what to wear for senior pictures

Not sure what to wear for your senior pictures?  Go with YOUR style.  If you are a super casual person, make sure you don’t stray TOO far from that for your pictures.  It’s obviously okay to dress things up a bit, but you want to make sure the pictures reflect YOU and who you are at this time in your life.  

Make sure you have a lot of different colors.  I love the color blue... and if I’m not careful, I will wear blue 5 days in a row.  For your senior pictures you will want to have a lot of different colored outfits.  Also be aware of what colors you look good in and what drowns you out.

Don’t be afraid of patterns.  Bigger patterns are great for pictures.  It adds texture and variety.  The patterns to steer clear of are the really tiny ones.  Gingham, for example, isn’t great for pictures because it reads weird on camera.  It also looks strange if it’s creased at all (like if you’re sitting down and the shirt is folding a little like it naturally will).  But go for patterns. 

Textures are a must. It add interest without being distracting.  Lace and scarves are great examples of adding texture in simple ways. 

Writing on clothing?  As a general rule, don’t do it.  Even though it is super cute in real life, when someone looks at your senior pictures you want them to see your beautiful face and personality shining through... not stop to read your shirt.  Save those for school.  :)  So, unless there's a special meaning behind the writing, I'd say pass on it.  

Figuring out what to wear for your pictures can be crazy stressful!  That's why each one of my clients receives a copy of my "What to Wear magazine which is almost 80 pages filled with everything from genres of clothing to body shapes to skin tones.  

videography

One of my favorite parts of your Senior Session is undoubtedly the videography.  My videographer, Tara, is an artist by education so she has a natural eye.  She is super talented and just an overall amazing person.  

My senior's videos consist of the still images that I take, video footage that Tara captures, and some voice-overs from my darling senior.  We put all of that to a fabulous and fitting song to make a show-stopping video for my client and his/her parents to view at their Premier Ordering Session.  

This year things will be a little different.  Tara is actually doing an art show in the fall so unfortunately so will only be doing videos over the summer.  All of my seniors that schedule a photoshoot with me once schools starts won't have the option to have video.  It's worth it to think ahead and get your session planned for a beautiful summer morning. 

To see some examples of videos that Tara has created, head HERE.

what to bring

People are constantly asking me what they should bring to their senior shoot with me.  Being prepared and bringing certain items to your shoot will help things run much more smoothly.  Please check over this list and make sure you have EVERYTHING on it with you.  The last thing we want is a hungry, grumpy girl with no lip gloss.  ;)

*A friend (helps relax you, makes you laugh, and holds the reflector for me :))
*Snacks                                                                                                                    *Water
*Lip Gloss                                                                                                                *Brush
*Hairspray                                                                                                                *Floss

taylor

Taylor’s shoot.  Oh my goodness.  Where do I even start?!  She flew in from sunny California to have her pictures taken in a very “Colorado” environment.  And wow!  Did we deliver!  We went up to Hoosier Pass for the first half of the shoot where we were not only met by her kind hearted Daddy yielding her horse AND her dog, but we were shooting in FEET of snow!  I’m not kidding.  This California girl learned really quickly how chilly we keep things in Colorado in the winter time.  From there we headed into beautiful Breckenridge for some pictures down on Main Street.   Taylor was dang near an icicle by the time we finished.  So proud of her for toughing out our crazy winter weather.  And totally worth it because her pictures are UH.MAZING.

professional make-up

Professional make-up is vitally important.  Day-to-day make-up is very different than “picture” make-up.  I always say that the camera eats make-up for lunch so you need to have on extra.  As part of your session, I provide you with a $50 gift card towards make-up and a professional make-up artist.  If you go for a morning shoot you'll have the make-up artist come to your home in lei of getting the gift card.  It's first class treatment!  Either way, she will know where to apply extra make-up to show that beautiful, natural glow.  Don’t normally wear make-up?  No problem.  I will make sure your make-up artist knows this so she can just enhance that natural beauty. 

One more thing to keep in mind:  False eye lashes only enhance those beautiful eyes.  You don't need to go crazy with the lashes.  A more natural look is great but you should at least put some on... or rather, have a professional make-up artist put them on you.   You won't regret it!  Promise!

Looking for more killer make-up tips?  Go find them HERE.

why do i need my hair professionally done?

Getting your hair professionally done is always a good idea!  A professional cosmetologist knows how tight to make the curls or how much extra hair spray is necessary when you are going to be out in the natural elements for several hours.  That is why I provide a professional cosmetologist as part of your session.
If you would like to have your hair done in a few different styles for your Senior Session, that can be done as well.  My cosmetologist is great at this!  We will start with your hair up and take it down later in the shoot.

sara

I loved working with Sara.  She is HILARIOUS.  I feel like I can be totally sarcastic wit her and she gets it.  We absolutely have the same sense of humor.  Sara brought two of her best friends along with her to her shoot.  They were so great to help her see her outward beauty.  Too often, seniors have a hard time seeing how stunning they actually are!  She wore her amazingly fabulous hair long and straight.  It was absolutely stunning!  She went very natural with her make-up which I adored.  And she had us in stitches from the time we got to her senior session until the time we left!  She was an absolute blast!

lauryn

Lauryn is an incredible girl.  She plays the piano like a literal angel would.  So beautifully that people stopped us at the Broadmoor.  She also plays the clarinet for her high school in Parker.  She knew EXACTLY what she wanted for her senior pictures and we pulled every string to make that happen!  I loved shooting at this amazing hotel… even if it was FREEEZING cold!

