How the photo is to be submitted. Most senior photos are submitted nowadays via email, but I work with a few schools that still accept photos on a USB drive, so be sure to know how that photo needs to be submitted!
Where the photo is to be submitted. In most cases, the yearbook photo will be submitted to a yearbook advisor or member of the yearbook staff.
After you know the requirements, it’s important to find (and book!) a photographer who can help you look and feel your best! But with SO many senior photographers to choose from… how do you go about finding the right one for YOU?
FIND A GREAT SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHER
Figure out the style of photography you’re looking for. Start looking hashtags on Instagram, TikTok, or Pinterest and save all of your favorite senior photos to a folder. After you’ve saved 25-50, come back to that folder and look at what those photos have in common. Is there a specific editing style you saved more of than others? Are the majority of the photos you saved more candid, more posed, more fashion inspired, more casual? Make a note in your phone (or elsewhere) of the characteristics that stand out as themes, and then start looking for photographers in your area that have that style!
Find a photographer who specializes in that style, or in a location you like, in your area. This one is probably the easiest in our technologically advanced day, but start looking for photographers in your area! Many of my clients find me through hashtags on Instagram (#pittsburghseniorphotographer), and sometimes through Googling/searching a specific location that they are interested in using for their senior session. For example - I photograph a TON of seniors at a very popular location in my area for senior photos, Hartwood Acres Mansion. I’ve had many seniors book with me because they’ve seen photos I’ve taken at that location… I know that spot so well, and sometimes that helps seniors and parents of seniors feel confident that they will be able to get awesome photos at that specific location, too!
BOOK ‘EM! Be sure to reach out when you find them - you don’t want to miss out! If you’re interested in reading more about how far in advance you should schedule your senior photos, check out this blog post, where I list out all of my tips: When Should I Have My Senior Photos Taken?
PREPARE YOURSELF
If you book with an experienced senior photographer, they will most likely give you lots of guidance on what to wear, what not to wear, and how to prepare for your senior pictures to make sure you love the results! One general tip I love to give my clients is to look at my senior photo galleries before their session so they have an idea of what poses/prompts I might use for them during their session. This familiarizes them with what they can expect during our time together!
On top of all of that, I give my clients a general timeline for how to prepare in the months, weeks, and days leading up to their session. Take a peek below!
One to Three Months Out:
The Week of Your Session:
Finalize and steam or iron all of your outfit choices (wrinkles be gone!) & props!
Drink LOTS of water! This is good for your skin and will give it a nice glow!
Make sure you are applying chapstick, especially if you are prone to chapped lips! (Chapped lips can’t be fixed in photoshop!)
Make sure your nails are clean or, for the ladies, painted!
Refrain from wearing sunglasses for the week leading up to your session so you aren’t squinting during your session!
The Day of Your Session:
Give yourself plenty of time to get ready – more than you think!
Don't forget to arrive 10 to 15 minutes before our scheduled start time. Your session will begin at the time we set in advance, not at the time you arrive.
Eat a snack before you come – it’s not fun getting your photo taken while you’re hangry!
What to Bring:
Any outfit changes you might have
Any props you may want to include (an instrument, soccer ball, pet, etc.!)
A change of comfortable shoes to walk in
A hair brush or comb (or anything for on location touch ups!)
A parent or friend (moral support is always a good thing – plus, if you’d like they can step in for a few photos at the end!)
TRUST YOUR PHOTOGRAPHER
This piece is crucial! You hired them… now trust them to do what you hired them to do! If you’ve seen their work in advance, you have an idea of how they’ll pose you… so trust them! Some poses and prompts might feel silly, but sometimes what looks the best in a photo feels a little funny… like pushing your forehead out and tilting your chin down. Yeah, definitely not something you’ll do in real life, but it looks great on camera and you won’t be able to tell that you’re in a wonky position!
However - if a pose/prompt makes you feel really uncomfortable, be sure to voice that to your photographer. The worst thing a subject can be while having their photo taken is uncomfortable. It always shows in the final images!
CHOOSE YOUR YEARBOOK PHOTO!
So now you’ve made it through your actual senior session - congrats! Once your senior photographer delivers your gallery, the hard part begins… choosing the actual photo that will go in the yearbook!
Hopefully you’ve given your yearbook requirements to your photographer in advance of your session so that you’re able to have a solid handful of images to choose from that fit your yearbook requirements. Like I mentioned above, most yearbook pictures are portrait orientation, and most of them are closer up (typically at least head to chest, sometimes closer). You’ll be able to narrow down your favorites within your gallery by looking at options that are shot closer up!
Something to note: if there is a photo you really love and want to use for the yearbook but is the wrong orientation (horizontal) or isn’t cropped in as close as the yearbook requires, ask your photographer about a re-crop. I have many seniors ask me about this, and usually I’m able to make it happen for them! The only times I am not able to make it work is whenever the photo is too far away to begin with. As you crop in on a photo, you lose quality, and if you crop way too far in, sometimes the photo can become pixelated. Trust me… you do not want a pixelated photo in your yearbook, especially if you paid good money for your senior photos! Try to steer away from asking your photographer to crop in full body photos to just head & shoulders.
Below are a few examples of what some of my seniors have submitted as their senior yearbook photo!
