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How to choose a Senior Photographer – Part 3 – senior portraits style

Choosing a senior picture photographer – Part 3 – Senior Portraits Style

This is part 5 of a 5 part series on how to choose a senior photographer in Northwest Arkansas (NWA).  This series is meant to provide you with questions to ask about senior photography before hiring someone.  Your senior photographer will actually like being asked most of these questions before booking you for senior pictures. Asking questions shows your interest in the process.  It also means your senior photography sessions will go more smoothly and your senior portraits will look better!

Senior Portraits Example

An example photo to show style in senior portraits. This photo is an example of lifestyle photography.

Once you know that a photographer produces quality work you should look more deeply at their style.  This is not only the type of pictures they produce, but also the way they handle post-production.  As you look at a photographers work you will see that their work often has a certain flavor to it.  Find one that you like!  This is important for senior portraits because this is something you will display for the world to see.

Fashion and Glamour

While fashion photography focuses on clothing and other fashion items the style of fashion photography is often what you see on the cover of magazines.  These looks can be accomplished in the studio or on-location and will often rely on lighting other than natural light.

Fashion photography is a genre of photography devoted to displaying clothing and other fashion items. Fashion photography is most often conducted for advertisements or fashion magazines such as Vogue, Vanity Fair, or Elle.

This style of photography will display nicely for senior portraits.  It’s a style with flair.

Lifestyle

Lifestyle photography focuses on you and your everyday life. With lifestyle photography, the photos tell the story of your hobbies, milestones, and interests in an artful way. It’s not candid, as in photojournalism. Lifestyle photography is more like a Concept Shoot: only the concept is you and your actual life, as opposed to a random theme.  Lifestyle senior portraits might show you posed as if playing sports, driving your car, or sitting quietly listening to music.

Photojournalistic

A photojournalistic style emphasizes telling a story by capturing images spontaneously to emphasize moments.  This style of photography could work really well if there is a specific event that you want documented during your senior year.  The photojournalistic style would work best in an album.  This way you could showcase senior portraits from throughout your year and really tell the story of your last year of high school.

Once you know the style you want it becomes a matter of finding a photographer who uses that style in most of their work.  Of course the simple way of doing this is to find a photographer with a lot of pictures you like.

Northwest Arkansas Senior Pictures
Choosing a Senior Photographer – Part 1 (Personality, Investments, Contracts)

Choosing a Senior Photographer – Part 2 (Exposure, Color, Retouching)

Choosing a Senior Photographer – Part 3 (Senior Portraits Style)

Choosing a Senior Photographer – Part 4 (Senior Photography Sessions Service)

Choosing a Senior Photographer – Part 5 (SumPics for NWA Senior Pictures)

How to choose a Senior Photographer – Part 2 – Senior Photography basics

Choosing a senior picture photographer – Part 2 – Senior Photography basics

This is part 5 of a 5 part series on how to choose a senior photographer in Northwest Arkansas (NWA).  This series is meant to provide you with questions to ask about senior photography before hiring someone.  Your senior photographer will actually like being asked most of these questions before booking you for senior pictures. Asking questions shows your interest in the process.  It also means your senior photography sessions will go more smoothly and your senior portraits will look better!

Wonderful Autumn Day - senior photography basics

An example of proper exposure and color in senior photography basics.

Quality is subjective. This applies to senior photography as much as any art form.  After all, beauty is in the eye of the beholder.  However, there are some general rules that can be applied in most situations to recognize quality in any portrait, and these apply to senior pictures as well.

Exposure

When a photographer talks about exposure they are talking about how light or dark an image appears.  An over-exposed image will lose detail in the light places, while an under-exposed image will lose detail in the shadows.  As a general rule you should be able to see details in white objects and in shadows.  As with all rules there are times when these rules are ignored in favor of artistic vision.

Color

It’s important that your photographer is able to recreate skin tones appropriately.  Too much saturation or the wrong white balance can leave faces looking orange – and that’s certainly not what you want for your senior portraits!  This is another place where the portfolio can guide you as to the quality of a photographers work.

senior photography exposure
Retouching

Some photographers can work magic with Photoshop and other editing software, while others wreak havoc.  Before you hire a photographer you should know what level of retouching they do on each of the images you purchase.  A heavy hand in editing can make a portrait look unnatural (think plastic skin), while no retouching can leave blemishes or features that you had hoped would be removed.

