What’s one of the most important things in a relationship? Communication. While that’s usually true of romantic relationships and friendships, it’s equally important to focus on with your senior photographer! Building communication with your photographer is not only going to make your senior session run smoothly, it’s going to be what makes your session personal and unique. If your photographer doesn’t have a few clues as to who you are, how can they capture your heart and soul in your session? To help, here are a few of my communication tips for your senior session!
-Meet with your photographer before the session. When I say before, I don’t mean an hour before. I mean a week or so before your session date! I meet with all of my clients several weeks prior to their session, because I want to get to know them and make sure that I will include the things they love in their session. If you’re able to meet with your photographer beforehand (which is a common practice for a professional photographer), tell them about any items that have sentimental value for you. Things that are a part of your story. These are the things that I LOVE to focus on for my clients, because senior photography, to me, is not about simply dropping a girl in a cute outfit into a nice location. It’s about telling and capturing their story and personality in a beautiful way, and this can only be accomplished with good communication. This is the true meaning of TEAM WORK! 🙂
-Be vocal about things you don’t like. There’s nothing worse than having a senior session that just isn’t you. While the last point covered communicating who you are and what you would like in your session, it’s equally important for the photographer to know what you don’t want in your session. Maybe you really don’t like the outdoors, but your photographer thinks that, for the season, outdoor sessions get the prettiest photos. If you don’t communicate that you’d rather find an indoor location, you’re going to be stuck with pictures that you won’t like from the get-go. Don’t be afraid to share your opinion with your photographer – knowing what you aren’t a fan of is very helpful to the photographer for narrowing down the options, and giving you the perfect senior session.
-Focus on communication during the session. A photo session usually leaves a good deal of room for flexibility, which in turn leaves room for creativity. This is what can make a session so fun, because you and the photographer will know each other pretty well at this point, and are working as a team to make something beautiful. This means that you need to keep talking to shape the session from something that might look like you, into something that is you. This looks like telling your photographer what part of a location is most like you, or if you’re just not feeling a certain pose or place. Trust me, if I place my Senior in a certain “pose” and they look awkward, I immediately say “nah, let’s try this instead”. Remember, you’re building off of what you’ve decided on before the session, so these aren’t big changes. But even still, when you’re communicating with your photographer about which parts of the session are totally you, then you’re much more likely to capture photos that you will truly love and adore.
Communication is the key to getting your perfect senior session. When you share who you are with your photographer, you’ll get something that really is you, not simply a pretty picture of you. That’s the difference between nice-looking pictures and photos you’ll LOVE for years to come.
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