Celebrate The Milestone with a Professional Senior Photographer
The number one reason you should hire a professional senior photographer is because childhood is fleeting. Your first steps, your first ride on your bike without training wheels, your first day of kindergarten, sleepovers with friends, backyard hide and seek, friendship bracelets, birthdays, your first date, cramming for a test, musical performances, sports, your first car, your first heartbreak. These are the moments that shape you and make you who you are. Now you’re here, about to be a high school senior. This is the culmination of your childhood. I like to envision a caterpillar who has been swaddled and shaped in the cocoon, who had growing pains, but is within the safety of home to support all of it. You’ve been growing those gorgeous wings, and you’re about to take flight. You should be proud of how much you’ve learned and grown. Let’s celebrate YOU during this important milestone. Your senior portraits are much too important to entrust it to your friend who has a “nice camera.”
A Professional Senior Photographer Will Prepare You
As a professional high school senior photographer, I make sure that I fully prepare my clients so that their senior photoshoot has an excellent outcome. A professional senior photographer should send you styling Ideas, offer a consultation to get to know you, prepare you in terms of what to bring and how to pack, and send reminder emails. A lot of preparation and thought is needed to make sure that your senior portrait session depicts who YOU are. If you aren’t prepared, or don’t know how to prep your skin, or pack your outfits, the day can be very stressful, which will impact your photos.
Knowledge of the Best Locations and Lighting in Wichita, KS
Another reason you should hire a professional senior photographer is that he or she should have lots of knowledge about good shooting locations. A location may look great to you, but if it isn’t in the best light at the time of day you are having your photoshoot, you won’t get a good result. Every time I get in the car, I am looking for good locations. It is easy to spend 3-4 hours looking for locations that not everyone uses. Read all about some of my favorite locations in this blog post: https://kimstifflerphotography.com/2022/08/05/my-favorite-locations-for-senior-pictures/
Professional Hair and Makeup
Many professional senior photographers include hair and makeup in their portrait collections or know who to recommend. Have you ever had your makeup done for prom and hated it? I know I have, and my daughters also had this experience. It is so important to have a hair and makeup artist who will listen to you, and knows how to make you look like you. Professional makeup will allow you to feel confident and at your best. It will also even out your skin tone, cover blemishes, and even if it’s 110 degrees out, you won’t sweat it off. Some of my favorites are
Brooke Cero https://www.instagram.com/brookecero/?hl=en
Makeup by Lauren Doll. https://www.makeupbylaurendoll.com/
Erica Kay Artistry. https://www.instagram.com/ericak.artistry/?hl=en
Professional Prints and Products
My middle and top senior portrait collections come with an album and a print. Hannah’s mom has all of her kids’ senior pictures hanging on the wall in the hallway. Furthermore, she has an entire album of her senior portraits. The album can be proudly displayed in the home, and will be so much fun for your future kids to look through as well. I use a professional photo lab, and the colors are amazing.
Now You Know
Now you know the many factors that go in to a successful photoshoot. Don’t trust your senior portraits to your friend with a nice camera. This is a once in a lifetime experience, and you deserve the best!
I’ll leave you with this quote from Maya Angelou:
“My wish for you is that you continue. Continue to be who and how you are, to astonish a mean world with your acts of kindness. Continue to allow humor to lighten the burden of your tender heart.”
To schedule your senior portrait session with Kim Stiffler Photography, visit https://kimstifflerphotography.com/seniors
