Services
Senior Portraits
High school senior sessions around Buffalo — a couple of locations, a few outfit changes, and photographs that actually look like the person in them.
Senior portraits are one of the few times someone gets photographed properly at exactly the age they will most want to remember. They are worth doing well, and they are worth doing as the person actually is — not stiffened into a version of themselves for the yearbook.
We photograph high school seniors across Buffalo and Western New York, in the studio, around the city, or somewhere that means something to them.
How a session runs
A senior session is usually an hour to ninety minutes, covering one or two locations and two or three outfit changes. We start simple — the clean, straightforward portraits that parents and yearbooks want — and then loosen up.
The second half is where the good frames come from. Walking, sitting on something, hands in pockets, laughing at how ridiculous this is. Seniors are often self-conscious for the first ten minutes and completely fine after that; we plan for it rather than fight it.
Parents are welcome to come. Some seniors want that and some absolutely do not, and it is worth asking them honestly which it is before the day.
Locations
Most sessions mix two looks. Something green and open — Delaware Park, Knox Farm, Chestnut Ridge in autumn — and something with more edge to it: brick and storefronts around Elmwood Village or Allentown, or the harbour if we want sky and water. The Buffalo locations guide covers what each one suits.
The studio is worth including for at least a few frames. A clean background portrait is the one that gets used for the yearbook, for the graduation announcement, and by grandparents, and it is the one that will not look dated in a decade.
Bring the things that are actually part of your year
The portraits that mean the most later are usually the ones with something specific in them. Sports kit and the ball. An instrument. The car. A letterman jacket, a costume from the school play, a dog. Anything that will make a nineteen-year-old say “oh, that was the year I did that.”
Bring two or three outfit changes and at least one that is more formal than you would normally wear. Our guide to what to wear is worth a read for both senior and parent — you will not always agree, and it helps to have something neutral to point at.
What’s included
- A planning conversation with the senior, not only the parent
- Guidance on outfits, props and timing sent before the day
- 60 to 90 minutes across one or two locations
- Two to three outfit changes
- Every usable frame edited at high resolution
- A yearbook-ready crop supplied to your school’s specification
- Web-sized versions for announcements and social
When to book
Earlier than most families expect. The summer before senior year is the sweet spot: the weather is reliable, you are not competing with everyone else’s sessions, and you are comfortably ahead of any deadline. Late September and early October are beautiful here and also the busiest weeks of the year, so those weekends go first.
Check your school’s yearbook deadline before you book. They vary a lot between districts and some fall surprisingly early in the school year, along with specific requirements for crop, background and file size. Send us the specification when you book and we will deliver a file that matches it.
Book a session
Tell us the school, roughly when you would like to shoot, and anything the senior is into that we should build the session around. Current rates are on the pricing page, and there is no obligation attached to asking.
