A Guide to Senior Portraits for Parents
For most parents, senior portraits are a distant memory. They have changed a lot over the last two decades, incorporating more creativity and individuality than ever before.
Seniors have a lot more options available to them, ranging from traditional sessions in a studio to trendy urban shoots. This is the perfect opportunity for them to showcase their unique talents, passions, and personality, while also creating a lasting memory.

However, with all the available options, portrait sessions can quickly become overwhelming for both parents and seniors.

Here are a few quick tips to help you prepare for your kids' upcoming senior session.

Make a Note of the Yearbook Deadline. Knowing the yearbook deadline encourages you to schedule a senior session instead of putting it off until the last minute. Depending on your requirements, a senior photo session will start with a yearbook portrait followed by creative shots that are unique to your child. In most instances, it takes at least 2 weeks to receive the final images, so plan accordingly. The school where your seniors go to will have a designated or preferred studio for their year book portraits. You can always go to your choice of studio for a custom session. Look for a studio that is specialzed for your seniors sessions and offeres more options.

Keep Your Senior’s Schedule in Mind
As a parent of a senior, you already know how frantic their schedules can be. Before you go ahead and schedule a session, sit down with your senior to discuss a good time. They should be just as involved in the planning as you are. Even the specific time of day matters when scheduling a senior session. Ideally, you want to take photos just after sunrise and just before sunset, as this is when the lighting’s the best. However, the right photographer can make any time of the day work. Midday should be a last resort though as the lighting is far too harsh.

Compromise with Your Child
You may have a specific idea about the photos you would like to see, but this is about your child and what makes them feel confident and comfortable. Most senior sessions allow for several outfit changes, so use this as an opportunity to find a happy balance between what you want and what your senior wants. Be patient and hear them out before you brush off their ideas. Their portraits should represent who they are and what they love.

Encourage Sharing
Prior to a senior session, get your child to open up about their passions, hopes, and dreams. This information will help guide the shoot and ensure the most authentic photos. Knowing what your senior wants these photos to represent will also guide their outfit and location choices.
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Don’t forget to include your senior in the search for a photographer – a photographer’s style needs to fit in with the images you hope to create.
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Sonia Ahmad
Certified Professional Photographer
Enjoy the Moment Portraits
etmportraits.com
​281.758.8686

We had a custom portrait session with Dr. Nusat Ameen at Enjoy the Moment Portraits etmportraits.com. She wanted a couple of new headshots for her work, LinkedIn and her personal social media pages. We had worked together before many times, but this session was customized exclusively for her. We started with a pre-consultation where we discussed her needs. During the meeting, we made a solid plan for her custom session. On the session day, our makeup artist helped her get ready for the camera. Since we already planned out her wardrobe, she had many looks with multiple wardrobe changes effortlessly. Some images are shared over here.
I would like to tell you about my friend Dr. Nusrat Ameen. She holds a PhD in Domestic violence and Law. She has a passion to help victims of abuse and she is dedicated to work on domestic violence. She began working at Daya managing the transitional housing for clients. Since joining Daya to present day as a Senior Director of Legal Service, she has built a legal services references list for Daya clients to use, led trainings for cultural competency in interacting with south Asian domestic abuse victims, and has done advocacy work at the national level. Daya's mission is to empower South Asian survivors of domestic and sexual violence through culturally specific services and to educate the community in an effort to end the cycle of abuse. Daya's vision is A south Asian community in Houston and beyond that is free from family violence. They will greatly appreciate your effort to support Daya a Non Profit Organization.