South Georgia
Senior Portraits: Planning One Worth Keeping
October 13, 20266 min read32 Productions · Douglas, GA
Senior portraits are one of the few sessions where the subject has real opinions about the outcome, which makes them more fun and more worth planning.
Book earlier than you think
Senior season concentrates in a few months and photographers fill up. Families that book late get whatever dates are left, which frequently means worse light and less flexibility.
Check what your school's yearbook deadline is, because that is a hard date and it is usually earlier than families expect.
Let the senior drive it
These photos are of them, and the sessions that produce images they actually love are the ones where they chose the locations and the outfits. A parent-planned session in clothes the senior does not like produces exactly the expression you would expect.
Outfits
- Something dressed up
- Something casual that is genuinely what they wear
- Something that represents an activity — a uniform, an instrument, a jersey, work clothes
- Class colors or school gear if the yearbook or the family wants it
Two to four outfits is realistic for a standard session. Bring options and decide on location, because seeing it against the actual background settles it in seconds.
Bring the things that matter
The truck, the horse, the ball, the guitar, the welding hood, the dog. Those are the frames that hold up, because they say something about who this person actually was at eighteen. A senior session that includes their real life beats one that could be anybody.
The photos families keep on the wall twenty years later are almost never the formal ones. They are the ones where the kid looks like themselves.
Timing and light
Golden hour, which in South Georgia summer means early evening or early morning. Midday sun is harsh and makes everyone squint, and it is the difference between a session that flatters and one that fights.
Fall gives comfortable weather and good light, which is why it is popular. Book accordingly.
Locations
Downtown Douglas for texture and brick. Fields and farmland for open golden light. The family place if it matters. The school if that is part of the story. Two locations is realistic within a session once you account for travel and changing.
What to ask about
- How many final images and how they are delivered
- Turnaround, particularly against a yearbook deadline
- Whether print rights are included
- Whether there are print or album options
- How many outfit changes and locations are included
For parents
Order prints. Digital files sit on a drive and get lost through three phone upgrades. The families who are happiest a decade later are the ones who put something on the wall.
32 Productions shoots senior portraits across Douglas, Coffee County, Waycross, Tifton and South Georgia. Call (912) 592-3376.
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