Some guys DREAD having to take their senior portraits. Moms are dragging them to their sessions and they just want nothing to do with it because they think I'm going to have them do some weird a$$ poses that no guy would ever actually want to do and make them look so unlike themselves. NOT TRUE. 100000000000% NEVER EVER EVER. Guys, I promise I will not make you look like a freaking weirdo. I'm going to let you be yourself, act normal, and give you some bomb pics that you will actually like. For example...
Your senior pictures do not need to be you awkwardly staring in to the camera making weird eye contact with your photographer. That might have been how they used to be, but not anymore. Now they are meant to express your personality and show off who you are. If you've seen absolutely ANY of my photography you know that fake crap isn't my style.
I want you to feel like a freaking boss when you see your pictures! There are few times in your life, well in normal peoples lives, that you get to get in front of the camera and showcase yourself in this way. For a lot of people once your senior pictures are done, it doesn't happen again until you get engaged, so LIVE IT FREAKING UP while you can for this moment in your life!
You might think its weird or embarrassing now but trust me, later you won't. And let me tell you straight up right now. No one is thinking about your braces. No one is thinking about that acne you think you have, but no one actually sees. No one is thinking about that tiny hair you think is out of place. Everyone is looking at how awesome you look and how beautiful your smile is and how perfectly your pictures represent who YOU are as a person.
Girls usually (not always) LIVE for their senior picture moment. Sometimes girls take senior pictures multiple times throughout their senior year, in all of the different seasons (Hell yeah girl go for it!) So why is there some bad, I don't know what the best word to use would be, but why do some boys not want dope senior pictures?! I don't get it! I mean I guess I'm a photographer so I'm kind of biased, but still! Wouldn't you want to look back in 20 years and
think dang yeah it's cool to think back on that year and remember those moments. You might be thinking, "Okay Miranda, but I get in front of the camera and I freeze like a deer in headlights." Thats okay, I got you. I'm not just going to be like well tough sh*t kid, I'm going to start the clock and start snapping and thats what you get. I will take the time to talk to you, get to know you, calm your nerves a little bit. Make you laugh, loosen you up. Embarrass myself a little bit so you remember there is no reason to be scared. Ask anyone I've shot with. I am a complete weirdo. I will crawl all over the place, lay down in the weirdest positions to make sure I can get the shot that makes you look the best. I will RISK MY LIFE to make you look good and probably to make you laugh just a little too! :) If you still don't believe me that you will be able to let loose, my number one tip is to bring props. Play a sport, bring the gear. Play an instrument, bring it. Love your dog, (ask me first) and then bring them. Like to paint, cool I haven't done a senior shoot like that yet, lets try something new and set up your whole shoot around that! Whatever it is you like to do! As long as it isn't illegal...come on kids...keep it real here. Talk to me about it, bring it along, let's work with it! It's a fact that working that in to your shoot one brings your personality in (duh) but two will automatically make you chill because its something you're comfortable with.
My second tip for you would be to be careful and mindful of who you are bringing with to your shoot. You are what 17-18 years old. You are a big boy. Odds are okay your shoot is booked, you've checked out my work, you kinda get what my vibe is here, you get what I'm about, you know I'm going to want you to be yourself and chill and were going to have a fun session capturing the best version of you right? Okay well then don't bring 10 friends, your neighbor, your grandma, your friend's friend's moms cousin...you get where I'm going with this. You don't need an audience. I mean unless you are like a professional model or something which most of you are not, it doesn't make anyone feel "calm" to have 30 people watching them get their picture taken.
Moms, dads, girlfriends, boyfriends, grandmas and grandpas, guardians or significant others in general... this is where you can stop reading. Please.
Guys. If you know what you want for your pictures and your guardian or significant other is super controlling or picky and may want something completely different than what you do, consider asking them to not come along. I know they are not going to like that I said that because they might be contributing to the payment for this, but if they are still reading this please hear me out. If we want these pictures to be the most genuine, authentic, relaxed, natural senior pictures we can get, having someone hovering over the senior telling them to shift and tilt and move is not going to help them be natural. Having someone over my shoulder trying to tell me where to stand and what angles to get is not going to allow me to go through my process either which will not give you the result you guys are looking for if you decided to work with me based off of the work you saw on my website or social media or from your friends and family. Overall, considering some to come or not come to your session based on if they will make you feel more or less relaxed does not make you mean or rude, or nice just for inviting/not inviting them. It is max an hour and a half of your life of you standing there where you should mostly be talking to me anyways. Just invite who will be best for YOU and who will make YOU feel most comfortable and confident, even if that is no one and we shoot alone!
In the end, guys your session is going to be fun. I'm not awkward to be around, trust me. I work for one of the biggest baseball academies in the state of Wisconsin come on. I spend my life around guys your age. I'm not scary, senior pictures aren't scary, you wont look like a goon. 98% of the time your previews are approved by my brother before they are ever sent to you anyways, and he's a college baseball player so you're in good hands, trust me!
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