This depends on your school’s yearbook submission deadlines, but most seniors get their senior portraits created during the summer before their senior year starts or early fall of their senior year. Of course, you may book a senior photography session at any time of the year if you aren’t worried about submitting to your school’s yearbook.  

I have a ton of great locations up my sleeve and I’m happy to share ideas about where to go with you. It’s helpful if you can describe a little bit about what you are looking for with your environment and if you have any special props or items you want to incorporate into your photos so that I can advise on what would work for you. For example, do you imagine yourself with mountain peaks in the backdrop? Or maybe you want to show off Red Rocks in the distance. What about the time of year? Are you a basic B who can’t get enough pumpkin spice like myself and fall color is your jam? Or maybe you see yourself as an urban city dweller and want the Denver skyline in your pictures. What about items you want to have in your photos? You can bring your car or maybe your furry lil bestie. You may even think about what your favorite things to do are and consider incorporating that into your session. Activities like browsing a bookstore or record shop or maybe donning your favorite pair of roller skates for a roll around the rink. Or maybe you just want something simple and classic in a scenic setting. We can make any of these happen for you and find a great location that speaks to your aesthetic.  

Wait 5 minutes! (yuk yuk) But in all seriousness, Colorado is usually pretty nice and reschedules are thankfully pretty rare. But, in the event that the weather just won’t cooperate I will reschedule with you. 

1-3 outfits is best for most senior photo sessions. You certainly don’t have to do any change of clothing if you don’t want to but it’s nice to have a couple of different looks for your senior photos. If you bring more than 3 outfits you will end up spending a lot of your session time changing in and out of clothing instead of using that time for creating awesome pictures so try to limit yourself to 3 outfits. It’s popular for seniors to have one casual outfit and one that’s a little bit more dressy. I highly recommend wearing something that you feel good in because when you feel good you will have more confidence and that translates to better photos.  

Sure, mom or dad is totally welcome to join us and it’s fun to bring a friend or two as well if you want!

I schedule all sessions to take place in the hour or two before sunset because that’s the prettiest light of the day. In the summer that could mean a start time as late as 6:30 or even 7 pm. I don’t schedule sunrise sessions because I never grew out of hating getting up early and I’m not my most creative when I’m still half asleep. But, if it’s for a special reason (like a hot air balloon ride) we could consider doing sunrise instead of sunset.  

Sessions generally last between 1-2 hours. I aim to get your images in the online gallery and ready for you to see within 3 weeks of the session but this can depend on the time of year. I am faster from January-mid summer and late summer-Christmas can sometimes get a little more backed up due to the busy season. If you are in any sort of rush it’s best to let me know about that asap so that I can honestly assess the timing and do my best to meet your deadline. 

Trust me, you don’t want to see every single photo from your session. You will see all of the ones that turned out well, but I delete any that have technical deficiencies, or are duplicates so that you only sort through the best of the best

After your session I will pick out a handful of my favorite images to share on the blog as a “sneak peek” or preview. These favorites will be fully retouched. The rest of the images will be lightly retouched as proofs and all will go into an online gallery for you to choose from. Any images that are ordered will be fully retouched just like the favorites from the blog. Below you can see a visual example of what the difference is between a photo prior to any retouching, a proof photo and a fully retouched image.

Original, unretouched image

Lightly retouched image

Fully retouched image

I can assist with making sure your image is prepped properly for your yearbook submission but I need the submission guidelines from your school at least two weeks before they are due. It is still your responsibility to double check with the yearbook staff to make sure your picture has been submitted according to their standards.  

The copyright for all images created at your session will remain with April O’Hare Photography and it is illegal to make copies or share the images created without written permission. When you order digital files you will get a print release for personal use so that you can make your own copies and prints and you’ll be able to share your images on social media. Using your photos commercially (for business or making money off of them) will need written permission from April O’Hare and may be subject to additional fees. 

It’s painless, I promise! First get in touch and we’ll talk dates and locations and I’ll have your parent or guardian sign the contract in order to reserve your date. 50% of your session fee will be required as a non-refundable retainer to reserve your date with the 2nd half due at the end of your session. I can’t wait to talk about your senior photos with you!