hailey

Hailey has a really cool story.  She started school a year early.  (Different deadline where she was living at the time.)  A few months ago when she was finishing up her sophomore year she decided to graduate a year early.  So this girl, while only technically graduating one year early, is kinda graduating two years early!  She will be 16 ½ years old on graduation day!  Plus, she’s totally beautiful and very sweet!  I loved getting to know her and her mama… AND shooting with her Dad’s vintage car as a backdrop!

sierra

I was watching the weather SUUUUUPER closely leading up to Sierra’s shoot.  There was an 80% chance of rain… not a number I like to see.  We decided to go for it anyway (and the percentage seemed to go down a little bit as the day progressed).  It. Was. BEAUTIFUL!  Amazing sun the entire time where we were shooting… but yucky in a lot of the city.  My afternoon with Sierra was so wonderful.  She is an amazing girl inside and out.  Plus, those dimples?!  I mean, come on! 

sarah

When I put on social media that I wanted to do a few shoots at the Colorado State Fair Sarah contacted me immediately.  Now that I know her better I can see what a natural fit that was.   She is full of personality and laughter.  The best words I can think of to describe her personality are bright and infectious.  I truly fell in love with this girl and her family. 

regan

I loved every last bit of Regan's shoot.  She is super laid back, organic, and natural and wanted to go to the Paint Mines which is THE coolest and most unique location ever!  Plus, her mama is my hubby's cousin so that was an added bonus.  And the icing on the cake is that when I was editing her pictures I noticed that she and my husband have the same color eyes.  They are oh-so-beautiful!  Regan, you are one of a kind and I absolutely ADORE you!!

ki

For Ki's shoot we went to the Colorado State Fair in Pueblo.  It was soooo much fun!  It was also soooo hot!  She was a champ with the heat and the chaos which is the fair.  Her shoot was colorful and vibrant. 

I loved getting to know Ki.  Her future is undoubtedly bright.  She is heading off to Seton Hill University to play softball next year.  Softball is definitely her passion and seeing all of her jerseys since we was a little 4 year old was such a fun, creative way to pull her life-long love of softball into her session. 

jay

That moment when you're standing there taking someone's senior pictures and you have a flashback to when you use to change their diapers... and it feels like yesterday!  haha!  Jay is the son of my super sweet cousin.  I also grew up with his Dad's younger brother.  We were great friends all through high school.  Doing his older sister's senior pictures last year was the icing on the cake.  Jay was lucky enough to head back to Parker to finish up high school with all of his old friends.  It's been so fun to watch him grow up. He's a lot taller than me and has a big deep voice.  When did he get so old?!  When did I get so old?!?!?!?  

nick (class of 2018)

When Nick's mom first contacted me one of the first things she asked me was, "What do I have him wear?  I don't remember the last time I saw him in anything aside from baseball clothes!"  haha!!  Now that's passion!  I think Nick cleans up real nice.  I love his hair... reminds me of my son's hair.  He was so social and super chatty during his shoot.  He didn't even seem to mind having two cameras shoved in his face for an hour!  Plus, we saw nice, fresh bear tracks!  Yay...?

bri

Bri is so so fun!  She was the missing piece to the puzzle!  I met her parents and their younger sister at her older sister's photoshoot a few years ago.  Bri knew she wanted something different.  And we gave her just that!  She may have been a little cold at her shoot but she was a trooper.  I have loved learning all about her and her adventures.  Seriously, this girl has been a full on globe trotter!  I think maybe next time she needs to bring me along to take pictures of her at all of these killer locations!  ;)

sweet ava

Boy, did we get the run around from the weather.  Ava wanted so badly to have the beautiful sun in her pictures and the chance of rain was getting higher and higher the closer we got to the shoot.  So last minute we switched it to the morning (and when I say morning, I mean people are showing up at your home at 4:50am to start beautifying you!).  I'm SOOOO happy we did.  We have a ton of sunshine with spots of cloudy weather, which was just perfect!  Her pictures turned out so so beautiful and I just can't say it enough... morning shoots equal sunshine!  Afternoon shoots equal lots of finger crossing!  ;)

preston

I woke up at 3:45am the morning of Preston's shoot (which started bright and early at 6:30!!) to the pitter patter of rain on my window. Normally this would be a lovely, comforting sound... but not when I'm going out for a session in a few hours!  Shortly after we got to Preston's first location the weather cleared up and we had THE most amazingly beautiful morning involving city scape, graffiti walls, metal stairs, open roads, water, old bridges... it was such a cool shoot!

audrey and hannah squared

I had a LOT of fun beating the rain with these beauties from Cheyanne Mountain High School.  They were so fun to work with and I loved their fashion choices.  They pulled off two very trendy looks that are normally both very neutral looks.  Somehow they managed to pull in color and lots of different textures as well as tons of accessories!  I really hope we get to do it again sometime.  Maybe in the snow!!

mary

Mary is a gem.  She is tall and beautiful.  She is kind and smiles all the time.  Her shoot was super laid back... until the lightning started.  Don't worry, it was off in the distance so we were good to shoot.  We did finish her shoot in record time though.  Just before the rain began.  But, we had sunshine, wind (lots of it!), lightning, beautiful deep skies, and FLOWERS!  Our ever elusive flowers in Colorado are hard to nail down.  Mary, thank you for letting me be your photographer. Your shoot was uh-mazing!!!