I am sad to say this is the last blog in my series about Senior Pictures.  I have loved breaking down the entire senior picture process into little bite sized pieces for you.  I hope you have found it educational!  If you want the link to all of the blogs in this series, they will be linked at the bottom of this post for easy reference.

In order to help me with this final post about senior pictures, I am going to also share the photos from my recent spring session with my beautiful niece.  She also helped me kick off the series with her winter senior pictures.  So if you missed that post, then click here!  #sorrynotsorry for the overload of pictures of Ashlynn.  I can’t help it!  When you have a beautiful and willing model right at your fingertips it is hard not to take advantage of it.

A few weeks ago the entire school district got the day off so the teachers could go down to the courthouse to protest the fact that as far as teacher funding goes, Colorado is 49th.  Meaning only one state in the country has worse funding for teacher salaries.  Pair that with the fact that now Colorado has a higher cost of living than even New York and that presents a huge problem!  Enough about politics.  It just ended up that we had a free day in the middle of spring to take advantage of the beautiful cherry blossom trees that were blooming all over the city.

For about a week I was driving all over the place trying to find good trees with a good background (meaning they weren’t in someone’s front yard).  I had a few vague spots in mind when my sister in law mentioned that there were some pretty trees behind Target.  I drove by on the way to meet Ashlynn and she was right!!  Also, within a 2 minute drive there were several other really pretty trees.

One thing I have really been working on in my photography is challenging myself to shoot anywhere.  To make it work and work well.  So I thought this was the perfect way to stretch myself in a “safe” session.  And it worked!!!  All of these pictures were taken on the side of the road, near a building or store or in some other tight space that you would normally never think to go for a portrait session.  It just goes to show you that you really can do pictures anywhere as long as you have good lighting and a good piece of background (even if it is small) and a beautiful model.  I should have taken some far away pictures so you could see the places we shot from far away.  You would laugh!!

We started at the Columbine Library.  Such a pretty tree with the library in the background.

This was outside of a strip mall across from Southwest Plaza Mall.

These were done by a pretty tree at the entrance to the Governor’s Ranch neighborhood.  This tree was my favorite!

This was a row of trees lining the road to the back entrance of Target.  So cool, right?!

Now that you have seen all of the pretty pictures, let’s get back to the real purpose behind the blog.  You have done your senior session….what comes next?

In years past I just took the photos, put them on a cute USB and delivered it to you.  But the last two years I have had parents coming to me in a panic saying “I don’t know what to do with these pictures.  I can’t even narrow it down.”.  I tend to over deliver on images.  I say that you will get 75 images, but usually it is closer to 100-150 pictures depending on the session.  That is a lot to choose from.  Not only that, what do you do with them.  What do other people do with them?  So I started meeting with moms (and dads) after I gave them the USB and I would bring some prints and help guide them through the process.  The look on their faces when we were done was pure relief.  So I decided this year to completely change my model and “strongly suggest” people let me help them.  Some people have got it covered (or think they do until it comes time to choose what to do with the photos) and that is fine.  But I want to serve the majority and the majority of people really want help!

So here is what you can expect if you are a LiLo client.

1. You can expect an online preview on Instagram and/or Facebook within 24 hours of your session.  Because we all like instant gratification and sometimes after the session you get self conscious and wonder if they turned out.  So I like to give you a preview to build up your confidence and get you excited about seeing the rest of your photos.
2. You start thinking about what you might need as far as prints or products.  Will grandma want a brag book or an 8×10 photo.  Do you want a canvas?  Do you need to match what you bought for your other kids’ photos at their senior session.  Do you want a book?  Do you want wallets to share with your friends?
3. 7-10 days after your session we meet again so you can see all of your pictures.  I will show you a slideshow of your photos and you can go through all of them and decide which ones you like the best.
4. I guide you through the ordering process and we do it right then!  Then you can sit back and relax because all of the hard work is done!  No sitting at your computer for hours trying to pick your favorites.  No feeling pressure to get it done in May because you have put it off since the summer before.  I am here to guide you every step of the way and help you decide what you need and what might work best for your family!  Trust me…it is a life saver.  My senior clients from past years have told me how nice it was and they felt a great relief when it was all done so quickly and easily.

Don’t just let your photos sit on your computer!!  In this digital age that happens all too often and then time flies by and you never get it done.  There is a scary statistic that says that over 90% of all of the photos taken this year will NEVER get printed.  These kids have more photos of themselves but if anything were to happen to their phone or computer, the pictures are gone forever!!  Not only that, you pay good money to get these photos taken, you should be displaying them so you can ENJOY them.  My family photos and canvases bring me such joy to look at EVERY day.  I wouldn’t trade them for ANY art, no matter the cost.

Any questions?  Now you know….

How to Start the Senior Picture Process

When to Schedule Your Photos

What Makes You Unique

What to Wear

What to Bring

Senior Checklist

And what happens after the pictures are taken.

Remember that my senior sessions are $50 if you book and pay your deposit by June 1st.  So don’t delay!  Reach out to me and let’s get the process started so you can get the discount.  Next month I will be doing a special if you want to add on a family session for $100 to your senior session.  Many people have waited a long time in between family sessions especially as the kids get older so they are out of date and you might as well get it all done at the same time.  We do family pictures first and then most of the family heads home and we do senior pictures right after.  Boom!!!  Family pictures and senior pictures for the price of one!!!  Let me know if you are interested!!