Seasons. Typically, senior photos are taken in the spring/summer before your senior year, or the fall/winter during your senior year. But again, there’s really no hard and fast rules on this.

To narrow down your choice, think about if you have a favorite season. Do you love sweaters, pumpkin everything, and cooler weather? Or do you love warmer weather, sundresses, and all the things in bloom? 

Or do you want your session to be in more of an urban/downtown setting and the season won’t really matter? 

Don’t feel like there’s only one right choice with this. Whatever is more true to you, that’s what you should pick. I want your photos to reflect everything about you individually. So if you have a favorite season, definitely factor that into your decision.

Schedules + Deadlines. Senior year is one of the best times of your life! It’s also one of the busiest times. Consider if scheduling your senior photos before your school year even begins would be the best option for you. The advantage to this is you will be able to really plan for and enjoy your photo session without all the other things on your mind. Plus, once the school year starts, you’ve already knocked one thing off your to-do list! Also, will you have an especially busy season due to sports or other activities? You will thank yourself for not trying to cram senior photos in during that time. Another thing to consider is if there is a deadline for turning in your senior photo to be sure it’s in your yearbook or for any graduation slideshows or other programs? You also want to be sure to have plenty of time to print your photos for your graduation announcements.

There are a lot of things to consider when deciding when to schedule your senior photos. Hopefully I gave you a few things to think about that will guide you in making the right choice for you.

Here are a couple of other tips from me from a photographer’s perspective:

• Schedule your photos 3+ months in advance. Especially if you have a certain day of the week you need or a school vacation in mind, you will have a lot more flexibility to find an opening when you start early.
• Closely related to number 1, keep in mind the photographer’s busy season. The fall season especially books up very quickly for me. So if that’s your preferred time, you need to book early. Notice a theme here? ;)
• Plan for a rainy day. As much as we all wish we could control the weather, we can’t. And if you’ve lived in Oklahoma for more than 5 minutes, you know our weather is a teensy bit unpredictable. So instead of assuming it won’t rain on your session day, you actually should assume it will. (Not in a pessimistic way, I love looking for the positive, I promise!) But, as in, schedule the session with enough time in mind for a reschedule if needed, especially to meet any deadlines for your photos. Let’s reduce the stress people, amIright?

With the school year about to end, now is the time to start thinking about when you want to book your senior session!