While you can use the photographers portfolio to judge what they normally do it’s a good idea to talk to them before the shoot about what you expect.  Make sure that the level of portrait correction is in line with what you expect.  It’s also helpful to discuss your most and least favorite features.  This will help your photographer to highlight those areas you like and to put less emphasis on those you don’t.

Northwest Arkansas Senior Pictures
Choosing a Senior Photographer – Part 1 (Personality, Investments, Contracts)

Choosing a Senior Photographer – Part 2 (Exposure, Color, Retouching)

Choosing a Senior Photographer – Part 3 (Senior Portraits Style)

Choosing a Senior Photographer – Part 4 (Senior Photography Sessions Service)

Choosing a Senior Photographer – Part 5 (SumPics for NWA Senior Pictures)

How to choose a senior photographer – Part 1- Northwest Arkansas (NWA)

Choosing a senior picture photographer – Part 1

This is part 1 of a 5 part series on how to choose a senior photographer in Northwest Arkansas (NWA).  This series is meant to provide you with questions to ask about senior photography before hiring someone.  Your senior photographer will actually like being asked most of these questions before booking you for senior pictures. Asking questions shows your interest in the process.  It also means your senior photography sessions will go more smoothly and your senior portraits will look better!

senior-photographer

Your journey to choosing a senior photographer.

When it comes to choosing a photographer for senior pictures there are many things you should consider. After all, your senior pictures are probably one of the last times that you will have professional portraits until your wedding – and even then it’s not all about you (although some brides might disagree)!  So to be sure that you have portraits that really show who you are these are some tips to consider.

Senior Photographer Personality

Does the photographer make you feel good?  This is someone that you will be spending a moderate amount of time with. Most people are not that comfortable with having their picture taken anyway.  Why add to the discomfort by using a photographer that you don’t trust?  You should meet your photographer in person before the day of the session.  You want to be sure that you will get along with them. The easiest way to do that is to talk to them before you’ve made an investment.

Investments

If you ask about the expected investment at various stages it can help you to establish trust as well.  By asking about session fees, product costs, retouch fees, rescheduling fees,  digital images, proofing and any surprise fees that might come your way you can get a feel for your senior photographer.  I personally believe that there shouldn’t be any hidden fees, because it just makes me a little uncomfortable.

Contracts and Model Releases

This may seem backwards, but a contract and model release should make you feel more comfortable with your senior photographer.  If they have a contract then at the signing they will go over every detail of what is expected of them and what is expected of you.  The contract is often a checklist so that the photographer knows they have covered everything with you.  A model release lets you know where your photos will be used and shows that the photographer is interested in using your photos on their website. A senior photographer with a contract is a professional, and will treat you and your photos with respect.

Northwest Arkansas Senior Pictures
Choosing a Senior Photographer – Part 1 (Personality, Investments, Contracts)

Choosing a Senior Photographer – Part 2 (Exposure, Color, Retouching)

Choosing a Senior Photographer – Part 3 (Senior Portraits Style)

Choosing a Senior Photographer – Part 4 (Senior Photography Sessions Service)

Choosing a Senior Photographer – Part 5 (SumPics for NWA Senior Pictures)

Click over to my homepage and check out my introduction to SumPics Photography!

Katie goes to Miss Arkansas International – fundraiser

SumPics will be taking portraits and candids at this fundraising event and they will be available for purchase.  This is an excellent opportunity for a date night and you’ll be helping this wonderful young lady!

Katie Fundraising Picture

Katie is headed to 2014 Miss Arkansas International.

RSVP by February 24, 2014!  Shoot me an email using the email icon below or Contact Annette Crow or Becky Edmisten-Wages.

When: Saturday March 1, 2014 6:00 pm to 10:00pm

Where: First Baptist Church – Hindsville

What: Dancing to the Decades

Hors d’ Oeuvres Buffet

Dessert Buffet with Chocolate Fountain

Silent Auction

Attendees are encouraged to dress in formal attire or period dress in their favorite era of music.

Tickets are $25 for a single or $45 for a couple.  Proceeds from this event will go toward expenses for Miss Katie Crow, Miss Huntsville International as she represents Huntsville in the 2014 Miss Arkansas International Pageant.